DiMillo's On the Water — Restaurant in Portland

Pretty with no substance. DiMillo's was recommended to us so we were very disappointed when the food was mediocre to bad. We started with the cheesy garlic bread which turned out to be the highlight of the meal. There were three of us. The best of the three entrees was the deep fried lobster tail with cheddar polenta. The fried lobster tails were good but really should have been great. The polenta was gritty. I tasted them. My son ate them because he was hungry. I wouldn't have. I had the mixed seafood broil. One reason I picked it was because it came with a lemon hollandaise sauce which is a favorite. The sauce I got was not a lemon hollandaise. The waiter referred to it as a lemon butter. I was disappointed. The scallops were slightly over cooked but OK and one of my shrimp was undercooked. The panko crumbs on the top was just messy. The entire dish was bland and unseasoned. My daughter had the chicken parmigiana. A classic chicken parm served over rigatoni with pesto. It was brought out to her in a huge bowl of pasta with the chicken on top. The marinara on the chicken and the pesto on the pasta did not go together at all. The other problem was the chicken was on such a huge bowl of pasta that when you cut the chicken it just sunk into the pasta. It was very difficult. We thought it looked like a murder scene when she tried to eat it. I pointed this out to the server who replied that they serve it that way for a visually appealing dish. Then he said at least she enjoyed. She barely ate any of it and didn't want to take it. Why would he think she enjoyed it? That sums up the entire evening, pretty on top but no substance. We will never go back and do not recommend this place. I forgot to include my side, the chef's vegetables - very overcooked and soggy with no...

During our first visit to Portland, Maine, my family and I decided to try this restaurant, hoping for a memorable dining experience. Unfortunately, it turned out to be quite disappointing.

The highlight of our meal was the $4 bread and two appetizers, which were the only parts of the meal that truly impressed us. The appetizers we ordered were: "Walk This Way" and "Sriracha Dusted Haddock Bites." Both were flavorful and enjoyable, giving us initial hope that the rest of the meal would follow suit. Unfortunately, that was not the case.

My husband ordered the Fried Fisherman's Platter, which arrived completely drenched in oil. The excessive greasiness made it nearly inedible, and he could barely stomach a few bites before leaving the rest untouched. As for me, I opted for the "Maine Crab Club." To my dismay, it lacked any discernible taste of crab, leaving me to question whether it was truly crab or some other filler meat.

For our children, we ordered off the kids' menu: a pasta dish and a grilled cheese with fries. My son, who typically loves pasta from any restaurant, took one bite and refused to eat any more. Curious, I tried it myself and found the sauce utterly bland, with no flavor to speak of. My other son managed to eat half of his grilled cheese and fries, but even that was not particularly impressive.

To add to our disappointment, the prices were far too high for the poor quality of the food. Considering the lackluster flavors, poor preparation, and overall experience, I cannot recommend this restaurant to anyone. Save your time and money and look elsewhere for a better dining experience...

We've been visiting this restaurant for 50 years or so. While it can be a delicious tourist trap in the summer, it is the place for outstanding food when they've gone home. Not that the food isn't great all year round. In the summer, many people land here because it's on a boat. Well, most people who have grown up in Maine have been on a boat, so it really is the food that keeps us going back. Once upon a time, DiMillo's was spaghetti and seafood. Now, the seafood and a few landlubber entrees are reigning. We ordered steamers to start along with some great beverages. We could have stopped there! There were a lot of clams in the pot they brought. Lobster stew is fabulous! This was rich and creamy and maybe the best I've had in a restaurant in years. The onion soup was excellent as well. I usually get whole lobsters but went with the Lazy Lobster tonight. Wow! It was great. Tasty, sweet, cooked perfectly and no shells to get rid of. They brought me some french fries too. I think I ate 4. I was full with no room for trimmings. Was it expensive? The check was about $50 less than I thought it would be, so pricey but NOT expensive. We also had a great time talking with the owner as he stopped by to make sure everything was meeting our expectations and we ended up reminiscing about how the restaurant had changed and improved over the years! Don't miss it if you're going to Portland. And if you've been there before, the menu gets...