My brother, his wife, and I were bar hoping and I'd say this place's ambience was amazing. We got…read moreour drinks and were able to take a seat. We didn't get anything to eat as we already previously ate, but the staff were very attentive in how we were doing with our drinks. Definitely would come again.

I was really impressed by this place! Still thinking about it months later. We went for brunch and…read morehad a great time. I had a pancake that was made out of cornmeal and stuffed with cheese. Absolutely delicious and so inventive. Everyone was very happy with their plates. Overall will be back again and recommend for a nice sit down meal. Sad to have seen the Coat of Arms close but delighted that such an excellent restaurant as The Wilder took its place. Such a great vibe inside as well

Great post dinner spot for a cigar and extremely relaxed atmosphere. Bartenders are always…read moreexcellent! Tonight's excellence is Annalie. She is just as great as Kate! Very highly recommended.

Was greeted enthusiastically by the bartender at the door. I asked if I needed to purchase a cigar…read moreupstairs or if they had a selection downstairs. There was a humidor where I selected a My Father cigar. There was a fine selection of single malt scotches available and I got a nice pour. Enjoyed my cigar peacefully and left a generous tip. I live on n Vermont and don't know when I'll be back but i will keep this place in mind if venture this far south. Highly recommended!!!

I went to the Press Room last night to watch my boyfriend's band play. Even though we (all the…read morebands and their people) arrived before the music venue was open the staff couldn't have been nicer or more attentive. Once we were finally ready to order food (our chaos, definitely NOT theirs!) it was DELICIOUS! I got the Brick Chicken and it was so good that I couldn't wait to be hungry again so I could eat more! The rest of my party all seemed to feel the same way! I wish I had gotten the bartender's name so I could give her a personal shout-out, she was fantastic! I will definitely be going back if I'm in the area!

Stopped here for a few drinks before having dinner at a nearby restaurant. My husband described…read morethis place as an upscale dive bar with craft cocktails, what looked like fantastic bar food with large portions, and an age-diverse hip crowd. Our bartender was friendly and the drinks were great. I had the Mango Crazy (a perfect mix of sweet and spicy) and my husband had the Fiction 101.

Had another top notch meal at Cure. It was super chilly and we were eating outside (with heaters…read morebut still quite cold). We started with lobster bisque to warm up and it was spot on. Our drinks & corn bread were delicious as well. By the time our mains were coming up our waitress had secured us a spot inside to eat them. She was lovely & we were grateful! It's a solid choice when in the area.

I was super excited when I saw the reviews for this restaurant as well a Phantom Gourmet video…read morepraising it highly. I decided to make a reservation to take advantage of their special promotion during Restaurant Week. I made a reservation through Open Table and our table was ready when we arrived. Place is small but tables are well spaced to allow for privacy. We were presented with their restaurant week menu as well as a limited regular menu for add-ons. Our order was taken in a timely manner and with a smile. I started with the coconut carrot ginger soup for my starter. I added a grilled bread basket with butter as it is not included with your meal and I like bread with my soup. The soup was a decent soup and the bread was slight charred in places. As for my main course, I went with the braised short ribs served with polenta and roasted root vegetables. The red wine demi glace was good and the root vegetables were inconsistently roasted as some were a little too hard and some mushy. Short ribs were not consistently seasoned as I got salty in some bites and well seasoned in others. I was disappointed that my short ribs were stringy as well and that was not what I expected. The dessert was an apple tart. The shell was somewhat hard and difficult to cut into with the spoon provided. Flavors were good. My overall experience was that it was just ok but nothing stood out to me as out of the ordinary or special about it. So go if you want to and maybe your experience will be better than mine.

I honestly am not sure where to start and end with my wife and l anniversary dinner at Cava this…read moreevening. My wife and I have close to or more than 1000 dining experiences in our time together. If Cava wasn't the best overall, it was an extremely close second. Our server Dan was awesome from start to finish. On point, Attentive, professional, and exceeded expectations on every level. Cava is a very intimate dining experience with a warm comfortable indoor and outdoor seating option. It is also very practical as a stop before going to the Music Hall, an important date or like us an anniversary. Cava is unlike many of the places we have visited over the years in the food category. Every course was exceptionally prepared, thoroughly thought out and professionally executed with excellent plating. I won't go into detail on every dish but suffice it to say there was enjoyment with every mouthful of every course. I ordered: Espresso Martini An Italian Pinot Grigio (with dinner) We shared the charcuterie plate First course - Mussels Second Course - Italian Meatball dish Third Course - Braised Flank Steak Fourth Course - Torte My wife ordered: A wonderful Rum with blackberry cocktail An Italian Pinot Grigio(with dinner) First Course- Warm Potato Soup Second Course- Stuffed and wrapped dates Third Course- Shrimp with Polenta Fourth Course- Blueberry Cheesecake

Located in a cute alleyway of Portsmith New Hampshire. Definitely grab a table out on the patio to…read moreenjoy the fresh air and ambience. I would recommend making reservations. We snagged a last-minute reservations and had the chefs tasting menu. We enjoyed everything!

