We went last night for our 25th anniversary and had a wonderful meal! In light of the occasion, they gave us a table by the window on the second floor, which was much appreciated.
The food was excellent and a great value! This is our new favorite restaurant in Portsmouth. They did a great job to make it a special experience for us.
We originally had a reservation for 7:45pm because that was the earliest available. However, when the reservation service sent an email reminder I clicked on 'manage reservation' and found there were earlier openings so I changed it to 7:15pm. Lesson learned that it is probably worth checking if you can move up the reservation when you get the reminder because some other people might have just cancelled.
Atmosphere: 5
Food: 5
Service: 5
Cleopatra
It’s sad for me to write this because this place USED to be outstanding & has an exceptional atmosphere. I had the melon salad & the sea bass which was halibut instead. The food was fresh and the fish was cooked well but every bite of everything I ate was extremely bland and severely lacking flavor. You could very easily get a much more flavorful meal elsewhere that cost less. Not once was I asked how my salad or meal was. The service was not great and the food, very bland. I will not be dinning here again.
Atmosphere: 5
Food: 2
Service: 2
Kira “NYC foodie”
The service from our server was impeccable from start to finish.
Love the Paella. Savory and flavorful. The special rib dish / medium plate - it was good. Do not love the radish, daikon & butter starter.
They try a little too hard on some of the dishes unfortunately the flavors don’t come together well.
Atmosphere: 4
Food: 3
Service: 5
Joshua Rosen
We've come here a number of times over the years. They now have a second floor which had a nice view of the harbor. The food has always been excellent. This time I had a clam and salami appetizer. The broth and clams were first rate, the salami was a mistake, it detracts from the dish. We both had the duck as the main course. We thought it was terrific.
Atmosphere: 5
Food: 4
Service: 4
Cynthia Mariano
I hesitate to give an honest review, because I live in this town, and the owner is well-loved here. But I feel compelled because of one area of our experience at Black Trumpet that stands out so clearly. The good: wonderful service by Marissa, our waiter, and young men who kept filling our water glasses. Very nice! The room is enchantingly historic and well kept. Nice ambiance! The bread, pino noir wine, and dessert (Enna’s chocolate-pistacchio pie) were all extraordinary. The bad: medium and main courses all sub-par. We ordered the medium sized dish as an appetizer. It was described to us so enticingly. Sounded so good. It was not. Mind you, we had skipped lunch on this day, our anniversary, to save room for lots of good food in the evening. We finished it, but not wanting to admit, while we ate it, how distasteful it was. I won’t even go into details because my stomach turns just thinking of it. Strong fishy odor and taste. Very unpleasant. Then came our mains. My husband was not happy with his duck meal, either, but I’m not going to speak for him. I ordered the sea bass, wrapped in a leaf on a bed of quinoa and a sauce. Sounds great, right? Not so. It had a similar and very strong fish odor and flavor that made me feel ill even before I took a bite. The meal was edible, and I ate it all, which was commented on when I issued my complaint. But there was nothing delicious about it, nothing intriguing or savory or tempting. It was simply edible. Not good, definitely not great. Overall each dish, aside from the bread and dessert, was small in portion size, served unadorned, drenched in sauces that were not enjoyable, either overcooked (veg) or undercooked (duck) and unattractive in appearance. I expected more in the way of garnishes, pretty flourishes of presentation, for such a high-priced restaurant. The plates were served in such a plain manner, like what you’d see at a diner. Unattractive as heck! We left with sick feelings in our stomachs, but oh, how we tried to enjoy our expensive night out on our anniversary! We tried keeping positive and keeping hopes high. I did tell the waitress that we were unhappy with the appetizer course and I did not enjoy my meal. I said I wanted to let them know before I went home and wrote a review, “because I do write reviews.” I never saw her again. She avoided us thereafter. The maitre d came over and gave us our check and a gift certificate, which I doubt we’ll use. He says they took off the dishes we had not liked. Oddly, he asked if I wished that he would let the kitchen know of our complaints. I assumed that would be a given, so I asked him what he meant and he repeated it. I said “yes, of course!” From here on the staff just made it all worse by a very cold and snooty treatment of us. That was probably the worst thing. You want to give honest feedback. You want them to learn and do better. All of us can improve on so many things. Is it really a crime to give your honest impression of a meal that wasn’t enjoyed? So we left feeling mistreated, which was the most imperfect ending to a most imperfect meal. We’ve had 33 dinners celebrating our wedding over the last 33 years. This was definitely the saddest experience of all. We got home and spent some time nurturing each other real good. Black Trumpet certainly didn’t.
Atmosphere: 5
Food: 2
Service: 5
Michael Murray
Food was amazing. Service could use some help. It was very busy so I could overlook some of the slow arrival of drinks. The fruit fly infestation however was disgusting. Within 2 minutes after receiving my drink I had a swimmer. So cover your drinks and ask to look at the bottle your mixed drinks are made from.
