Filed under: Whelmed (rare enough around here that it’s worth noting)

We were staying at Lake St. Catherine in Wells and needed somewhere decent to eat, so I did what anyone does — googled “bars Poultney” and this came up with good reviews. Went with the wife, daughter, and cousin. For Poultney, this place is genuinely nice. That’s not a high bar to clear, but it cleared it.

We started with the Korean cauliflower — tempura cauliflower, Korean BBQ sauce, scallions, sesame seeds. Spicy, as advertised, and actually good. Strong start.

I had the seafood bucatini — lobster, mussels, shrimp, bucatini, white wine, lemon, garlic, butter, parsley. The bowl looked like it lost a fight with the kitchen, everything crammed in there, but it tasted great. I’m not going to hold presentation against a dish that delivers.

My cousin got the lobster tacos — two flour tortillas, hot butter lobster, corn salsa, avocado, lemon crema, scallions. She said they were excellent, no notes.

My wife ordered the caprese pasta — cavatappi, pesto, cherry tomatoes, burrata, shaved parmesan, pine nuts, basil, balsamic glaze. Same problem as my bucatini, but worse: portion was too big for the plate, and there was so much going on that the ingredients never really came together as a dish.

My daughter’s honey chipotle chicken was the low point. It came out blackened, essentially overcooked, and she struggled to eat it. One real miss on the table.

Service was a bright spot — small restaurant, plenty of servers, ours had a good read on when to check in and when to leave us alone. No complaints there.

Price was fair for what’s on the menu, but expensive for Poultney. Drinks especially felt like they were priced for a bigger town.

Verdict: Whelmed. Would go back. Skip the chicken.