The food was outstanding! We had a reservation for 7:30pm for 4 adults. We started with cocktails…read moreand a few appetizers. Delicious. The meals came out perfectly timed. They had an extensive wine list. Great selections. The service was excellent. The ambiance was romantic and chic. I can't wait to go back!

Botanic is such a hidden gem. My friend who is a long time customer took me here. The service is…read morefantastic, and I loved every gin drink I ordered. They have the classics to unique drinks - anything you want. The food was also amazing. The duck confit was cooked perfectly - very juicy and keeping its crispy skin. I felt like it needed something to cut the heaviness of the dish, but otherwise perfect. We also got the chocolate souffle for dessert and it was gone in an instant.

4.5 stars! I've been hoping for a ramen spot in downtown Portsmouth for a while, so I'm thrilled…read morethis place finally opened. It's a great addition, the atmosphere is lively and youthful, and it would be good for groups (just note they don't take reservations yet). The ramen was delicious, with a rich, flavorful broth. They give you a generous amount of noodles and pork belly, enough to feel satisfied without being overwhelming. While I wouldn't come here solely for the yakitori due to the price, the ramen is absolutely worth the $20. What would have made this a five-star experience are a couple small details: The cabbage salad (Kyabetsu) would benefit from being shredded more traditionally- the larger pieces were a bit bitter and less enjoyable. Also, please please PLEASEE cut the egg in half before adding it to the ramen!!! Trying to break it into bite-sized pieces with chopsticks is awkward. It's the little things that really elevate the experience. All in all, I'd highly recommend this spot on a cold winter night. Hoping you're around for a long time!

It's quite strange to see an alleyway restaurant with afternoon opening hours for the majority of…read morethe week, not take reservations. However, in the same breath I too, understand the urge to be unique myself. I didn't want to appear alike to the rest of the target demographic of this place where XTRA L SPICE is the equivalent of munching on a jalapeño with no seeds and got put through the washer. So, I showed up with 4 other friends, with one specifically white so we- as a group- wouldn't get hitman'd. I'd like to think it worked because we all had a safe walk to the place. For real though, I ordered the Lost In Koshi drink, spicy Gyoza small plate, the pork skewers, and the black garlic ramen bowl. The Koshi drink sucked. It was giving soil(ed), gardener-tasted-dirt-from-going-down-on-mother-earth realness. Mostly from how poorly the Matcha tasted with the Roku Gin and the citrus mixer together. The gin itself sat entirely on the top of the drink, so I spent a good 3 minutes thinking I was safe just sipping nonchalantly, and then WA-BAM! An expired sharpie was the only flavor profile in that moment. I'm going to pair the spicy Gyoza and pork skewers together here, mostly because there WASN'T A LOT to begin with! Six steamed dumplings with minimal meat, served with a rationed amount of chili. The same chili you can get in a massive bottle at a local Asian super-mart... is how they determined this dish was spicy. If you made it this far and wanted to know how it tasted, just yoink a Big Mac from someone at a drive through, take the patty, and power-wash it like your life depends on it. As for the pork skewers... pork skewers..? What pork skewers..? And finally, the payoff that I was begging for the entire time.. the black garlic ramen bowl. Highlighted in scarlet red on the menu, bragging about it's 8 hour slow cooked broth.. and whatever else it said. I honestly forgot. The ramen bowl was delicious, I could not get enough. The noodles were soft but firm, you could tell they were hand made. You get served an egg with a gooey yolk, giving the entire thing a sweet break from the savory-ness of the meat and broth. I finished the entire thing, broth included. All for $20.. The pork skewers, AND gyoza both costed $20, and those two together? Quite literally a ripoff. You'll get two toothpicks for skewers, and six count of dumplings. BOOO !!!! If you go here, save yourselves 40 minutes by not ordering any small plates or skewers, because you'll be waiting that time for the check.