Atmosphere: 2
Food: 5
Service: 3
Barbara Reitz
Perfect !
Atmosphere: 5
Food: 5
Service: 5
Devin Kaya
Amazing place and food!
Atmosphere: 5
Food: 5
Service: 5
Mary Jane Rynd
Charming small restaurant with creative and delicious nenu. Fantastic service. Highly recommended.
Atmosphere: 5
Food: 5
Service: 5
Nancy Dansereau
First time in Portsmouth and could not have picked a better first night dinner. Made reservations ahead so no wait. We shared two appetizers, a medium plate and the seafood paella for our final course. Everything was delicious and filling. Dana was our server and was exceptionally helpful, including wine choice. Monica the hostess kicked off our dinner with “best seat in the house”!
God i wanted this place to be good, but it was average at best. Service and atmosphere were great, but the food was meh. Paella was dry and my tenderloin was drowning in sauce without taste. Expected more for the price. Also, it annoys me when a restaurant charges for soda refills. Maybe I caught them on an off day. Idk 🤷♂️
Atmosphere: 5
Food: 3
Service: 5
Pei-Ru Lin
I love the paella! But the soup is really small. Service and vibes are good.
Atmosphere: 4
Food: 4
Service: 4
Matt Cesario
The portions were exceptionally small for the price we paid. We were seated upstairs which was cramped and loud. Service was alright. Way over priced for what you get.
Atmosphere: 2
Food: 1
Service: 4
Justin Medas
My wife and I were on a quick weekend getaway to Portsmouth and read so many great things about Black Trumpet. The food, atmosphere and service were top notch. We didn’t have a reservation so we sat at the bar and we were served by John. He is incredibly knowledgeable and passionate about the drinks and cocktails he makes. He chatted us up and other patrons at the bar and made us feel like regulars. My wife and I split the lamb which was perfectly cooked served with zucchini, couscous, and a tomato spread. A great blend of flavors. The restaurant is small and intimate in a very old building with ton of history. We will certainly be back the next time we’re in the area
Atmosphere: 5
Food: 5
Service: 5
Patti OLeary
Delish !! From start to finish everything was fabulous! From the amazing door that you walked through to the woodwork and the brick and the old Portsmouth feel
The food was fabulous. It actually made my taste buds dance! If you are in the area, do yourself a favor and stop by. Staff is top-notch.
We went last night for our 25th anniversary and had a wonderful meal! In light of the occasion, they gave us a table by the window on the second floor, which was much appreciated.
The food was excellent and a great value! This is our new favorite restaurant in Portsmouth. They did a great job to make it a special experience for us.
We originally had a reservation for 7:45pm because that was the earliest available. However, when the reservation service sent an email reminder I clicked on 'manage reservation' and found there were earlier openings so I changed it to 7:15pm. Lesson learned that it is probably worth checking if you can move up the reservation when you get the reminder because some other people might have just cancelled.
Atmosphere: 5
Food: 5
Service: 5
It’s sad for me to write this because this place USED to be outstanding & has an exceptional atmosphere. I had the melon salad & the sea bass which was halibut instead. The food was fresh and the fish was cooked well but every bite of everything I ate was extremely bland and severely lacking flavor. You could very easily get a much more flavorful meal elsewhere that cost less. Not once was I asked how my salad or meal was. The service was not great and the food, very bland. I will not be dinning here again.
Atmosphere: 5
Food: 2
Service: 2
The service from our server was impeccable from start to finish.
Love the Paella. Savory and flavorful.
The special rib dish / medium plate - it was good.
Do not love the radish, daikon & butter starter.
They try a little too hard on some of the dishes unfortunately the flavors don’t come together well.
Atmosphere: 4
Food: 3
Service: 5
We've come here a number of times over the years. They now have a second floor which had a nice view of the harbor.
The food has always been excellent. This time I had a clam and salami appetizer. The broth and clams were first rate, the salami was a mistake, it detracts from the dish.
We both had the duck as the main course. We thought it was terrific.
Atmosphere: 5
Food: 4
Service: 4
I hesitate to give an honest review, because I live in this town, and the owner is well-loved here. But I feel compelled because of one area of our experience at Black Trumpet that stands out so clearly. The good: wonderful service by Marissa, our waiter, and young men who kept filling our water glasses. Very nice! The room is enchantingly historic and well kept. Nice ambiance! The bread, pino noir wine, and dessert (Enna’s chocolate-pistacchio pie) were all extraordinary.
