The Porthole Restaurant & Pub — Restaurant in Portland

It is not a bad resaurant but my experience there today was so bad.

I chose to visit this store again after I went there 2 years ago while traveling from south. My first impression was that the lobsters taste good and I will come back again when drive up again, which I did, today. But my second visit was not pleasant.

I ordered 2 lobsters, first one is so fresh and tastes so good, the 2nd one is not. Btw its 1 for $19, 2 for $25. As you can see, when I pulled it apart, first thing you see is the black stuff, which is so thick and filled all the inner space. I asked one of the staff who said he doesnt know anything about lobsters. So he asked another person from the kitchen to help me. I do not know what happened to this lobster, the only thing I understand from the kitchen staff is that this lobster is OK to eat. Though the way he talks, it sounds like he doesn't want me to return it and order a new one. He said he can provide me a hot water to clean it by myself. I do not want to bother them if it is OK to eat. So I agreed and he got me a cup of hot water. And I did wash off all black stuff.

BUT THE REAL PROBLEM IS THAT I FELT SO NAUSEA AND VOMITING after Ieft there and walking around streets. I only had romatoes and fruits before I came to eat the lobsters. And I only had 1 corona light in 1.5h mealtime. However, I still feel unwell now, that is almost 6 hours after had lobster.

Besides the nausea vomiting feeling, the 2nd lobster doesn't taste as good as the first one. IT TASTES TERRIBLE! The meat is so dry, it is just so tough to bite and it doesnt have any fresh flavor, while the first lobster tastes so fresh and juicy. The first one also have the white gel like stuff that made it tastes even better and satisfying me.

Just a heads up to consumers and owner, if you do see lobsters looking differently, stop eating it! The TERRIBLE lobster I had is the one near my beer, you can tell it is not as shining as the other one. The bad one looks dark red, and somehow its shell is extremely tough which I can hardly open it even with clamp. Maybe cuz its a male (if I judged correctly, ), but it is even tougher than 2lbs+ lobsters. Its left claw has some dark mark and a pintpoint size black dot wound on it when it was served. So I guess it maybe injuried on its fight...

Besides this bad experience with food, the resaurant itself is fine. They even have live music today.

Anyway, my suggestion is NOT to consume any weird stuff into your body!!!...

I wish we could write about how our experience at The Porthole was however, we didn’t even make it through the front door or even out of the car. The bouncer at the door on the custom house wharf entrance was so rude. We were so excited to get lobster rolls and drinks since this is one of the top rated places. We kindly asked the bouncer (who was wearing a black shirt and glasses while sitting at the front entrance) if we are able to park here since we are out of state and unfamiliar with the area. This man responded by saying “I’m not parking enforcement.” His attitude rubbed us the wrong way but we still wanted to try this restaurant. My friend got out of the car and he asked her “are you coming inside here to drink” to which my friend answered, “yes we are.” He responded by saying “if you’re coming in here then it’s not a smart move to be rude to the bouncer. Your friend is rude you should tell her that she is so rude” which led to us being confused as it is a simple question. My friends answered, “we just asked if we could park here, she wasn’t rude.” He then started to get up and raise his voice. We are younger women who didn’t want to deal with an aggressive and nasty man who was on a power trip and wanted to talk down on us for our first experience here in Portland. We got back in the car to leave and he said, “good, leave we don’t want people like you here” and then proceeded to smile and wave as we drove away. I’m very frustrated at this situation. This is not a good look for this restaurant. Someone like this man should not be working here nor greeting people at the door. It honestly felt racially motivated as he was quick to get upset when our Hispanic-presenting friend simply asked him a simple question (which you would think the bouncer can confirm if we can park right outside the establishment) and spoke negatively about her in third person to our white-presenting friends. What a disappointing experience, I feel sorry that this man has so much hatred...

Went to the PortHole late in the evening with friends and family. The server Mason was awesome. Very helpful in picking out what dishes to have. We ended up with a lobster roll with aioli and the fish and chips. Both tasted fresh and were delicious. We had a party of 9 and were seated right away by Dan. Dan was great. There was a live band, we were on the dock, and it was packed with people. Great place, fair prices, awesome food and drinks...

Update: We enjoyed the PortHole so much that we went back the next day but we just missed breakfast. We were seated quickly and had the most terrible waitress EVER!!!! The rest of my family wanted to try the lobster roll and other appetizers. The lobster rolls were good, the fish and chips was good, and the raw oysters were good. We were only a party of 6 and on the menu it clearly stated there would be a gratuity tax for parties over 8 of 20%. Our horrible server gave me a check that had a 1% service charge for $36. dollars? I asked her what was the service charge for, she panicked, and stated it was for the cooks in the back preparing the raw oysters and for her. I told her I never heard of such a tax. I spoke to the manager Jim, he apologized, and stated he had never heard of such a thing and did not know why she put that charge on the bill. The manager removed the 1% service charge, gave me a free beer, and spoke to that server.

I should be giving a lower rating since that one server tried to get over and get an even bigger tip but it was handled in a professional manner.

*ADVICE: ALWAYS CHECK YOUR CHECK FOR THAT 1% SERVICE...