Mache Bistro

Best place to eat on the Island!

We returned again this year and were rewarded with our best meal of the summer anywhere. The cold calamari salad was exquisite with just a hint of dressing. Our companions loved their spinach salad. We mostly eat fish when on the island. We had both the salmon, which was perfectly cooked and seasoned and the scallops which my spouse said were the best ever. For dessert we had the blackberry cabernet sorbet with poached pear. MMMM.
The service was attentive without fawning.
We’ll be back again. Our favorite restaurant in bar harbor.
Sorry no pix but I still think that’s rude.

Definitely the best dinner in the Island. Located in a small old house on Main Street, the interior is plain, crowded and noisy. But the server, Emily was pleasant and knowledgeable about the menu items and accurately answered our questions. The salad starters were small as noted by other reviewers but tasty. The poached pear served with truffle honey & goat cheese could have used salad greens to make it work. The duck fat liver pâté would be best shared as an appetizer for the table– too rich to eat for one. My lobster tartine was really a mini lobster roll which I could have shared but selfishly did not.

My husband and i both agree that our dinner at Mache was the best of the summer (and we’re from New York!!). the food was imaginative, beautifully presented with layers of interesting flavor, including the bread and their special herb oil. we sat outside which was breezy and comfortable. but best of all was our server. unfortunately, i don’t think i ever got to know her name, but based on a previous review i read, i’m thinking it might have been emily. she was attentive, warm, and knowledgeable and we had a fun conversation about french versus american chardonnays. If you read this, emily, thank you for a memorable evening (we’re the 2 guys from new york on tues. evening, ⁹⁄₈).

This restaurant provides excellent food and beverages. Because it has a small dining area, reservations are recommended. We had the pepper appetizer and the vegetable stack. Well prepared and delicious. Cocktails were well prepared also.

Best meal of the summer! This restaurant is owned by a wonderful couple who live year around in Bar Harbor. The food and service shows their love for this wonderful part of the country. Located near the end of the busy main street, it is worth the short walk with easy parking a block away near the athletic fields. A nice selection of wines and craft beers compliment the dinner menu. The chocolate flourless dessert was outstanding.

We’ve visited Mâché over the years many times. Its newest iteration is by far the best – in fact arguably the best restaurant in Bar Harbor area. Chef-​owned, focus on local, small plate and entre size options, and daily menu makes this place a food-​lovers paradise. Add to that excellent service, small but good (and very reasonable) wine list, and restful décor, and you have a winner. My only dings would be: uninspired art in the walls (particularly with so many good local artists) and long bathroom waits. Check my reviews too of Havana, Burning Tree, and Red Sky.

While Mache Bistro has been my top go to in Bar Harbor for many year, last night was a disappointment. It started with the very tart greeting (or lack thereof) by the hostess. After telling us she would be with us shortly while she seemed to be doing nothing important she sat us. I asked about my favorite waiter, Houston, and was told he is no longer there. That is a HUGE loss for this restaurant. While our server was professional, she was more robot like coming by with no real interaction. I had to pour our wine and the food was not up to the standard it has been in the past. The salad with goat cheese and blueberries was embarrassing. With a few pine nuts hidden and a small amount of lettuce, it was nothing special. I have always given Mache Bistro my number one recommendation to people visiting. I will try once more this summer but it is now on my watch list.

Service was amazing, the swordfish entrée was perfect as was the scallops-​you must eat here.

Mache is now in a new location, having moved from their cramped space on Cottage Street to a more comfortable (though really not that much larger) space just beyond the town on Main Street. The atmosphere is spare with French prints on the walls. The color is a cold, blue-​gray with white woodwork. Wait staff were friendly and knowledgeable. One customer asked for a skirt steak entrée he read about online but was not on tonight’s menu. The server asked the chef and there was one left, so it was made; the customer was accommodated and seemed happy and satisfied. I had the only vegetarian entrée on the menu: portobello mushroom on a bed of white beans. That may not sound like much of an entrée, but somehow the mushrooms and beans were loaded with flavor. There were various textures and depth of flavors in this simple dish, which included chèvre and wilted greens. An appetizer of thinly sliced golden beets had crushed pistachios and crumbles of pungent, salty cheese. It was minimalistic and every bite had a surprise of flavor. I would have like more vegetarian and perhaps a vegan entrée offered, especially since the building was formerly occupied by the town’s only vegan restaurant which is now out of business. Nevertheless, Mache is what one might expect from a restaurant with strong French influences. I will definitely return and will recommend it to friends who appreciate exacting combinations of foods filled with flavor and texture.

If I could, I would give this place 3 and ½ stars, it just needs a nudge in the right direction. We visited Mache Bistro memorial day weekend. I had heard good things and really wanted to like this place. The location is charming in an old renovated house, but the décor is a bit plain and stuffy. The food was all prepared with care and fresh ingredients. The seasoning was just lacking. The flavors of our apps and entrees were just not developed to the level I expected at this price point. The star of the evening was the pain perdu for dessert– delicious olive oil pound cake soaked in sweet milk, I would go back just to have it again!

Visiting Bar Harbor for the first time. Had a 7:30 res. Called the restaurant to say we were running 20 minutes late and the gal who answered said no problem. When we arrived they told us they gave our table away and denied receiving our call. A lot of ways to handle us– they chose not to invite us to the bar to eat/​wait– instead we were asked to leave! Seriously? In Bar Harbor? visiting from SoCal home of the pretentious restaurant right– We laughed our way down the street to another place.

