Ryan's Corner House Irish Pub — Restaurant in Kennebunk

I have always heard that Ryan's is known for their excellent fish fry but haven't had a chance to dine. So, my mother (restaurant owner/caterer), came to visit Maine for the first time. So we took her to Ryan's! The server claimed it's the best fish in town, so we stayed and order the meal. I am from NY, and have had plenty of fish n' chips (aka 'fish fry'!) in my life time and wasn't impressed with the meal (especially for the price!). So, when our server came around to ask us how the food was, we were honest! But that was it! Wasn't expecting to speak to the owner and we were assuming perhaps it was just a bad night for the cook. Mistakes happen. The owner came out and seemed to be a little defensive before we had a chance to speak, "Well I see you ate everything, couldn't have been that bad!" and proceeded to go on and on about how we are the only ones to say that it was not a good meal. My husband finally interjected ( he had to speak over her a few times) to tell her that we all split the fish (which was still laying on our plates). It was so not a professional response and a little berating. My mom actually apologized for being honest to the owner and server! For an honest, nice opinion!

As a professional in the hospitality business, I wasn't impressed with the way the owner confronted our reaction to the food. I have had customers complain about a meal in my own restaurant (Florida) and we go out of our way to make it an enjoyable experience every time. I wouldn't dream of telling my customers that our burgers are the BEST and then make them feel badly if they disagreed with me.

The bottom line is that we spent some money on food we weren't happy with and instead of showing some concern, the owner...

We weren't expecting to eat here twice in one day, but we did! The crab cakes and fish n chips at lunch (where we ducked in out of the rain just for a beer and surprised ourselves by eating again) were so well-cooked and fresh, when it came time to think about dinner, we didn't even feel like we were missing out on anything by going back. The broiled seafood platter was a little under-seasoned but since we live in the south where everything is a salt lick, we assume it is our palates that are more off than the seasoning. Lobster roll was just as good as the famous places around K'port, minus the wait or the upcharge. While this place wasn't a steal, the prices were reasonable, especially compared to other nearby eateries, but the quality and service made it a wonderful value. Already have recommended, would...

I've been asked to elaborate on my review. Four of us ordered drinks and food; 3 steaks and an Irish stew.

The stew was awful, lacking depth of flavour and the meat was dry and tasteless. It was as if the meat had never been near a stew until it was put in the bowl and had gravy poured over.

The steaks were requested with differing amounts if cooking however, my friends couldn't tell which were which. Each has mess of poorly caramelized onions dumped on them. We wondered if the waiting staff would ask what was wrong with us not eating so much of the food. She didn't. E.g. I left 75% of the stew.

We paid and left, later we dined elsewhere.

The Guinness was good.

Of my many trips to New England, this time for a month, this will be remembered for being the worst...