King Eider's Pub — Restaurant in Damariscotta

We went into king eider around 7:15 on Friday the 22nd of October. We were a party of 3 including me , my partner and our small son of 5. We were greeted at the door and asked to wait for a host to seat us. We were seated upstairs in about 5 minutes or so and found a comfortable booth within a nice space. We were very hungry and anxious to get food so when the waitress first visited our table we asked her for waters and also ordered our meals right away. The kids burger was $14.00 with fries added because they don’t actually have a kids meal that includes French fries….. so we decided to splurge and get the full half pound burger with fries include for our son as it was only $5.00 more so that’s $19.00 for a burger and fries without cheese. You’d need to Add a couple bucks for that request. I ordered the Caribbean inspired seafood stew for $40.00 and the sea scallop Florentine for my lady for another $40.00 and was perfectly happy with the experience at that point but I certainly set the bar fairly high based on the price per plate. I couldn’t have been more disappointed with the rest of the evening. We sat at the table for 20 min before our salad arrived, no bread or anything else offered to curb our appetite. We then waited another 50 min to see our meals arrive. The wait time alone had me steamed up but I would have managed fine if the food delivered had been anywhere near worth the wait. The sea Scallop Florentine came out and was presented to us with a literal pile of small bay scallops on top of the spinach in cream sauce with the hopes that we perhaps didn’t know the difference???? Or maybe I might have thought I miss read the menu??? I don’t know but to drop it in front of me and expect it to fly is absolutely ridiculous. We Wanted tender fresh sea scallops on the coast of Maine and was instead served rubber BB’s as a substitute. I sent the meal back and the waitress simply said. “Oh we must have run out of sea scallops” well miss….. how about letting your patrons know that fact. Instead of acting like we are ignorant to our order. The Caribbean stew was mediocre but edible. Honestly the best item served to us was the bread they served with the stew to soak up the broth. Very fresh and tasty. The French fries that our son had were also good and seemed to be home made. The burger was lack luster to say the least. The restaurant did remove the scallop plate from my bill and the server wasn’t horrible. Nor was she responsible for the long wait. I think she was put in a tough spot and made to deliver what she knew wasn’t correct. She simply held her breath and hoped for the best. We tipped her slightly over the standard 15% even though it was by far the worst dining experience we’ve had this year which does say a lot as we eat out every other evening throughout Maine and the rest of New England. My two star rating is generous and has everything to do with kind servers, the location in town and atmosphere. It’s sad that they set the bar so high with their pricing, underperformed with delivery time, and fell short on the quality of the dishes served. From the other reviews I’ve read it seems this might have been an anomaly but I won’t chance it again...

Food was so over priced. $32 for two appetizers. With three drinks it came to a whopping $68. But the appetizers were very good. My husband’s rum and coke was very watery and filled with too much ice he said. The service was terrible. A blonde woman waited on us on Saturday June 8, mid afternoon. She was very unfriendly. We did outdoor seating. It wasn’t busy at all. Three tables for outdoor seating to wait. Never came back to ask me if I wanted another drink so I politely went in and asked the hostess for another. Our waitress brought it out, plopped it in front me, I said thank you, she said nothing with no eye contact. She went right over to two other tables beside us to ask how things were and if they wanted more drink. Never once asked how our food was. She was obviously irritated I asked the hostess for a drink. I didn’t mind and was really nice. I got my bill. Took forever for her to come back out so I mentioned it. Sat back down. She plops it on the table with my debit card and says, “thank you for your patience during our shift change.” I wanted to leave a penny tip but couldn't do that. We will never go back nor recommend and we are fairly local Mainers. Owners need to teach their waiters manners and how to wait tables graciously. I think this reflects on ownership as much as the waitress. Go to the Damariscotta River Grill across the street! Better priced. Staff was friendly and attentive. Food...

I went to King Eiders Pub on night of November 24, 2024 for supper and sat at the bar. Ordered half dozen oysters and one of them was served on small piece of shell and had suspect color and smell so did not eat. Ordered hamburger for entree and it was overcooked and had discolored tomato slices on top. What really ruined the night though was an overserved customer who sat down next to me. He was a local guy with a beard who seemed to know the help. In short order he pounded down 3 draft beers then started getting loud talking sports. He apparently didn’t like my favorite football team. He kept talking about how great the Las Vegas Raiders were. Bottom line was that he seemed like he was itching to get into a fist fight. I didn’t want to be a part an embarrassing scene so I left. The owner of the restaurant was at the other end of the bar so I was surprised he didn’t take any action to address this overly aggressive customer. I guess the good part of seeing this type of behavior was that it made me glad I quit drinking many years ago. I wondered how many times I was like this guy when I drank. I will say that I have been to this place many times before and have not had this kind of experience with either the bad food or unfriendly customers. But all it takes is...