Emma G.
Yelp
Barnacle Bill's has been on my radar for years at this point due to its reputation for quality bovine. I wasn't in the mood for a hamburger though when I came here, and maybe that was part of the problem. Regardless, as often happens with places like this, I left feeling it was a bit overrated.
My chum and I came here pretty famished after a hike this past Sunday in nearby Gateway/Sandy Hook. It was unseasonably warm and I was in the mood for some seafood to maximize the Jersey Shore experience. I'd say we got here around 3pm, so I was a little surprised at how crowded it was (though I don't think most people have a "normal" eating schedule on Sundays - brunch is tricky like that). The girl at the door told us it would be a 25-minute wait, so we made ourselves comfortable in some delightful Adirondack chairs outside right by the Navesink. Very pleasant, and we actually got the call for an available table after about 10 minutes. I love a dramatically overestimated wait time.
The interior was exactly what I expected. It has kind of a touristy vibe with oodles of nautical shizzle on the wall, but it also felt like a place where rich locals would come to slum, or at least as close as you can get to doing that in Rumson. It was loud and crowded; we had to carefully maneuver around tables to get to our seats. Their bar setup is really unique - they actually have a cooking area on the side facing the wall where it looked like the burgers were being prepared. I did wonder if there were any potential health code issues with having a part of the kitchen right in the middle of the bar like that but decided to leave that question for someone much better educated on the topic.
We opted to split the Old Bay Crab Dip appetizer ($15), and I selected the baked flounder entree ($24) with a side of baked potato. The crab dip was the star of the show. It's very tasty, though I didn't think it was the most visually appealing - it looked to have a lot of oily greasy pockets on the top. I'm not sure if that had anything to do with the Old Bay seasoning, which certainly gave it a darker, redder hue than I'm used to seeing with my crab dips. I thought the bread they used complemented the dip well; I'd say most of the time I've been given small loaves of sourdough, but this was slightly better in my opinion. Overall though, the best crab dip I've had in the area is at the Cloverleaf in Caldwell, and this doesn't quite reach that level. I'd order it again though. The flounder was fine, not too flaky, and pretty tasty. It was nothing necessarily to write home about, but I tend to think baked fish needs more seasoning than other types of prepped fish, so I'd recommend they focus on that going forward.
We each ordered a cocktail. I got the Mai Tai ($11.25), and my chum ordered the Bartenders Margarita ($9). Neither of us were particularly enthused about the drinks. I felt like mine was kind of tasteless, which made me think they went light on the curacao or were using a different liquor entirely. Also aesthetics-wise (and this really wasn't important), both drinks were just in generic soda glasses with minimal if any garnish. If the visuals are a high priority for you, keep that in mind.
The service was mediocre, unfortunately. Our early call from the girl at the door to come in was the high point and it went downhill from there. The waitress was civil but was noticeably overwhelmed/busy and distracted. We asked her multiple times for waters and never got them (I had to chug my water bottle in the car on the way home), and the second time I asked, she cut me off and said a little defensively that she would get the water for us. We may have just caught her at a bad time, but it definitely tainted the experience. The food itself came out pretty quickly, but anything involving direct interaction with the waitress was a bit of a crapshoot. Hopefully it was an aberration.
We drove about six miles out of the way to come here, passing several other intriguing eateries. I'd probably stop at one of those next time.
