The Porthole Restaurant - Portland Maine

While skiing in New Hampshire, we decided to take a side trip to Portland, Maine. A port city, Portland is the largest city in the state known for lobster. Where to eat though? As we are known to do when traveling to a strange town, we consulted the Food Network for a recommendation. One of our favorites, Diners Drive-ins and Dives, directed us to The Porthole Restaurant on Custom House Wharf, right on the waterfront. This review was written after our visit in 2010; the restaurant is still alive and well as of 2023!

Bob and I ordered New England Clam Chowder and the Lobster Sandwich - their version of the lobster roll. Our son ordered the Fish and Chips and our daughter ordered a Grilled Caesar Salad with Shrimp.

The clam chowder was perfect, a thick rich soup with clams and chunks of potatoes and garnished with bacon. Unfortunately, the first round was only luke warm and had to be returned to the kitchen. A second round was piping hot and suitable for eating. The soup was delicious and worth the wait!

The lobster sandwich was superb. A cold salad of boiled chunks of lobster dressed with aioli sauce and served on freshly baked and grilled brioche bread. The sandwich was all that we had hoped it would be - so full of lobster chunks that I couldn't finish my meal. My sandwich was served with hand cut fries, and Bob's was served with freshly cut and battered onion rings. Unfortunately, our sides were only warm when the entrees were served and, therefore, cold by the time we got around to eating them.

The grilled caesar salad featured fresh romaine lettuce, grilled and tossed with the Porthole's house caesar dressing, garnished with fresh parmesan cheese and topped with grilled shrimp. The salad was a hit.

The fish and chips comprised a fresh filet of local fish, lightly battered in the Porthole's signature shipyard beer batter and fried. Served with coleslaw and fries, this dish was rated superb by our son. He did note that the hand cut fries, while tasty, were only warm when served.

The Porthole also offers an array of local brews, which were a delightful accompaniment to our lunch.

Overall, the food was outstanding, while the timing needs some work to ensure that the entire meal is served hot (as appropriate). We noted that there was a fairly sizeable lunch crowd being served by one waitress and three cooks; perhaps they weren't expecting such a crowd during a holiday week in the winter. On a scale of 1 to 10, we gave The Porthole Restaurant a 6.