One of our favorite summertime activities is to enjoy a beautiful sunny day dining oceanfront. We recently found ourselves in Portsmouth on such a day and decided to head over to Bow Street to enjoy some drinks and lunch on the deck at Poco's Bow Street Cantina. We’ve visited this restaurant before and there is no doubt that they have a beautiful location. We look forward to sharing our experience with our readers.
Keep in mind that this is a review of the upstairs outdoor seating area. They also have outdoor seating downstairs, a full dining room inside and a lot more food and drinks than are mentioned here.
You can see a picture of the deck below.
For those of you who need to be careful of the sun like yours truly some of the tables have umbrellas or if tanning is your game you will find that as well. We checked in with the hostess and scored a seat outside that blocked enough sun for me so I wouldn't burn but still kept my wife happy so she could enjoy the rays.
The views include the Portsmouth Harbor
and the tug boats.
There seems to be differing views on the tug boats in terms of whether you like them or not but for us we think they add charm to the area. Now on to the cocktails.
We started out with a couple of drinks and there is nothing better than a refreshing margarita. Our choice was the Alamo:
Made with Hornitos Reposado, Cointreau, and Poco’s special mix certainly hit the spot on a warm day.
Once my wife finished her margarita, she decided to order a glass of Sangria.
The combination of the red wine, brandy, and fruit was very refreshing. She enjoyed this very much. Since you can order the Sangria by the glass or pitcher we decided to order a pitcher on our next visit.
Next let's talk about the the food and given that it was the middle of the day we didn't want to get something too heavy. If you are going to order an appetizer I strongly recommend that you try their nachos which I think are some of the best around. They are hand cut with a spicy seasoning added for an extra punch.
We ordered the Buffalo Chicken:
These are the Bow Street Nachos covered in crispy fried chicken bites and bleu cheese dressing, delicious! Be warned that the orders are huge so unless you are famished or are dining with your family, the small will be plenty filling.
Next up was the Queso Blanco Burrito:
My wife decided to try this and I wasn’t sure that I had any room after the nachos. However, when it arrived, I couldn’t help but sample it and we both enjoyed the white cheese sauce. So many Mexican restaurants only serve red or green sauce and this was a nice change of pace. The burrito was filled with beef, jalapeños, rice, beans, corn and melted cheese. Then topped with Queso Blanco cheese sauce and served with salsa and sour cream.
So if you find yourself on the Seacoast and are looking for a restaurant on the water for food and drinks the Deck at Poco's Bow Street Cantina is a good option.