Porcelli's — Restaurant in Bar Harbor

Wow, first rate, outstanding (or insert any other similar adjective). That describes Porcelli’s. It all started when we were greeted by the manager upon arriving, pleasant and accommodating. The service began with my wife asking a few questions about the wines. Our server was still learning the role (everyone needs to be a novice at something for the first time, which is understandable) and left the table to ask the bartender for assistance. Upon coming back, they reshared what they were told, but as they were doing that, the manager delivered a sample glass to the table for my wife to taste, obviously overhearing the initial exchange. (see 1st sentence #FirstRate service).

We started with the house-made focaccia, warm and soft on the inside and slightly crunchy on the outside, accompanied by EVO and balsamic, a very good start. Next was the tortellini, lobster and ricotta filled served in a sundried tomato cream sauce (see 1st sentence #Wow). The sundried tomato cream sauce had the right balance of sweetness to offset the tartness, so good that we were finishing the cream sauce with our spoons like we were eating a bisque. (even better was that we asked for one piece of focaccia to help finish the sauce, which the server promptly brought to the table .. again, WOW)

For our mains we had the Pollo (which, I initially thought, why get chicken at an Italian restaurant? … in this case, had we not ordered the chicken, we’d be missing out on the “outstanding” .. see 1st sentence). The Pollo, in our opinion, outshined the Seafood Risotto; HOWEVER, the Seafood Risotto was also first rate, which really says a lot about how well the poussin chicken was prepared. Oh, and we haven’t even mentioned the house-made gnocchi in a pesto cream sauce that accompanied the Pollo. The chicken itself was first rate, adding the pesto gnocchi put the dish over the top.

The Seafood risotto was appropriately named “Seafood” risotto (not ‘risotto with seafood’) because the lobster, scallops, shrimp, fish, mussels and clams, (all of which were individually prepared) were separately plated on top of the risotto (not just mixed in). The obvious highlight was risotto; however, the scallops (yes, plural) with a nice crust and perfectly done, with the lobster pieces (yes, again plural) were a close second. It was hard to decide what to enjoy with each bite, the risotto, scallops, lobster, etc.

We brought our own “to go” container, as we usually leave an Italian restaurant with leftovers. This night, the container went unused; not because the portions were small, on the contrary, the portions were more than we needed, but we finished because, yes, see 1st sentence, #WowOutstandingFirstRate. I wanted dessert (I need to try tiramisu every time it’s on a menu); however, we temporarily passed. We asked the manager if we could come back in 45 minutes and sit at the bar if there was room, so we can take a walk and make room for dessert, they said “we’ll see you back here.”

Yes, coming back for dessert, the tiramisu didn’t disappoint and held up to the rest of the evening’s experience. The highlight was the cream, a bit more dense than usually found in the dessert, and perfectly sweet.

If you’re still reading this, stop and make a...

Service - once seated and our order was placed, we waited 45 minutes and were told that there was a large party upstairs. We decided to go ahead and order the bread. It arrived with 3 pieces, and we had 4 people. We made it work, but when you're paying and you've waited as long as we had, another piece would have gone a long way. Yes, we understand that free bread is no longer a thing at Italian restaurants. Our server did not give us a heads up on portions as we placed our orders with half and full-sized dishes. I guess we should have asked.

Food - the special crudo appetizer was a scallop and tasted as expected. It was not more than one scallop though that had been shaved into slivers. The half order of gnocchi had 4 pieces. Yes, 4 pieces! We couldn't believe it. I thought that there may have been a mistake in the kitchen and that someone must have sent our food out too soon. We each thought that the ONE gnocchi we had was nice. The rest of the meal was as expected.

The atmosphere was generic. I wouldn't have noticed this nearly as much if we hadn't had so much time to wait. You know how the negatives compound once you're hangry.

The value here was non-existent. I don't know if they ran out of food due to the large party, and our portions suffered for it or what. Upscale or not, value matters. We literally left hungry. I have never left an Italian restaurant hungry in my entire life. Maybe they knew we were tourists and that we weren't coming back anyway...

I would like to emphasize that this is not an exaggeration. The food tasted good, but there wasn't enough of it. My husband said that this place should be...

Porcelli's in Bar Harbor is among my best experiences dining around the world. Everything from the walk into the charming, romantic home it is housed in to the bar that sits central in the downstairs to the staff greeting us began the evening beautifully.

A lovely glass of Pinot Grigio, of course, to the dreamy, handmade focaccia started us off and immediately transported us to Bella Italia.

As they say, when in Roma. Speaking of Roma, the tomatoes in the Mussels broth and the mussels themselves were divine. Fresh, locally sourced! Dipping the focaccia into the mussel broth, perfect.

Dinner held one of the best roasted chicken I have had over handmade gnocchi with pesto cream, to the Pesce which was incredible locally sourced, fresh, roasted, perfectly cooked Haddock over a green pea risotto, to seafood risotto with fresh, locally sourced and also perfectly prepared scallops, lobster, mussels and more, to the classic Italian Bolognese over divine handmade flat noodles accompanied with a light, fresh lemon ricotta.

Dessert was a Mount Desert Island homemade Sea Salt Caramel Ice Cream and a flourless chocolate cake. Both were as incredible as they sound, and even better when paired together.

Chef John even made our night by coming out and asking how we were enjoying our meal! The manager, wait staff and bartender were equally as attentive and friendly. 5 stars all around!

On a nice evening you can dine outside or inside. If there were more stars, they deserve them. Like Italy, the people and food were perfetta.

Porcelli's is a must! Make your...