Ewing Chic (Erini Restaurant and Bar)
Surprisingly ambitious food in Ewing, delivered at a fair price. Great desserts. Bargain for lunch. Reservations recommended
[Full Review] Ratings:
Surprisingly ambitious food in Ewing, delivered at a fair price. Great desserts. Bargain for lunch. Reservations recommended
Cafe Un, Deux, Trois is one of our “go to” places in New York City for a meal before a Broadway show. Cargot — an updated, Princeton-take on a similar dining concept — may assume a similar role for when we take in a show at McCarter (which is literally across the street). Cargot opened … Continue reading French-ish
The Dinky is a tiny, sophisticated, but still casual spot for cocktails and a light meal. The menu is limited, but expertly prepared. Cocktails are superb. A bit pricey, but not crazily so.
Jim Hamilton, a Broadway set designer turned restaurateur, started Hamilton’s Grill (“HG”) more than 25 years ago. As you’d expect from a set designer, place and settings are impeccable. The restaurant is tucked away on a quiet alley. HG’s menu has been farm to table long before that term entered popular consciousness. The menu changes seasonally, and there are always a few specials. The food is simple, but exceptionally high quality and perfectly presented, featuring grilled seafood and meats. Unusually for a restaurant of this quality, it’s BYOB.
(Covid Update Dec 2021 – in business) In the 1980’s, sculptor J. Seward Johnson created a plan for a contemporary sculpture museum in Hamilton, NJ. He purchased the land that had housed the NJ State Fairgrounds, and by the 1990’s “The Grounds for Sculpture” was a thriving public indoor/outdoor art museum. In 2000, Johnson opened … Continue reading Artful Dining
Sometimes, you need to escape to something over-priced, pretentious, and utterly scrumptious. And on those days, you’d better get in the car and go to Brick Farm Market.
Brick Farm Market is located in the Malek Chevrolet Building (a 1930’s brick auto-repair shop) in the center of Hopewell. It is about a 30 minute drive from Trenton. A beautifully renovated establishment, they are part farm market (from their sister farm, Double Brook Farm), part bakery, part coffee shop, part butcher, part cheese shop, and part deli. It’s a little bit like walking into the cafe shop of a Whole Foods, only the food is superior, the ambiance is nicer, and the prices are (believe it or not) slightly higher. Is it worth it? Occasionally.
Imagine if there were an Italian restaurant, perhaps in Trenton’s old Chambersburg neighborhood, and it were frozen in time for 30 years. There’d still be the same linoleum on the floor, the same wood paneling and fading wallpaper, the same staff, the same food, the same pictures on the wall, and the same people patronizing … Continue reading Nostal-Chick (and Nello’s)
Good Thai food is worth a drive. And you’ll be happy to drive to Ploy Siam, a breath-taking Thai restaurant in Robbinsville, NJ (quite close to the new Papa’s Tomato Pies location), about 15 minutes from downtown Trenton. Inside this unprepossessing strip mall restaurant you’ll find an oasis of relaxation and elegance. The restaurant’s decor is simply stunning; nicely trimmed walls with elegant art surround a central skylight which shines down on a small fountain leading to an orchid-lined stream. If you sit in the center of the restaurant (and I’d encourage you to do so), it’s like stepping into an elegant botanical garden with a Thai theme. Only instead of admiring the horticultural delights, you’ll be savoring the authentic flavors of Thailand.
For years, Princeton’s high-end restaurants were stuffy affairs with old-fashioned menus; they were hardly worth the trip and certainly not worth the price. That all changed with the opening of Agricola, Princeton’s venture into the farm-to-table movement. A partnership with Great Road Farm (a 112 acre farm in Skillman, NJ), Agricola offers an ever-changing, inventive gourmet menu using fresh, seasonal ingredients. With formal service in a relaxed atmosphere, this is the perfect place for a dinner before the theater in Princeton, or a nice date. Or, if you’d like something more casual, their bar area is a spectacular addition to the Princeton options.
What’s one of Princeton’s high-end restaurants doing on Hidden Trenton? Mediterra is a pricey restaurant where a single entree can easily set you back $20-$35, and it’s customary to order some starters and at least a few glasses of wine (each priced above $10). Sure, their Mediterranean cuisine (with both Italian and Spanish specialties) is delicious–but it’s hardly hidden, and it’s certainly not a bargain.
But walk into the restaurant on a Monday-Thursday between 4:30pm-6:30 (or better yet, after 9PM), and bypass the hostess for the large communal tables to your right. There, you’ll be greeted with a “tavern menu,” featuring a delightful array of tapas. And during those wonderful hours, all of those tapas are only $2 each. After 9PM, many of their wines (typically priced between $10-$15) are only $7 per glass. It’s a terrific deal, and well worth a visit if you happen to be in Princeton at the right moment.
Just a short drive from Trenton, in the middle of the Princeton University campus, you’ll find the Princeton University Art Museum. Like many University-affiliated art museums, it’s boasts an intimate (but broadly representative) collection of some of history’s top artists from around the world. Scholars and students use it for research, but it’s open to the public, and absolutely worth a visit.
Most Indian restaurants have good food and indifferent decor. Few, today, are particularly expensive. But the Palace – despite being located in a strip mall off of Quakerbridge Rd – is absolutely gorgeous inside, reasonable for lunch, and a small fortune for dinner. Palace does a very nice buffet every afternoon. That’s probably the best way to get exposed to the restaurant and to decide if you’re ready to spring for the full dinner menu.
Sneak away to the Blooming Grove Inn, especially on a summer’s evening sitting on the terrace, and you can feel for a moment like you’ve borrowed your friend’s country house, and are enjoying a weekend away from it all. With new management and an upscale, farm to table concept, we’ve yet to try the new menu. Will let you know.