Hamilton Grill Room - Lambertville, NJ

Friday night fireworks in Lambertville from Memorial Day to Labor Day?  Did I hear that right?  Every single Friday night?  If that's the case, then how about a little dinner at Hamilton Grill Room!

We once again took a chance tonight, and Zelda ran up to see if she could use her charm and grace with the well dressed maitre d, and it worked!  Moments later, she sent a text to my iPhone to let me know that "we were in!"

Once again we sat in the grill room, where we had a good eye on Mark, who mans the grill!  If there is one thing I can say about Mark, he is cool, calm, and collective, and he knows how to man the grill.  This guy has got some skill, and I would love to have just a fraction of the knowledge that he does.  While I think I do OK on the grill in the backyard, my skills do not compare to this mans!

I pulled out our glasses and popped and poured yet another wonderful 2006 Kosta Browne Sonoma Coast, and this one may have been the best one yet.

For appetizers tonight, we started with the crab cake appetizer, just to see how they were.  The funniest thing about this was that we heard Chef Mark say to our waiter, "I need a crab cake on table 1."  This guy really knows what is going on, and I find that tough considering he is separated from the main kitchen.  This guy is on the ball, and really knows his stuff!

But back to the topic at hand, anyone who knows me knows my love for crab cakes, and how I make mine with as little filler as possible, and jumbo lump crab meat.  Well, these too were made with very little filler, and while not entirely jumbo lump, they still used good crab in here.  There was a slight crunch from some celery in here, but it was not overwhelming or offensive in the least, and if anything, added just a little texture.  If I had to complain about one thing, it would be the fact that there was too much citrus drizzled over the crab cake.  While I am not a big fan of citrus, it is more or less the fact that I want to taste the crab.  Nonetheless these were still good crab cakes, and next time I would ask for no citrus.  The citrus mustard sauce on the side was however a nice accompaniment.

For entrees tonight, Zelda went the salmon route, made fresh on the grill of course, served over a bed of beans of some sort.  This came off the grll with nce flavors, however, I think the kitchen took a little too long to plate this once Chef Mark pulled it off the grill, as it came out a bit on the cold side, and one end started to get a bit mushy.  Regardless, it was just a small corner of the fish that made it that way,and the grilled flavors were nice.

For my entree tonight you bet your bottom dollar that I was ordering a steak, and I went for the grilled Wagyu Strip, served over a bed of mashed potatoes.  Again, it is the grill that gives this restaurant the praise that it deserves, and this was cooked to a perfect medium.  While the sauce for this steak was absolutely delicious, it wasn't needed at all.  But even so, I enjoyed it!

We also enjoyed a side of pomme frites, and these are always delicious at Hamilton Grill Room!  We skipped coffee tonight, but we did however spit their grappa cake of sorts, which is almost more like a flakey biscotti.  I wish I could describe it better, but I really can't.  Even so, it was good, and served with fresh blackberries.

All in all, the tab was just under $100 pre-tip, and worth every penny in my humble opinion.  We got out of there, and walked down to the bridge, and were just in time for the Friday night fireworks to kick off!  All in all, another great meal, a delicious bottle of wine, and great fireworks!  Cheers!

Hamilton Grill Room
8 Coryell Street
Lambertville, NJ 08530-1727
(609) 397-4343