Louie's is the best restaurant I've been to in the Portsmouth area and my new favorite!…read more It's still new and undiscovered at only around six months since opening. The restaurant interior is bright and uplifting in what appears to be a completely redesigned and reimagined space that many decades ago likely had industrial uses like a factory or warehouse. Now, it's a very modern looking restaurant. The food overall was excellent. Standouts included the halibut entree and its sauce that contained a variety of interesting mushrooms and other treats. (A separate appetizer of a very large portion of those and other fantastic mushrooms was also delicious.) The steak entree was superb, too. The salad was tasty as was the cake dessert. Service was friendly and attentive. The bathrooms were clean and spacious. The price tag per person before tip and drinks was under $70. I felt it was definitely worth it given all the positives discussed above. I look forward to my next visit. A great place to take guests and for special occasions, too.

I went to see a performance at the NH Theatre Project with a friend and we decided to get dinner…read morebefore hand. First thing, service was great! Really friendly, my cohort had a lot of questions on the menu and our server answered them with patience and plain language. The food was a mix. I got the Lamb on the menu and my friend got the halibut I think (I'm not a fish eater so I can't remember if he got the halibut or the trout). Positives: the lamb was exceptional. Very well cooked, perfectly seasoned, paired REALLY nicely with my hard cider. And the polenta with it was divine, quite possibly the best creamy polenta I've ever had. Negatives: the mustard greens were not very good. Very very salty and difficult to get through. And for the prices, the portions were fairly small. Neutral: the menu itself is very small. I love visiting restaurants all over and I'm usually pretty up to date on most verbiage you see in a menu. But I was pretty rusty on this one; a fair amount of terms I was unfamiliar with. Not a good or bad things per se, just something that stood out to me. All in all, it was a very nice meal with a great atmosphere, comfortable tables, and lovely staff. Would definitely come back for a second try.

We made a same-day reservation at Moxy, not knowing it was restaurant week. The interior was cozy…read moreand colorful, and we were seated in the upstairs area, so we had a balcony view of the bar. For drinks, I got a glass of Malbec (which was very nice), but they also had many enticing cocktails and mocktails. The restaurant week menu consisted of 4 pre-fixe courses. For the first course, I chose the Salmon Tartare, which was fresh and tasty. It wasn't very salty, which I appreciated. I also tried my friend's carrot soup, which had a nice creamy texture with crunchy peas for contrast. For the second course, I chose the Mushroom Labneh. This one was awesome! Next was the Chicken Thigh, which was so juicy and paired well with the garlic sour cream. I also loved my dessert - Griddled Corn Muffins with wild blueberry compote. Service was friendly and seamless, and we left full and happy. Highly recommend for dinner!

Restaurant Week in Portsmouth was the perfect opportunity to try out Moxy. Plus an added bonus of…read more$42 for a 4-course meal made it more interesting. We found street parking close to the restaurant so that was great while paying close attention to the fact that street parking is not free in the area until 8 pm. I made a reservation and we were seated right away after we entered the restaurant. Our table was situated on the first floor so the area was small but we had enough space between table to have a private conversation. I started out with salmon tartare and it was my least favorite of all. I found the pita to taste somewhat stale and I ended up not eating it. Salmon was good but I did not find that cream cheese added to the dish. It might be a matter of personal preference but I wished I started out with something else from the menu. My shrimp scampi was delicious and I would come back for this dish. Pasta and sauce were great and shrimp were a nice size. I then went with the beef stew. I found the pastry to be somewhat salty but it balanced with the stew that was slightly underseasoned. Maybe it was intended to be that way. It was a decent dish overall. I loved the strawberry panna cotta. Their rhubarb chutney was beautiful and the dish was a great way to end my meal. I would come back to this restaurant in the future to try out their regular menu.

July 2025: My husband and I were in Portsmouth, NH for one night and we were looking for a healthy…read moredinner option and a few locals recommended dining at Green Elephant. One girl said the food was "so yummy" and after dining there, we have to agree! We started with the Thai Curry Puffs, vegetable dumplings, and coconut soup. The Thai curry puffs were so good! I loved the taste and texture of the flaky pastry shell. The vegetable dumplings were also a hit, although my husband wished they were served warm and not cold. The coconut soup was my favorite! Sooo flavorful, creamy, and it smelled amazing. If you like coconut milk, you have to order this soup! For dinner we shared the Pad Thai and the Thai Ginger Noodles. Both were amazing and we liked to mixing them together. I asked for some spicy red sauce on the side to give the dishes that extra sweet and spicy kick. Highly recommend!

We arrived 7:30pm on a Saturday and it was busy! But we were seated right away as a party of two…read more Service was slow. It took maybe 15 min for anyone to come over and greet us at our table. Get the thai curry puffs and king oyster mushroom tempura! The cucumber sauce that comes with the thai curry puff is so good - vinegary and sweet. The peanut curry was salty! I was surprised. My mouth was puckering from the salt. The food took maybe 20 min to come out.