Ogunquit Beach Lobster House — Restaurant in Ogunquit

Changing Tides and Times

We are on vacation in Ogunquit for my annual ritual of close to 70 years.

As a child in the family, it was steamers and lobster at the beach,after expo 67,it was work and the hippie days of lying nude on the beach soaking up the sun and without consideration for the depleting state of the dunes. Fortunately environmentalists set foot and preservation resulted in an amazing recovery. Today with global climate change,the dunes are still preserved but sand cliffs,not as high as those of Dover,stretch the length of the beach until Wells(5 miles) as tides are ever higher.

The sun is hotter, the ocean breezes can be stronger and because of the heat, a walk on the beach or Marginal Way must be done early while covered everywhere with resilient sun tan lotion.

The Marginal Way is still brilliant, a 2k walk winding along the coast lush with flowers,birds and landscape. The same can be said about walking the beach to Wells when the tide is low, the sand is hard and the off shore breezes are relentlessly comforting. It is a time to think of life your past,the future and in the moment. For me it is time to think about how I can contribute and mitigate the uncertainty of this world. From warm salutations to anybody on the street to teaching people how to ask questions to empower and to release their unspoken angers or emotions more broadly. It's about helping others in the most rudimentary way.

The charm and pastoral experience of Oqunquit is not without interruption. The excessive and eccentric rich are able to find the few remaining seaside lots to build their epic structures often at the visual expense of the homes of history and previous generations. Yes the beeping of the construction trucks backing up can still be heard on the pristine  Marginal Way.

Another change that is seen in Oqunquit but not particular to this location, is body size. The younger generation of a certain kind are eating healthier and their bodies sculpted at the gym. To dwell on obesity has no merit. Suffice to say that a lot of bodies could use a significant reshaping!

We are not beach goers anymore. We are fortunate to be able to hide from the sun and sand on a balcony overlooking the Oqunquit River and the Ocean.

This week with glorious sun in mid July, the beach is remarkably empty. The family contingent near to the left and right of the entrance is still occupied but gone are the days where there was a fight for space in the sand. The LGBTQ part of the beach was surprisingly quiet but pride/ proud is everywhere in town including the color of the crosswalk on the main intersection in town.

Are we in a global recession? Don't think so! Why then are there vacancy signs and unfilled seats at restaurants everywhere in contrast to the past. With lobsters at US $40 for  1-11/4 lb,.or rooms on the water at $400 a night, has tourist pricing finally met its Waterloo? Don't think so though I  can and do buy hard shell in season  female lobsters for US $8/lb. steamed on order and available at many of the large grocery chains in the US.

As a tourist trap resister, I look to restaurants on the road and north of Ogunquit as far as Kennebunk. One restaurant that stands out as good food and value is the Mekhong Thai restaurant which I have written about in the past. We ate there one night and I recommend the fried tofu appetizer with peanut butter sauce(2) and my wife's red curry bowl of a shrimp/veggie combination. My  traditional Thai dish of Kra Pao Gai, minced chicken with extensive vegetables in a brown garlic sauce was good but ironically was even better when I borrowed her red curry sweet and spicy sauce that provided levity( maybe crazy)to the sustained garlic of the brown sauce.

An other observation is that takeout business at Mekhong Thai is hugely busy and therein lies a partial reason for more empty seats at every restaurant. Eating in the comfort of home,ordering on the internet while enjoying your alcoholic preference and vaping (not recommended) in peace definitely has...

While the food was good and lobster bisque tasted delicious, we had a terrible experience with the staff. We’re a family of 5 with 3 small children. Arrived at 5:10pm to a nearly empty restaurant only to be seated in the back corner table. We asked if we could take a table by the window to enjoy the view and the hostess said they were all reserved for “guests on their list”. Since we did not have reservations, we understood and respected it. However, to our dismay almost all of the tables stayed empty the entire time we were there. Worse off the server assigned to us would disappear and forget we were even there. We had to wave (multiple times) and call him out to get his attention and place our order. We waited so long for the check that I just gave up, left my husband behind and headed towards the car with the kids. On the way out I told the server we had been waiting for him and that my husband stayed behind to pay. It felt we were seating back there because we had small children that might disturb their ambience or something. Pretty pathetic. My husband made a point to tell the host that we did not appreciate seeing all those tables remain empty when she denied us having one and her response as she looked up from being on her phone was “the guests never showed up”. He was so upset at the exchange that he left his phone behind. When I came back to claim it I was met with nasty faces and rude bartender upset with us. I couldn’t believe it and ended up speaking with the manager (I believe her name was Stephanie). She was very nice and apologetic. Unfortunately the terrible service makes me wish we had...

tl;dr: long wait for mediocre food. "Pretty" restaurant with great views & ambiance but serving canned clam chowder and burned sandwiches.

My wife and I stopped in after a day on the beach and were immediately taken in by the beautiful ambiance of restaurant. It was approximately 4PM when we arrived and the restaurant was about a quarter full. We were seated upstairs and had an amazing view of the Ogunquit river at high tide. The menu was very appealing - I ordered a bowl of clam chowder and my wife ordered a goat cheese and grilled sandwich. We decided to split a summer salad.

The entire experience went downhill from here. First, we noticed numerous tables complaining about how long it was taking to get their meals. When food was delivered it was often delivered to the wrong table.

Our food arrived (about 45 minutes after putting in our order -- keep in mind we ordered a grilled cheese, clam chowder and a salad) only to find the grilled cheese burned -- like completely black - on one-side. The clam chowder was the most disappointing. When in coastal Maine one would expect fresh, homemade clam chowder. This clam chowder tastes exactly like canned chowder. It was highly disappointing. The salad had no dressing but was good otherwise.

We ended up peeling off the burnt side of the sandwich and splitting that. I ate about 1/4 of the soup.

It's clear that the only significant that went into this restaurant was the aesthetic design. Unfortunately a "pretty" restaurant doesn't make the food or service better.

I would not go back to the Beach Lobster House -- No pride...