Old Ferry Landing

We love the Old Ferry Landing and have been coming here for years. We enjoyed dining here last night, the opening night for their 48th year! They must be doing something right.

The staff here is always pleasant and efficient, energy is high, and eating out on the deck on a nice day is hard to beat. We have never sat inside, and honestly if the weather isn't great, we look elsewhere. For us, it's all about the fun of being out on the deck.

The food is consistently good here, whether you are enjoying one of the heaping mounds of fried seafood, or one of the pasta dishes. I tried the lobster bisque for the first time last night, and was impressed. Creamy, delicious and rich with a good amount of lobster meat. A must have is the "Jimmy Juice" cocktail, a rum punch concoction that is delicious and packs a punch. We usually order the fried seafood platter which offers a nice variety of crispy fried shrimp, clams, haddock and scallops. They do have some healthier broiled options, and the pasta dishes are also very good.

Some may argue the prices are a bit higher here than other similar venues, but the quality and consistency are there, and the view along the water in downtown Portsmouth is hard to beat. For us, that makes it a good value.

Don't hesitate to try.

Enjoyed the clam chowder, lobster roll, cheeseburger and the fried seafood platter. The seafood platter had plenty to share. We asked for warm butter to pour over the lobster roll. Lobster roll comes on a folded piece of toast. Plenty of lobster. Service was great too!

After leaving Boston this morning and only having coffee and a bagel we arrived in Manchester. We did our share of walking around for awhile and the ladies decided it was time for some lunch. After looking around a bit to see what some of the locals recommended we headed to Old Ferry Landing, I had to take a phone call from work while on Vacation ( I know right) so my wife did the ordering it was a cup of a Clam Chowder, Lobster Sandwich w/fries and a Salad and a cold Arnold Palmer to drink, The sandwich and Chowder with excellent and could have eaten another sandwich but was saving my appetite for dinner, the service wasn't bad and our seating was good out on the patio. So stop by and give it a try and hope you have a good experience as we did.

Great location overlooking Piscataqua River. The restaurant was pretty full but I'm not surprised given we came on Mother's Day. In spite of this, we were seated right away in their outdoor area.

We went with the broiled scallops and paired it with their roasted potatoes and Caesar Salad. The scallops were cooked well but lacked flavor. It could have used more butter, garlic and seasoning. The potatoes were fine but had to be salted. The Caesar Salad was also ok.

We came for the ambiance and we were not disappointed. In spite of the "ok" meal, we managed to enjoy the experience.

FOOD AFICIONADOS STEER CLEAR! We visit Portsmouth, infrequently and we'd never been to OFL before so we thought what the heck. The server was personable, we ordered a couple of the OFL house cocktails; they were good, but one was missing a key ingredient which they rectified when asked.
For dinner I decided on the "New Englander" which is a lobster roll with french fries and cup of clam chowder, $35. I was skeptical but I was warned in writing on the menu that the lobster roll contains only 3 (three) ounces of lobster; I asked the server if I would be impressed with it, and I was assured that I would be. My partner ordered the grilled swordfish sandwich and opted for a salad for an upcharge.
After a few minutes my cup of chowder arrived; it was thicker than wallpaper paste, so thick such that my spoon stood straight up like it was being stuck into a pile of dirt, uh oh! It was bland and tasteless. I ate a couple of spoonfuls and set it aside. The server asked if I liked the chowder and I said it was a one or two on a scale of 10. That was the last time the server would inquire how our food was; I know why.
My lobster roll was ordered with hot butter, it came on a dry toasted cheepo hotdog roll accompanied with a plastic container of melted butter; I would think the lobster meat would have been sautéed in hot butter before being put into the roll, instead the lobster was refrigerator cold. I was unfortunately NOT impressed. The french fries were crummy second and third quality small pieces like you'd find at the bottom of the fryolator basket at the end of the night.
My partner's grilled swordfish sandwich $25 was equally unimpressive; a small thin piece of incredibly dry and tasteless fish. The salad was good, but nothing more than you could make at home.
Almost $100 for two people feeling like we were taken advantage of. If you're into low-quality lackluster food this could be the place for you. Disgusted.

Uninspired grilled tuna sandwich. Nothing special. Good service but compared to other New England seafood shacks, pretty mediocre.

I was craving a lobster roll being so close to Maine, so my coworker and I decided to stop in there for lunch as it was on the water. Service was quick and friendly. We both ordered the lobster roll combo which came with a side of clam chowder. The chowder was abundant in size, though it was heavy on the salt. The lobster roll was somewhat disappointing. The portion size was small, though on par with other rolls. The lobster was pretty watery and mushy. And the roll was dry. Really dry. Either the roll needed butter or the lobster needed mayo. The iced tea was pretty terrible as well. So much so the table next to us complained to the server and she removed the teas from all of our checks.

Nice water view and friendly staff. Just wish the $45 (w/tax & tip) lobster roll satisfied my craving.

Really great lobsters and fried seafood! This a classic lobster and clam spot right in the water. I particularly like the lobster dinner for 2-but I also added a fried seafood combo to that for quite a feast! Definitely a classic New England spot!

The service was great, the view was great but the special I ordered was not so great. I thought Sesame Crusted Tuna with teriyaki on a bed of rice with snow peas sounded delicious. The crust on the tuna was bland and it was too undercooked for me. It was all cold. The rice was a strange texture, too. The snow peas were pretty but also bland. The draft beers could be colder too.
Hubby's fried scallops were pretty good. If you go, maybe you should order something fried.

Dinner for 2 during Jul 4th weekend celebrations so the streets of Portsmouth and the restaurants were very busy. The ambiance was loud and high energy, appropriate for a holiday. We still received an immediate welcome and seating on the overwater deck. Service was timely and friendly (Madeline). We had the Lobster Roll and Clam Chowder. Both were as good as a seafood restaurant on the water should be. Appreciated the good list of local beers. Liars Bench Pale Ale is a solid local choice. Seafood isn't cheap, $100 for a simple dinner and drinks for 2. frank.w.santoro@gmail.com