Nina June — Restaurant in Rockport

My wife & I went to Nina June to celebrate our 45th wedding anniversary. 1st, we arrived about 5:20 & they don't open until 5:30 and we were asked to go back out & wait outside. 2nd, We were seated at a table out on the deck at a table so small there was hardly any room to put a dish of food on it. The chairs were small metal folding chairs, so small that our butts hung out the back side of the chair. (We are both thin, so this should not have been a problem). It started to get very chilly, so we asked if we could move inside. The waitress went to check on a table for us inside & came back & said they had one, but that we would have to be sure to be done with our dinner by 7:30 P.M., because they needed the table for someone else. That meant we had only 1 hour & 1/2 & our food order had just been put in at 6:00 P.M. & we had not even had our appetizers yet. We have eaten all over the world & the U.S., and we have never been slapped with a time limit & asked to vacate the table by a particular time. This restaurant is supposed to be run by a world class Chef, that maybe the case, but there hospitality sucks!!!!

When the 1st course came (a cheese board with fruit, crackers, bread& 2 cheeses, one of the cheeses was very a hard cheddar, which was very tasty, but we were not served anything to cut it with, so we had to break it apart with our hands. When our entree's came (grass fed hanger steak) they were very eye appealing but, we had asked for them to be cooked medium rare. They were both cooked Pittsburgh style, burnt on the outside & very rare in the middle. My steak had a funky smell & taste to it and both our steaks were so chewy, each of us had to remove 4 or 5 separate pieces from our mouth & put them in our napkins. We would of stayed & had some after dinner drinks, despite the dismal treatment & food, but as I said before we had to vacate the table in about 15:00 minutes and could not stay any longer. We are very disappointed in the way we were treated & in the food.

We will never go back & we will not recommend Nina June to anyone. I hope the place makes it, but in order to do that, they need to make some major improvements, in their hospitality, seating areas & their food. Also turn down the damn music. It was so loud we had to keep leaning in over the table to hear each other talk. We chose this place for very special day in our lives, You only have a 45 year wedding anniversary once in you life, & Nina June was a real damper on the occasion!!!!! Thanks ...

I'm still thinking -- and drooling -- about our recent dinner at Nina June in Rockport, Maine. What a lovely restaurant. One of the best views in all of Maine for dinner? Quite possibly. Incredible food, amazing service... Nina June gave us a night to remember.

Our friend made a reservation for our party of three, and our table was ready as soon as we arrived. There's a parking lot right below the restaurant, which they seem to share with other businesses, and we were able to snag a spot easily. The moment I walked into the beautiful building where the restaurant is housed, I gasped -- it was just so stunning. Maybe it was the pink hue of the sky, or the smell from the kitchen, or the ambiance? Either way, all of my senses were lit up before we even sat down.

We started with cocktails on the balcony to soak up the sunset (highly recommend -- shoutout to the sommelier for the idea, and for offering to take our group photo!). The Sidecar Veneziana (cognac, pear grappa, lemon, dry curaçao) was to die for, and my friends loved their drinks too. After admiring the view (seriously... WHAT a view), we ordered pretty much everything on the menu... it all looked that good.

Every dish delivered. We left dinner totally full; honestly, we struggled to finish some plates, and I went in expecting smaller portions. Not complaining! The mussels were some of the best I've ever had, soaked in a dark beer and fennel sauce and they tasted like butter. The little gem lettuce salad was a hit; even my blue cheese-hating husband loved it... and don't get me started on those chunks of bacon it came with. And the pastas... I could write a whole separate review on the pastas alone. We all ordered different ones, and I'm still debating which was my favorite, but I think it was my friend's: the pasta al limone with Maine crab. Absolute perfection. We finished things off with gelato and pavlova ( we somehow made room???).

Special shoutout to the staff -- they were incredible. I asked what time the kitchen closed (we were the last ones there), and they told us not to worry or rush. The restaurant closed at 9 PM and we didn't leave until 10:20, but we never felt pushed out. They were incredibly thoughtful and gracious from start to finish.

We can't wait to go back, and next time, I'm definitely snagging one of those...

Nīna June was such a special dinner for our last night in Maine, our first time there. I only realize now it was the chef Sara Jenkins herself who welcomed us and sat us down at our table with painting like views and magic light of Rockport Harbor, and who later politely smiled at my newly 2 year old daughter quickly expiring after dinner, running around the outer halls… Anyways, we feel so lucky to have been there and so well fed, our whole family. The menu was small and simple and unfussy. It was easy to make choices. We chose the mussels over the oysters, only because we were staying nearby to Aphrodite’s in Spruce Head, and enjoyed them at home daily. The mussels were so delicious and lemony, garlicky, and with the flavors of the white wine. Our waitress Ali and Chip the sommelier both brought us more homemade bread to finish the last drops. Their service was so warm, and conversational. We tried to book an early reservation so as not to disturb other diners with our kids, but we never were made to feel like an inconvenience, which was nice. We long to feed our family good food, and also enjoy ourselves, when we (infrequently) can. The antipasto della cassa was balanced with figs, seeds, almonds, homemade breadsticks, duck pate, meats whose names I can’t remember, and ditto for the cheeses. It was all perfect and fresh. We had ramps that were tender and green. Our daughters loved and finished every last bite of the duck egg tagliatelle. The halibut with spring peas and radishes was delicious too. I can’t wait to return, to Maine and to Nīna June. I feel lucky to have experienced this all still in the “off” season, when Maine is just now warming up...