Otis Restaurant — Restaurant in Exeter

We drove almost 2 hours to eat here, and unfortunately it did not meet our expectations. The menu said one course was duck with cherries, which we were excited about, but then the waitress said it was a misprint and it was chicken and cherries. She said the misprint was the chefs fault and he'd left on vacation. Odd, but ok. The first course was soup and salad, both painfully bland and unseasoned, both could have used salt and acid. I suggested we ask for salt but my partner wanted to wait in the hopes things improved. The second course was gnocchi and a carrot dish. Again, unseasoned and bland, and we were regretting the drive. I asked for table salt, which made the third course better. The fourth course, both the pork and beef, were wonderful. Salt, acid, well balanced and delicious. We wished it hadn't taken three courses to find the flavor. The desserts were good. When someone asked at the end if we enjoyed our food, I mentioned our concerns. The woman said she was surprised because she usually finds the food there too salty. Odd again- the waitress blamed the absent chef for incorrect menus and the hostess disparaged the food that usually comes out of the kitchen. We came a long way, expecting a James Beard worthy dinner, and instead paid $200 for a...

Having just moved to the Seacoast from Orlando, we were excited to try the best restaurant in New Hampshire and the only one with a James Beard semifinalist chef. It's better than anything we've had in Portsmouth so far but unfortunately it wasn't up to expectations from other James Beard experiences. While none of the food was bad, it wasn't great. It was just your standard run of the mill type of meal. $75 is a pretty reasonable price for a meal, not Barcelona cheap but US tasting menu cheap. Portions were pretty small for a 5 course meal but for $75, it's understandable. I've had meals where the courses were smaller but I'd have 12-15 but the portions for this are what I would say would be for a 7 or 8 course meal. My wife and I have been lucky to eat at many highly reviewed restaurants around the world and this one is just meh. We didn't feel cheated out of a meal or anything but it's a one and done place for now. If it's your first time trying a fine dining restaurant and you are closer to the Seacoast compared to Portland or Boston, it's worth a visit. Otherwise I would skip it and travel a bit further for something better or possibly Mystic, CT where the NE best...

We were excited to try this place as one of the few “fine dining” options around the seacoast. We left feeling underwhelmed and slightly ripped off.

Every course was okay- good but not out of this world like we were expecting. We too found a lot of it underseasoned and bland. The service is what bothered us the most. We arrived for the 530 service and it took 20 minutes to get a drink. It felt slow to start and then everything sped up at such a speed I felt we were being a little rushed. The waitress did not ask a single time how anything was or if we were enjoying it which I felt was odd. Then it was time to leave and it felt so awkward to have a bunch of people waiting at 730 for your table while you’re gulping down your drink to rush out the door. When you’re spending $300 on a meal you expect a little more decorum and high end service. 2 hours seems like ample time but with such a delay in the beginning it really became a 1.5 hour meal you had to eat (and drink) quickly. I guess my advice would be to book the 730 time slot so this doesn’t happen to you!

Restaurant space is beautiful and we had high hopes- but for the price and food quality sadly we...