Veranda at Balance Rock Inn — Restaurant in Bar Harbor

First of all, we agree with the many platitudes regarding the intimate setting and wonderful views out onto Frenchman Bay from the Veranda Restaurant at Balance Rock Inn. Also, this is not a review of the quality of the food here, but an important notice to anyone who has food allergies. Please be forewarned that this chef has the most stringent policy we have ever experienced regarding patrons with food allergies. For those who check out the restaurant's website before making a reservation, they do state that “we can accommodate most dietary restrictions with advanced notice”. Also, if you use their website to make a reservation, they do note: “We require 24-hour advance notice of any dietary restrictions or allergies so we are able to make special accommodations”. All of this is fair and mostly reasonable as the restaurant’s prerogative. My wife is allergic to all forms of shell fish and usually notes this when making dinner reservations either online, (OpenTable), or via telephone directly with a restaurant. For this particular dinner, she had forgotten to make that note when speaking with the Inn several months in advance when she called to make our dinner reservation as well as room reservation in the Inn, where we have stayed on and off over the past 14 years. On the evening of our dinner and once seated at our table having given our dinner orders, where my wife ordered the trout entree, she told our waiter about her shell fish allergy. Several minutes later, the hostess came over to our table and informed us that the chef could not guarantee that the trout dish would not be contaminated by shell fish. We were surprised at that, but accepting this caveat and she changed her order to a beef entree. The hostess came back several minutes later and informed us that the chef could not guarantee that the beef entree, or for that matter, any of their entrees, would not have come into contact with some part of shell fish. We have traveled extensively, both domestically and internationally and dined in many fine restaurants. This is the first time that we have ever encountered a chef who is so paranoid about his inability to separate shell fish from other prepared food in his kitchen, to claim that it is possible that everything on his menu could be somehow contaminated with shell fish! Shocked at this extreme declaration, we realized that our hoped-for nice dinner at The Veranda Restaurant was not going to materialize and we decided to leave and find another restaurant that would be able accommodate patrons with food allergies, without providing advanced notice, (i.e.: most other restaurants...). We also canceled our dinner reservation at The Terrace Restaurant scheduled for three days later. It is a shame that this chef is so insecure about how he and his staff prepare food in their kitchen and that he is so absolutely dogmatic and intolerant about being able to deal with patrons with food allergies, without being told in advance. The food the kitchen produces may be very good, but this experience left a bad impression and we will not return, even with advanced notice of a food allergy. So please be forewarned and act...

This was the best meal I had in Maine, and one of the best meals in my life. I am worried that many people will miss this place since it lies at the end of a secluded side street at the end of a main road, so unless you want to go here on purpose, you will not see it from the street and could easily go about your business never knowing its existence. I found this place by searching for ‘romantic restaurants’ while doing my vacation research, since this was going to be my one nice date night with my husband while we had a babysitter on vacation, and I am so glad we chose this place.

I have never had a tasting menu- but it’s been on my bucket list for a long time. The menu, or Guidebook as they call it, is filled with small one line poems, riddles, and puns. I had a great time thinking about what would be on the next plate, and talked with our lovely server about this. We ordered some wine, but the server couldn't find it anywhere in the restaurant. We ordered a different bottle but she gave it to us for the price of the original one we requested- which was very nice of her. The presentation of each dish was breathtaking. Each choice of plate and bowl were carefully thought out. We had venison, scallops, prawns, truffles, duck, caviar, ice cream, and more. One after the other, more gorgeous and more complex.

The decor of the restaurant was thoughtful and upscale but not intimidating. The bathroom was underneath the stairs- which sounds silly but was beautiful and roomy, with a gold duck faucet! Out back there is a fire pit that you can enjoy, with blankets if you get chilly. We sat out there with our coffee and met and spoke with some other vacationers and had a lovely time.

The place manages to be very high end but not uninviting. It remains refined but not off-putting, which a lot of nicer places can be. You don’t get the imposter feeling dining here, but you do feel super pampered. I wish this place was close so I could visit again, and I wish I had enjoyed the bar on another night.

Next time I am in Maine I will definitely be...

The host alone dropped this at least a star. Rude and pretentious. Muttering under her breath that we showed up early for our reservation by ~20 minutes, so she pointed us to the outdoor patio for drinks while our table was being turned over for our reservation. Ok, fine (despite the place having open tables).

But rather than what a legit restaurant with good customer service would do, we had to bug our server to see if our table was ready after we had a drink, sure enough it was (thanks for telling us), and then she had us go back inside to the hostess to be seated, while our table was 20 feet from us outside. Like you couldn’t just bring us to our table without having us go all the way back in.

While she was the star of the show, this restaurant is missing the mark in a few other areas. It tries to look and act fancy but gives off more of a tacky vibe. It’s poorly run (customer service shouldn’t be deprioritized at any respectable restaurant), pretentious (pretentious is never warranted, but especially at a place in Bar Harbor without accolades), and frankly overpriced for what you experience and eat. Our server (nice enough guy) was just going through the menu like he worked at the Cheesecake Factory, the food was mediocre at best (particularly the bland smoked salmon), and even small things like assigning dishes and silverware to my wife and I based on what food item they chose to assign us (“the lady must want the risotto so she gets a spoon and the man must want the duck so he gets a knife”) despite wanting to share a few different items (standard procedure in 2022). Top it off with the demographic that dines here. You feel like you’re in a bible camp surrounded by stuck-up, older white folks from the south, dressed like they’re in 1955. If that’s your cup of tea, hell you might give this 4-5 stars.

With all that said, I probably wouldn’t have even reviewed this place if it wasn’t for...