This is obviously an establishment that is trying to be 5-​stars, but the food was a complete miss. Particular disappointments were: my steak, which was served bleeding, leaving me a blood-​filled plate by the time I was done; the stuffed pepper appetizer, which was extremely sweet and seemed like something your 3^rd-​grader might make; and near-​total lack of vegetables, which was particularly weird given the farm-​to-​table them they seem to be going for. The hubs’ fish dish was positively DROWNING in oil. Neither of us have ever seen anything like this, and the excessive oil ruined the dish (which also lacked any real flavor).
The restaurant was also horribly loud the night we went. This was partially due to one very loud table, but also due to the space, which lacks any textiles or other sound absorbers (hello, acoustical tiles?!). Many tables around us complained, so many had an unpleasantly loud meal that night. I see other reviews from other visits mention this also, so it’s not just a one-​off experience. This is just a major fail and certainly not a 5-​star experience. Mache — this can be remedied! Get some sound absorbers in there and nicely ask over-​loud tables to quiet down.
Wine list was fine. Our server was elegant and he deserves to be in a true fine dining establishment.
Bottom line: avoid. Not worth the $ 150 or so you’ll spend for 2 people.

Mache was a real disappointment. 3 stars is being generous as they do seem to be trying but it was far from the experience we expected based on other Unilocalers. To begin, the service was quite good. Our server was very professional and handled a somewhat difficult situation in our asking to move away from some loudmouth loons at a nearby table. Not a lot of options as the space is limited and the restaurant was pretty much full but he managed to get us out into the front room and it did improve things for us. The rest of service was welcoming, courteous and competent. The room is also just too noisy — basically devoid or any «soft» surfaces or textiles and I don’t even think linen on the tables. The food was just meh and featured some real problems. We shared the stuffed pepper appetizer. I see others refer to this as being stuffed with lobster but on our visit it was just w/​goat cheese, raisins, nuts, etc. It was a cold, boring nothing — kind of like an old Good Housekeeping recipe or something. The best food we had that evening was the salads. My simple greens w/​a maple dressing was perfect and delicious and my wife’s excellent grilled romaine (grilled romaine is so hot right now.) w/​a mushroom dressing was the hit of the night and really outstanding. Unfortunately the entrees were both really quite bad. I got the sauteed mahi mahi w/​gremolata on top of some polenta. The fish was OK but the gremolata was nasty basically some old/​bitter herbs and mostly just oil. The plate ended up being a mess of this slopping around into the slimy grits — neither appetizing or tasty. This was a very poorly conceived dish from the get go and would have been much better w/​some of that mushroom dressing from the salad. My wife got a small plate of a hanger steak. The steak had not rested and her plate quickly ended up being a bloody sloppy mess (w/​a medium cook) with these juices mixing in w/​the polenta or mash (?). Nothing special about it so again a pretty poorly conceived and executed plate. Mache does seem to be trying but there are certainly better dining options in Bar Harbor.

After reading several stellar reviews of Mâche, we were really looking forward to dinner there. We were disappointed that the meal and the overall experience did not live up to the rave reviews. The food was very good, but not outstanding. We shared an appetizer of two kinds of lamb sausage with pita points and hummus that was merely good. I ordered the duck confit served over creamy polenta for the main course. The duck was tender and tasty, but no different from what I have had at other places. There was nothing to make it special. Moreover, I noticed that the creamy polenta also served as the underpinning for several other choices on the menu. That is lazy menu planning. A really fine restaurant should match each entrée choice with its own distinctive accompaniments. My dinner partner enjoyed her pumpkin-​dusted scallops, and we both liked our desserts, mine a lemon mascarpone pie with a burnt ginger cookie crust and hers a peach sorbet.
Based on the food alone, I would award Mâche a solid four stars, but I have to deduct a star for the service. I realize that restaurants expect to turn over tables several times each night, but this should not be so obvious to diners that they feel they are being rushed. We felt as if we had been put on a time clock. Our food was brought out unusually quickly after we ordered. Our plates were picked up almost as soon as we put our forks down after the last bite. Right after that the check arrived. My companion was in the ladies room and overheard a server complaining to another server that the people at one of her tables still had not left. This is not the attitude that a good restaurant should have toward its customers. We did not have this experience at any other restaurant during our two-​week trip to Maine.

I absolutely love this place! By far the best restaurant in Bar Harbor. We live just outside of Portland (foodie town) & this place could compete with Portland’s best. Food fantastic and the service was without a hitch and very attentive. They nailed it! My 2^nd year in a row to the restaurant and I already can’t wait to return!

Meh food. Decent service. Annoying check in. If you call and tell me my reservation is at 7:30, don’t tell me it’s at 8 when I arrive.
Had the skirt steak and goat cheese/​lobster peppers. Felt sick to my stomach before I got home and I personally make a better tasting steak. Mom had the Arctic char and liked it.
Wish I would have gone to Havana instead.

Chose this place for a special dinner with my Girlfriend on our vacation, based on reviews from several sources. It was outstanding in every sense. The restaurant is in an old house with nice ambiance. The service was outstanding and our main server, Emma, was dead on with her suggestions and descriptions, from the wine to the dessert. She was very knowledgeable about the menu and inquisitive about our tastes and what we were looking for, and based her guidance on our answers. The Char and the scallops were excellent. The lobster stuffed piquillo peppers were delicious, as was the chocolate torte. I recommend Mâche unequivocally!

Our meal at Mâché was wonderful. The atmosphere and service were exceptional. They did not hover but were constantly around for anything we needed.
The food was delicious. We had, collectively, the poached pear and the tomato/​lobster stack appetizers. For the mains, we had duck confit and the swordfish. All the flavor combinations were superb, presentation done very well, and all very very tasty.
Reasonably priced for what you are getting, for a great meal I’d definitely send you to Mâché.