Maribeth S.
Yelp
Our meal at Hamilton's Grill Room 20+ years ago had been so memorable, I searched the web to reserve a dinner for our anniversary, when we'd be staying in Stockton. Upset to learn that HGR had closed, I learned that Brian was back....at the aptly named "Brian's at the Grill", at the same great location!
I love it when a restauranteur has the confidence to design a dinner service that he knows will serve his diners best. We appreciated the beautiful prix fixe menu, with plenty of diverse choices for appetizer, entree and dessert. I guess we've been married 37 years, since we made the same choices...tuna tartare and grilled Swordfish with a delicate lemon, caper and butter sauce. Everything was perfect...the mashed potatoes and al dente veggies ...amazing.
We enjoy bringing our own wines and appreciate when the restaurant focuses solely on cooking and leaves the wine to us. And Lambertville has a wine shop a few blocks away.
The restaurant accepts cash, personal checks and Venmo. I actually found that refreshing, since Venmo is so simple and they made us well aware when we made our reservation. Many restaurants are now charging a credit card fee for the convenience of using a card, which they rarely disclose; we found using Venmo a great option.
Of course food reigns supreme, but not if the service is spotty or brusque. Patricia is a gem and greeted us so warmly and paced our meal graciously. She asked if we wanted to move on to our entree rather than assuming that the kitchen's timing matched ours. How often do you receive that type of treatment? We were stuffed after two courses and rather than pushing the pot de creme and bananas foster on us, again, she asked whether we'd prefer it in the restaurant or back at the hotel....and when we preferred the latter, she packaged them so we could take a breather! Pretty remarkable.
We felt we had a new friend by the end of the meal....she is a real asset and has been with Brian for maybe 14 years(?). Front of house excellence complements kitchen talent at this special, twinkling place.
We appreciated that we had the option of dining with them on a Monday night, when businesses may be closed in Lambertville or New Hope.
Brian's back and we're so glad we found him and Patricia. Enjoy!