We went to the Penobscot Bay Inn the other night for dinner. Our reservations were for 6:30. We arrived 10 minutes late and were shown to our table. Then we waited until 7:15 for a server to show up to take our order. She arrived at the table and said "what can I get you?" When I said we'd probably like a drink first to mull it over, she was a bit put out. Then I asked what the specials were and they were out of all of them! We ordered our drinks and dinner at the same time, which is wierd and then waited and waited. When our salads came out, they were so unimpressive that we all looked at them and balked...mmm, a ceasar salad in an ice cream dish, so appetizing! I found it strange that the servers also made the drinks. Way to use up their valuable time. Four dining rooms and two servers! The owner must be extremely cheap.
Dinner arrived at 8:10, right after I got up to complain to the owner about the schedule. Its one thing to linger 2 hours over dinner...its quite another to wait 2 hours to be served dinner. When I did tell the owner that we had waited almost an hour, his response was "yeah?" Asshat!

The food was mildly passable. I had the meatloaf, which I can do better, even without the sugary catsup...and I know that usually its spelled ketchup, but this was certainly the catsup variety...spread over the top. My dad had chicken schnitzel which was dry as a bone and tasteless, I mean really inedible. Greg had haddock which he said was mushy, my mother had the New York Strip which was grilled to perfection and a really nice cut of Sysco meat. My sister had the BLT penne pasta which looked awful, but which she said was very good. My cousin had beef tips which she liked, though I thought were tough.
Like the salad, dessert was included in the price and I wish that I had a photo the frozen cherry "pie" to show you. It was the grossest thing I think anyone could order off the Sysco food truck. It arrived at the table all bright pink with a dollop of whipped cream. Nasty. The cheesecake with canned blueberry gel on top was equally as nasty.

My advice to the owner...quit being so cheap with the number of your servers, and the food quality and stop already with the included soup, salad and dessert courses. Do five entrees instead of 15 and do them well. Be all that you can be instead of settling for mediocre. I for one will never go back here for dinner...$180 bucks for crap from Sysco. Buy locally grown foods and cook them well.

I can't even begin to rate this place. Lets just say C-D for most of it.

Enjoy,
Seth

We had a lobster fest here last night with my parents and friends. I served the last of the clam chowder that I made several days ago, but have never tasted. I had a tried and true recipe for chowder, but have lost it and cannot remember proportions. When I asked last night about how it tasted and what people would add or subtract, I got different answers from everyone and some disputes over whether it was "clammy" enough. I guess I didn't put in enough onions, my mother wanted more cream, my aunt said she wanted more of a distinct clam broth taste, and Greg said that while it was good, it wasn't up to my standards but he didn't know why. I guess I forgot to add the tasty juice. :-(
I'm going to make a batch again for next weekend, so I'll have to tweak it and then share the recipe.