Cyndi’s Dockside

A definite hit and miss as far as both service and food. Sometimes great food sometimes not so much. Found better service by being seated upstairs but sometimes the local bar Flys can get loud. Always worth a chance especially for this area which is mostly pizza & subs.

Husband raved about the Haddock boat. Slow service. If you are handicapped you eat downstairs which is fine, but you have to walk outside and around the building to get to the bathroom upstairs.

Food was delicious. Great prices. Ask for Taylor, she’s a great waitress. A must restaurant to visit while in Maine.

Meh. The scallops – that used to be served whole– are now cut in half. Used to be better and the staff is hit or miss.

We waited over one hour to receive our food. The blackend haddock was awful. We saw regulars came, eat and leave while we sat waiting. Bartender unfriendly. Waitresses overburden under the stress of handling too many tables. Will never go there again.
It appears if you are perceived as an non regular you are treated differently.(Not well)

I had the fried clam dinner and it was great. More food then I could eat. I recommend the seasons potato wedges. My wife had chicken fingers and thought they were great as well. The seafood chowder was excellent and we got seated fast. We water about 5 min for the server to notice us and then the service was very good. Food came out fast. Very satisfied.

Was up in Maine last weekend, and had heard good things about this place. But do you know what? A 45 minute wait to be seated is fine. A 45 minute wait for bread? An hour and a half wait for a small appetizer salad, which didn’t even come out before the dinner? Not ok. I wouldn’t ever come back here. Who cares how good the food is if you can’t get it?
Warning: If anyone in your group gets hangry, I would steer FAR away from here.

HORRIBLE service. I will never come back here. I’d highly recommend going somewhere else. Can’t review the food, because even though we sat down and ordered over an hour ago we haven’t even gotten our appetizer salads yet, much less dinner. Nobody on our floor has any food either, besides a table of locals who sat down 30 minutes after us and already has soup.
Update: still no food. 1 hour 10 minutes
Update 2: food came after 1:25, 3 of 5 orders were wrong.
This place is a nightmare. DON’T COME HERE.

One of my favorite restaurants in all of Maine. Seafood is always fresh & delicious! Pan seared scallops are awesome! Best baked haddock I’ve ever had. The clam chowder iis another favorite. Love the seasoned potato wedges as well. Excellent!

Great food and prices with a beautiful water view. I had the Lazy Mans Lobster pie and it was fabulous!

We stopped at Cyndis on our way to Bethel during a very low-​key bachelor party. The restaurant is located by a lake, providing nice views and a relaxed atmosphere.
For my meal, I ordered a cup of the seafood chowder and a full haddock boat. The chowder was excellent — the perfect thickness and big chunks of fish, clams and lobster. The haddock boat was gigantic, and very good. The batter was tasty, if not a bit heavy. The fish was fresh. All in all, it was a great meal.
The only issues I had were with the service and prices. The service was slow, and the place wasn’t even very crowded. It was summer, but the area is busiest in the winter, so I don’t even want to know how long it would have taken during ski season. Though the food was good, it was definitely overpriced. That’s what you get when you are the only joint in town.
I would probably stop here again if in the area, maybe only for a bowl of the seafood chowder.

Today I had lunch here and again, it was a great meal. The lobster salad sandwich was very reasonably priced and delicious. The service was fast and friendly.

Stay away. Terrible!
In summary:
The food was mediocre, the atmosphere was lacking, and the service was abysmal. Overpriced and overrated — because it’s about the only available option in this area. Keep driving, even if you’re starved.
Details:
My mom, aunt and I were looking for a late lunch while waiting for a tour at the nearby Shaker village. We saw the parking lot was full so we pulled in for a bite. The lower level of the restaurant looked cozy but it was full. We waited in the entry to be seated or at least speak with a server, but none came. We took it upon ourselves to walk upstairs to the second level seating area. Totally lacked the coziness of the first floor, loud and with a bar that took up most of the room. We saw a few servers who walked right past us without making eye contact. Then we saw an employee presumably taking his break, sitting and reading a book among the upstairs customers, which seemed strange and unprofessional. He looked up at us and said, oh, did you want to sit here? We declined given that he was at a table for two and we needed one for three. There didn’t appear to be one available, but we then noticed right next to him a couple was seated at a joint table set for six. We had to prompt him, if they are dining alone, can you separate the tables? He obliged and we were seated. Our waitress was extremely unfriendly and wouldn’t make eye contact. I later observed her seat two tables and after 10 minutes look at the customers who were clearly ready to order while she wrapped silverware and chatted with other servers. All the servers in the place were acting like it was a seasonal joint and this was their closing day and they just couldn’t wait to leave. Very strange.
The prices of the menu items were high for what we got — and we waited over 30 minutes for two over-mayo’d lobster salads on cheap burger buns, a chicken wrap, and fries that were absolutely cold. I mean COLD. All food items served on paper plates or on wax paper in plastic baskets and plastic disposable cups. We asked the server for hot fries and surprisingly, she got them to us quickly.
I’m a local and honestly I was embarrased at pumping this place up to my visiting relatives based on what I had heard. I guess if it’s your only option in town, you have a skewed perspective. My advice — keep driving.