The bad: medium and main courses all sub-par. We ordered the medium sized dish as an appetizer. It was described to us so enticingly. Sounded so good. It was not. Mind you, we had skipped lunch on this day, our anniversary, to save room for lots of good food in the evening. We finished it, but not wanting to admit, while we ate it, how distasteful it was. I won’t even go into details because my stomach turns just thinking of it. Strong fishy odor and taste. Very unpleasant. Then came our mains. My husband was not happy with his duck meal, either, but I’m not going to speak for him. I ordered the sea bass, wrapped in a leaf on a bed of quinoa and a sauce. Sounds great, right? Not so. It had a similar and very strong fish odor and flavor that made me feel ill even before I took a bite. The meal was edible, and I ate it all, which was commented on when I issued my complaint. But there was nothing delicious about it, nothing intriguing or savory or tempting. It was simply edible. Not good, definitely not great. Overall each dish, aside from the bread and dessert, was small in portion size, served unadorned, drenched in sauces that were not enjoyable, either overcooked (veg) or undercooked (duck) and unattractive in appearance. I expected more in the way of garnishes, pretty flourishes of presentation, for such a high-priced restaurant. The plates were served in such a plain manner, like what you’d see at a diner. Unattractive as heck! We left with sick feelings in our stomachs, but oh, how we tried to enjoy our expensive night out on our anniversary! We tried keeping positive and keeping hopes high. I did tell the waitress that we were unhappy with the appetizer course and I did not enjoy my meal. I said I wanted to let them know before I went home and wrote a review, “because I do write reviews.” I never saw her again. She avoided us thereafter. The maitre d came over and gave us our check and a gift certificate, which I doubt we’ll use. He says they took off the dishes we had not liked. Oddly, he asked if I wished that he would let the kitchen know of our complaints. I assumed that would be a given, so I asked him what he meant and he repeated it. I said “yes, of course!” From here on the staff just made it all worse by a very cold and snooty treatment of us. That was probably the worst thing. You want to give honest feedback. You want them to learn and do better. All of us can improve on so many things. Is it really a crime to give your honest impression of a meal that wasn’t enjoyed? So we left feeling mistreated, which was the most imperfect ending to a most imperfect meal. We’ve had 33 dinners celebrating our wedding over the last 33 years. This was definitely the saddest experience of all. We got home and spent some time nurturing each other real good. Black Trumpet certainly didn’t.
Atmosphere: 5
Food: 2
Service: 5
Food was amazing. Service could use some help. It was very busy so I could overlook some of the slow arrival of drinks. The fruit fly infestation however was disgusting. Within 2 minutes after receiving my drink I had a swimmer. So cover your drinks and ask to look at the bottle your mixed drinks are made from.
Atmosphere: 2
Food: 5
Service: 3
Perfect !
Atmosphere: 5
Food: 5
Service: 5
Amazing place and food!
Atmosphere: 5
Food: 5
Service: 5
Charming small restaurant with creative and delicious nenu. Fantastic service. Highly recommended.
Atmosphere: 5
Food: 5
Service: 5
First time in Portsmouth and could not have picked a better first night dinner. Made reservations ahead so no wait. We shared two appetizers, a medium plate and the seafood paella for our final course. Everything was delicious and filling. Dana was our server and was exceptionally helpful, including wine choice. Monica the hostess kicked off our dinner with “best seat in the house”!
Atmosphere: 5
Food: 5
Service: 5
Restaurantji Recommends
God i wanted this place to be good, but it was average at best. Service and atmosphere were great, but the food was meh. Paella was dry and my tenderloin was drowning in sauce without taste. Expected more for the price. Also, it annoys me when a restaurant charges for soda refills. Maybe I caught them on an off day. Idk 🤷♂️
Atmosphere: 5
Food: 3
Service: 5
I love the paella! But the soup is really small. Service and vibes are good.
Atmosphere: 4
Food: 4
Service: 4
The portions were exceptionally small for the price we paid. We were seated upstairs which was cramped and loud. Service was alright. Way over priced for what you get.
Atmosphere: 2
Food: 1
Service: 4
My wife and I were on a quick weekend getaway to Portsmouth and read so many great things about Black Trumpet. The food, atmosphere and service were top notch. We didn’t have a reservation so we sat at the bar and we were served by John. He is incredibly knowledgeable and passionate about the drinks and cocktails he makes. He chatted us up and other patrons at the bar and made us feel like regulars. My wife and I split the lamb which was perfectly cooked served with zucchini, couscous, and a tomato spread. A great blend of flavors. The restaurant is small and intimate in a very old building with ton of history. We will certainly be back the next time we’re in the area
Atmosphere: 5
Food: 5
Service: 5
Delish !! From start to finish everything was fabulous! From the amazing door that you walked through to the woodwork and the brick and the old Portsmouth feel The food was fabulous. It actually made my taste buds dance! If you are in the area, do yourself a favor and stop by. Staff is top-notch.
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