Porthole

Im always in the area… finally stopped by and enjoyed some great cocktails. Its a nice chill spot and the service is excellent! I will be coming back here for sure with some friends!
Highly recommended.

The fried chicken is the bomb! Chicken special, not on menu, is the shitty shit! Oysters Rockefeller… amazeballs. All in all, be here.

This place was an absolute let down. It looked so cute from the outside, and the menu was enticing. Unfortunately, The food was less than mediocre. The portions are tiny. The service was poor. I asked for a double portion of a salad for my main dish, and received 6 pieces of lettuce. The lobster roll was nothing but a sad looking, over cooked, ½ of a lobster tail. The clams were overdone as well. Don’t waste your money.

Wow! Had the most amazing birthday dinner here! The ambiance is beautiful and the food was delicious. It is so small and quaint and cozy. The Mac and cheese was divine and we finished off our meal with the most amazing chocolate soufflé. The service was also above par!!! A must try!

Delicious fresh herbs grown in the window boxes. Steamers and my arugula salad were the highlight

Great experience all around.
We never even checked the reviews before we came /​we happened to just walk by, liked the ambience and showed up later. I’m so glad!!! Food was excellent, service was great, and the simple, but well designed space is inviting. We will definitely be back.

Way too pricey for the amount of food. I got the lobster roll and it had 2 small pieces of lobster and nothing else. No other filers. For over $ 20 I felt ripped off. The clams were good but I wont be coming back.

Strange place. The waiter was nice, but not good. He forgot several items that were ordered by our group. I could have gone to the store, gone home and cooked the meal myself and it would have been faster. The menu is strange: There is a $ 7 hot dog and an $ 800 bottle of wine on the menu. Seafood consists of fish tacos, lobster role and fish and chips. This restaurant does not have air conditioning.

I came for the lobster roll and was almost no lobster on my bread roll. I ordered for the undressed but it was pretty dry. My friend had the Mac and cheese and was the best thing on the table, the rest wasn’t very good at all. The chocolate soufflé was good though.

This review pertains to breakfast only. I’m guessing breakfast is a summertime only, work in progress. I ordered the ham & eggs. It came with small portions including one slice of bread. Essentially it was a $ 6 Denney’s breakfast for twice the price. I can understand the price difference given its great location. However, if they’re going to make a success of breakfast (I was the only one there) they’ll have to do something to make their breakfast offerings more memorable.

Amazing food in a quaint and cozy spot!!! The clams were amazing and I wanted a spoon to sip every last drop of the sauce… The onion soup was the best I’ve ever had… And what a great take on the burger. So yummy!!! Sat on the patio and loved the service.

The espresso is really amazing here. Not to mention the atmosphere and the service. They really did pay attention to detail when building this place. Whether going here with friends or for a date or family this place can cater to all! Would highly recommend! Excited to have a place like this on the peninsula.

A must try! My husband and I just LOVE this restaurant, and we are not easy to please! Every time we are in town, The Porthole is always the first place we dine! The fish and chips are out of this world, and the lobster roll is the best I’ve ever had! The beachy chic atmosphere and friendly staff top off the whole experience.

DO NOT
I REPEAT
DO NOT COME HERE
Food was disgusting
The wines were spelled wrong
If you are going to charge a good amount of money for a bottle, you should spell it right
The staff were all scared of the owner who was YELLING at them. Everyone in the restaurant heard him and looked at each other feeling awkward
Even if the food was good and everything else is up to par, I still wouldn’t come base on the fact that the owner treats his employees horribly

Space: Intimate
Ambiance: Mellow
Food: Bomb!
Service: Eager
Beer: Oddly on point
And I’m sure this might just be me, but the bathrooms are adorable.
Will be back.

This is a fun new addition to the Balboa Village. It is down the street from my house and we have been looking forward to trying Porthole. The décor is adorable! Very New England seaside village. I loved it! The service was excellent. The servers were very, very helpful. We had the calamari. I don’t even like calamari but I couldn’t stop eating theirs! It was SO good. We also had the fish and chips. Hands down the best fish and chips I have ever had. I have had fish and chips in seaside towns in Ireland and England and Porthole’s far surpass those. They only have beer and wine. The menu could use some type of entrée salad and a healthy fish sandwich. I would frequent more often if they added those types of items. We wanted oysters but they were out. So sad! They will be serving brunch soon and we can’t wait to check that out!

Great burger, sweet staff (Scarlett), please try them out, support the local businesses. They probably have growing pains, I’ve read the other reviews, but nobody reviews a new restaurant for at least 2 months. I’m all for them, please check them out.

Cute atmosphere! Sat on the deck and had a bottle of wine, Mac and cheese and the calamari. Will go back!

We went into the newly opened Porthole restaurant with high hopes. We left with empty stomachs and even emptier wallets.
In short, the food sucked and was extremely overpriced. In their defense, we were warned by the waiter before dining that the restaurant was still «working out the kinks.» Naively, we decided to stay and give the place a try.
More specifically, the fried chicken was super greasy and the batter was way too thick. It came with sub par mashed potatoes that tasted like they were straight out of the box. The sautéed spinach on the side was swimming in a lake of garlic butter. The applesauce was the best part… But that’s not saying much.
Now don’t even get me started on the «lobster roll.» This dish consisted of extremely rubbery lobster that could easily have been mistaken for grilled tire. If this wasn’t bad enough, it was served on a overly buttered and soggy hot dog bun. The fries were alright. But I would’ve preferred to walk down the street to McDonalds.
Lastly, the beer selection was lacking. Although they had 8 taps, only 4 worked.
The only good part about our dining experience was our server. He was very nice and accommodating.
I will definitely never be returning– that is, unless I am given a refund for the $ 50+ disaster of a meal.

Holy sh*t.
Taking my girlfriend here was among the worst decisions i’ve made all week.
The lobster roll — if that’s what you want to call it — was god awful. A rubbery disaster drenched in garlic.
The lack of beer was disheartening; 8 taps and 4 beers. I ordered the Coachella Valley IPA. It was an ordinary IPA. No complaints, however. I suggest getting a more flavorful IPA on your menu
My gf ordered the fried chicken. Her review can be seen on this page.
In summary, I would like a refund. If Mr. and Mrs. Porthole would be so inclined, i’m sure we would have different feelings about our experience. Thanks.