Northern Union

There’s no better place on the east coast than Northern Union. Tim, Colleen, owners Lauren & Matt plus the entire staff make your meal an experience. The drinks & food are made to perfection every time. Our first night in OGT is always at Northern Union. It’s the sort of place you fondly reminisce about as the winter months crawl on toward yet another season in Maine.

A pleasant place, a wonderful waitress, and the smallest, least satisfying meal portion of any restaurant I've been to in my 65 years. The chef clearly doesn't consider why people go to dinner - because they're HUNGRY. (It's not just about him impressing us with his skills, or the presentation, sometimes we're actually HUNGRY). It was insulting and even comical how tiny the salmon was (with a few, yes a few, spears of asparagus) , or my girlfriend's dish of 5 Tortellini. No bread, no salad, nothing, just a shot glass for water on our table. We had to stop on our way back to our hotel to find something to snack on or I'd have gone to bed starving. I'm sure many others enjoyed their meal, the chef likely is a fine one, but I'll never go back there again. Shame on them for serving something so paltry. (and $15 for an equally paltry glass of house wine was ridiculous too). Suggestion to anyone considering this place - go with a full belly.

If I could give more stars I would!!! Northern Union exceeded my expectations. I originally had only dinner planned, but some other plans fell through and I asked if they could provide a private wine tasting. Tim helped me set up the tasting and it was incredible. We had charcuterie boards during the tasting as some appetizers. Afterwards we had more appetizers that were also incredible. Rob guided our tasting. He was so kind, wonderful and funny!! He was able to handle 8 loud women! Dinner was incredible, followed by dessert. They let us stay passed closing and said to take our time heading out. We didn’t feel rushed at all. Thank you again! We will definitely be back in the summer! Cheers!

Lovely place with a great vibe, broad wine list and very flavorful food. We had Melissa as our server and she was very attentive to our needs. After a couple of starters I chose the pork dish as my entree which had a beautiful presentation but unfortunately my food was COLD. I brought this to our server’s attention twice and on the way out I stopped by the desk and asked the server about my cold entree and according to Melissa my concern was brought to management’s attention. It’s a shame that management does not care about guest satisfaction. Too bad because this place has great potential but the lack of concern was completely unacceptable.

This is was our second time eating here. We returned because we were so impressed with our first visit over a year ago. We could not have been more disappointed. The portion sizes were insulting for the prices they charge. I completely understand smaller portion sizes at high quality restaurants but this was unacceptable. $34 for a tiny piece of halibut and 4 pieces of beets…. Our party of 4 spent almost $300 and left hungry. It’s unfortunate because the taste and atmosphere were both excellent. We will not be returning.

Saturday night brought a twist to date night for my wife and I. Phase 1 had us driving north into Maine to a place we had never been, Northern Union Restaurant & Bar in Ogunquit. It was such a beautiful evening, our reservations were for outside amongst the gardens. The setting was beautiful. We began with the Meat and Cheese Board(pic 2), which included Calabrese, Everett's Tomme, a cow cheese from Maine, Cremeux de Bourgogne, a cow brie from France. The Board had pickled red onions, a cranberry/peach chutney, local honey, and crispy bread. This was one of the best boards we've ever had. It was delicious and light. I enjoyed a glass of Salentein, a Malbec from Argentina. Perfect. For our main course, my wife ordered the Sweet Potato Tortelloni(pic 3). These were laid atop a carrot puree with oyster mushrooms, broccolini, and was accompanied by a parmesan foam. The presentation was stunning and very colorful. My wife said the flavors were exceptional and the ingredients were of high quality. She's still talking about it this morning. I ordered the Hanger Steak(pic 4) medium rare and a second glass of Salentein. My dish had a celery root puree in the middle of the plate surrounded by broccolini, pickled red onions, and the steak covered with chimichurri. The presentation was bright and colorful. The steak was cooked perfectly and exploded with amazing flavor. We ordered different desserts with my wife selecting the Tres Leches(pic 5). This had a Nutella mousse, a hazelnut cookie crumb, and dusted with a Nutella powder. OMG was that sinful!!! I ordered the Carrot Cake(pic 6). Many are heavy and extremely dense. This was not. It had a cream cheese buttercream center that was whipped and light. It also had carrot, caramel, and toasted coconut. I tried to savor it, but that was a difficult task given how good it was. Northern Union is a restaurant that will absolutely see us for a return visit. The staff was amazing and the service was excellent. Phase 2 of date night was tickets to see the amazingly fantastic Joan Osborne at Vinegar Hill in Arundel(pics 7-9). They put on an unforgettable show and Joan sang for more than 2 hrs. Got home around 10:30. What an unbelievable night!!!

I appreciated good food. I read in reviews that portions were small however portions are not relevant, but 4 tiny Tortellini in a very large bowl with tasteless miso broth, a couple of crisped tiny flakes of prosciutto and a few peas does not cut it. The broth had so little taste I thought I should take a Covid test. I also had the Foie Gras app. I specifically asked if it was real Foie Gras. Staff needs to be educated. No - it was a whipped mousse where they may have waved some fowl over it, in a ceremony. My wife had the beet salad and salmon. 5 slivers of a baby beet the size of a quarter. The salmon was good, what there was of it. We went back to our room and had cheese and crackers. Faux gourmet.