Restaurants in Portsmouth

Although Keith and Terry Wygant look to the Mediterranean for 905 Cafe & Grill’s culinary inspiration, they strive to use ingredients that are close to home. Locally sourced fish sizzles in the kitchen, homemade burger patties never see the inside of a freezer, and the house chili—which, the menu asserts, should have its own Facebook page—simmers under Keith's careful supervision. Blackboard specials such as popcorn-shrimp po’ boys, meanwhile, add unpredictability to the menu, shifting alongside the bar's catalog of seasonal beers and cocktails.

From breakfast hashbrowns to Cajun tartar sauce, many meal components are homemade, fueling the restaurant's neighborhood charm. This laid-back vibe becomes even more palpable on the outdoor patio, where music often accompanies bites, or on Sangria Saturdays, a popular alternative to other restaurants’ Tap-Water Tuesdays.

Lumpia House’s namesake delicacy––lumpia––lures taste buds with its thin, fried-to-order crepe stuffed with savory meat fillings such as pork, chicken, and beef. Lumpia is one of the many beloved gems of Filipino cuisine that the restaurant proudly showcases in its cheerful dining room swathed in red, yellow, and orange hues. Lumpia House’s chefs dedicates a portion of the menu’s spotlight to pork, preparing it more than a dozen ways for aromatic dishes such as pork tocino, which plates sweetened, cured, and shredded pieces of the flavorful meat. After guests fill up on hearty entrees and fried rice, they can burn off recently earned calories by climbing onto the karaoke stage to sing their favorite songs and remind fellow diners to chew 27 times before swallowing. Lumpia House also honors the brave members of the US Armed Forces with an active-duty-military discount.

Kotobuki Japanese Restaurant is all about options—from the seats that patrons choose to sit in to the expansive menu with sushi, udon, chicken teriyaki, and numerous vegetarian and vegan dishes. Guests can relax at tables near the front of the restaurant or bypass the four-legged seats for a more traditional Japanese eating experience atop crimson cushions—with backs for comfort—that sit flush against a raised dining platform. Diners can also saddle up to the sushi bar, where culinary gurus fill specialty rolls with ingredients such as tempura-fried cream cheese, fatty tuna, and fried salmon.

Since opening in 1974, The Jewish Mother Backstage has hosted the likes of Dave Matthews, Hootie & the Blowfish, and Ice Cube. But despite its famous visitors and the media frenzy surrounding Ice Cube's melting accident, the New York–style deli still maintains a neighborhood atmosphere. Local and regional music acts fill the stage with groovy tunes, and the menu of hearty comfort fare is rooted in tradition, inspired by the owner's own Jewish mother. More than a dozen delicatessen sandwiches boast family names such as the Mother's Son reuben and the Mother's Sailor Friend, a split knockwurst with gooey swiss cheese and pastrami. Aromas of meatloaf fill the eatery at dinner, and breakfast service sates guests' early-morning hunger and desire to crow onstage.

Although crisp tablecloths and wood-paneled walls lend Royal Thai Cuisine's dining room a formal air, an attentive waitstaff and old-style Thai recipes help to keep the atmosphere homey. As guests peruse the menu of fragrant curries, stir-fried chicken, and roasted fish, servers patiently answer questions about specific dishes' ingredients and spice levels, which can be made mild or fiery. For added visual flair, some entrees arrive in a hollowed-out half-pineapple or the arms of a cardboard cutout of Cary Grant.

Since 1999, Rajput Indian Cuisine has been delighting taste buds with authentic Indian cuisine that's garnered glowing reviews and accolades, including three 2012 Virginian-Pilot Readers' Choice Awards for Best Vegetarian Menu, Best New Restaurant, and Best Indian Cuisine and a 2011 Hampton Roads Magazine Platinum Plate Award. Diners settle into crimson dining rooms with white-tablecloth-draped tables before savoring curries, tandoori delicacies, and spiced seafood with foliage and framed artwork hanging overhead. The restaurant welcomes vegetarian diners with an extensive roster of meat-free fodder, and chefs keep the operation green by incorporating organic ingredients and high-fiving every tree limb they pass.