Stopped for lunch for the first time. We both ordered hamburgers medium rare. They were cooked perfectly. The flavor was outstanding. Our server was terrific and the restaurant was clean and comfortable. Will come again.

FOOD:
The food was fresh and tasty. The portion on the fried haddock plate was enormous, and the breading on the fish was thin and crispy.
BEER:
But I must warn anyone who reads the other reviews talking about how they have a good selection of craft beer. They don’t. I mean, they have a handful of local craft beers, but nothing to write home about whatsoever. We were pretty disappointed with the beer options. Nothing dark and interesting. I mean, if Sam Adams Octoberfest is your idea of a good selection of craft beer, ok, but it’s not an impressive beer list at all. We got red ale, which was the only one that looked kind of flavorful, but it was pretty boring. Probably for that area, it’s well above average for its beer list, but I’m just saying, don’t come here for the beer, come here for the food and the atmosphere.
ATMOSPHERE
Can’t beat the atmosphere. Really nice place.
SERVICE
The service was excellent.

We stopped by Cyndi’s on our way up to Maine. it’s a nice family location and it is in fact dockside. We were seated upstairs where they had smaller tables and only later realized we could have ordered outside to sit at some picnic tables under the sun. Alas, we were pretty cool sitting indoors too.
There was a sign outside that read «Come try our Baked Haddock!» So I did. The bf got the seared haddock sandwich. I think we both got fries and coleslaw with ours although I seem to remember the bf reaching over to eat some of my fries… For some reason my haddock didn’t come with tartar sauce but his did. I was pretty happy with my meal. The breading was kind of falling off but haddock is haddock.
They serve everything on paper and plastic plates even indoors which makes me worry a bit for people who come here for a romantic first date…
Their beer list looked pretty nice but we were driving so we didn’t get any of their local varieties. Overall though I’m glad we stopped here for lunch. It definitely helps that they were one of the only places on Unilocal for miles!

I’ve been here countless times since this place changed from what was well known as The Flying Lobster. The location on the way to the highway and on a wonderful lake is the perfect pit stop. I was extremely disappointed at the change but Cyndi’s has been pulling their end. I don’t personally appreciate how everything is served on cheap plastic dinnerware, which doesn’t really make the food taste any worse, but as they say, presentation is everything! I always get the baked haddock, with the side of veggie of the day & wild rice. That’s probably one of the healthiest options there because the rest of the seafood is generally fried. Their special of all you can eat fried clams is delicious! (Even I agree, which is big for someone who would never choose a fried option.) overall, the restaraunt and bar upstairs is ALWAYS filled with locals which creates a «homie.» The waitresses and bar tender and extremely courteous and the owner, Cyndi is always walking around making sure the orders are just right. If you ever feel like a seemingly home cooked meal with the benefit of not actually doing anything and getting served, go straight to cyndi’s!

When they are crowder, like the 4^th, apparently the wait staff falls apart.
We saw the waitress we placed our order with get into a truck and drive away 5 min later. No meal, bedlam and outrageous pricing for local fish. Keep driving east.

If you like a nice restaurant that has good food then go here.
The dockside has good food but not much variety. Their menu consists of 3 pages, so if you go there often it gets a tad bit boring.
The dockside has great atmosphere and the people are great. You can eat outdoors in summer right next to Middle Range Pond in Poland, Maine. It has a nice view when outdoors and inside.
Overall I gave the dockside a 3 star because of the view, people, and food. For the dockside to have a 4 or 5 star it needs a bigger better menu and some upgrades inside.
I hope this helped and enjoy.

Cyndi’s is warm, charming and the food is great! Their seafood is fresh and perfectly prepared. My husband is not a seafood fan, but raves about Cyndi’s fish and chips. We usually sit in the lower dining room with the stone fireplace. Its is sufficiently romantic for a date night, but is also a great cozy daytime spot for a family dinner. The kids love watching the lobsters in the tank and the staff has always been exceptionally helpful. The beer and wine choices also satisfy our snobbery.
The only drawback is a smaller menu, but I imagine that is how they mange to be so good at the items they do prepare. This is a great stop on route 26!