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Restaurant Reviews: Matt's Red Rooster Grill in Flemington NJ
Sometimes it takes a long time to get around to doing something you want to do. Matt's has been on our "Must-Do-List" forever. Tonight, we finally got the chance to see if the Red Rooster was as good as everyone was saying it was.
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By John Stringfellow and Val Roy Gerischer
Our personal experience with Matt's began a few years ago when we noticed that someone had rehabbed the building next door to our insurance agent's office on Bloomfield Avenue. At that point, we had no idea that anyone had made a restaurant out of this old home, but we could tell that someone had spent a good amount of money on the building and that they had good taste. Upon closer inspection, we discovered that the old home had been repurposed into a contemporary open kitchen design restaurant. Seeing what a good job they had done with the design, we were looking forward to going there for dinner.
Well, several years passed and we still had not gotten there. Tonight when we got that rare Thursday night off, we decided to celebrate at Matt's. Upon entering the front door, we could tell that we had waited far too long for this visit. The design of the restaurant is more sophisticated that it would seem at first glance. There is an intriguing mix of modern and traditional, of town and country in the overall design and spirit of the place. The main dining room incorporates traditional elements like the masculine antique mahogany staircase with other more modern elements like the contemporary banquette, drop pendant lamps and granite countertop near the kitchen for informal bar stool dining.
It is said in the restaurant review business that when you hate the food, you talk allot about the building and the decor. That's not true in this case. We just feel that the design, by Pickell Architecture [also of Flemington] is very accomplished and deserves a good deal of praise. The spatial divisions in the dining room and the high ceilings are beautifully proportioned and contribute to the overall comfort of the dining room. The wall sized mirror helps the narrow dining room feel twice the size that it is as well as reflecting the light and the energy that originates in the kitchen.
Before we get to the food, just a word or two about the menu. Despite it's sophistication and creativity, it does not come off as complicated, stuffy or formal. Matt's menu is straightforward with nice short names for dishes and a simple listing of well chosen ingredients. There is a fun and imaginative spirit in the offerings here.
For our first course, we began with appetizers of Duck Breast and Pulled Pork Nachos. The duck breast was locally sourced from Princeton's own Griggstown Quail Farm and accompanied by a fig honey balsamic with tender baby arugula. The dish was beautifully designed and presented with a nice balance of flavors and textures. The Nachos however were the highlight of our appetizer course. They were about the best nachos we'd ever eaten. Matt's deserves kudos for this creation that combines two hugely popular dishes, pulled pork and nachos, to come up with a totally new taste experience. This combo could be quite mundane with a lesser, lazier execution. Matt's pork is done in house and carries that incredible smoky flavor that comes from the open wood fired grill. This paired with the delicate pico de gallo and the robust cilantro sour cream made for a wonderful twist on this staple of Mexican cuisine.
For our second course, we both chose Mat's version of the classic Caesar Salad. A heart of romaine is lightly roasted on the wood fired grill and topped with a creamy parmesan dressing and a finely grated hard parmesan cheese. Once again the restaurant's interpretation and slight tweaking of a classic dish shows a creative brilliance and a sense of restraint in keeping the dish simple. That grilled romaine makes this salad a delightful, unique experience.
For our third and final course, we both had the 19 ounce Cowboy Steak with onion rings. I had it with the black truffle butter and my partner had it with the bacon blue cheese sauce. Both steaks were cooked to perfection if not a little under what we would have expected, which is fine for us as we are used to restaurants overcooking steaks for us. My steak could not have been a better cut of meat. It was moist, tasty, and very tender for it's considerable thickness. My partner's steak was considerably tougher, but was otherwise beautifully prepared. The sauces/butters were served in a metal ramekin which made for a simple, clean presentation that did not hide or smother the steak. It also allowed us to use as much or as little of the sauce as we wanted. I thought the onion rings were nicely done with a crispy batter, my partner was expecting more of a fried onions presentation and was disappointed with them. We both felt that the mashed potatoes and the vegetables were great accompaniments to the steaks. Our special Cowboy Steaks came in at 42.00 each, and for that price we felt that both steaks should have been equally outstanding, especially when it comes to tenderness. It was a shame that the one steak turned out not to be up to par with the rest of the food, the design and the spirit of the place.
Our server was extremely knowledgeable about the menu and food in general. He was very attentive and never lost control even when the entire downstairs filled to capacity. At one point he even held our entree order to let us relax between courses and enjoy our wine. When allot of restaurants will hurry you out the door to make room for another couple and more money, Matt's showed style and grace.
On our next trip to Matt's, we look forward to trying some of the items on the regular menu, their soups and their desserts.
Bottom line: Matt's Red Rooster Grill is one of Flemington's Best Restaurants and without question, it is one of Flemington's most sophisticated yet comfortable dining experiences.
Frenchtowner.com Editor's Rating: 4 Stars out of 5 [and there a very few places on the face of the earth that we would ever give a 5 Star Rating to]
Location: Matt's Red Rooster Grill is not a restaurant that you would ever find by mistake or stumble upon by simply passing through Flemington New Jersey. It's located on a side street next door to an old paint store and an insurance office. If someone had not told you about this place, you would never have discovered it. That is I think, part of the grill's charm, it's hard to find but well worth the work to find it. It is about one block from Main Street and the Hunterdon County Courthouse on Bloomfield Avenue in downtown Flemington.
Other Reviews: The Red Rooster has gotten it's share of good reviews from local food writers since it's opening some 3 1/2 years ago. The Star Ledger, The Princeton Packet and The NJ Diner all found the grill to be an outstanding addition to the local dining scene. These glowing reviews and word-of-mouth advertising have made the Red Rooster one of Flemington's most successful new restaurants in the last few years.
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Matt's Fast Facts:
BYOB
Child Friendly
Credit Cards OK
Appetizers: $9.00 to $12.00
Soups: $7.50 to $8.00
Salads: $7.50 to $8.00
Entrees: $21.00 to $42.00
Serving dinner: Tues-Sun 5:30 till ?
Our extravagant 3 course meal for 2: $135.00
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Referenced in this article:
Griggstown Quail Farm
Pickell Architecture of Flemington
NJ Diner Review of Matt's Red Rooster
Star Ledger Review of The Red Rooster
Princeton Packet Review of Matt's in Flemington
Categories . Keywords . Tags:
Restaurant Guide
Restaurant Guide » New Jersey
Restaurant Guide » New Jersey » NJ
Restaurant Guide » New Jersey » NJ » Lambertville
Restaurant Guide » New Jersey » NJ » Clinton
Restaurant Guide » New Jersey » NJ » Flemington
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22 Bloomfield Ave.
Flemington New Jersey 08822
USA
908-788-7050
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| 1) | frenchtowner (08-16-2008) |
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I had been a great fan of this restaurant until this week when we took a friend there for her birthday. Matt's did not deliver this time. I am giving them a 3 today based on my previous rating of a four to a five and my rating of a 2 from the other night. Our last outing there was unimpressive and the staff didn't seem too concerned that we weren't happy.
The Jersey Tomato Bisque was not a good taste experience. With the first spoonful in my mouth, all I could think of was ketchup because of the sweetness of the soup and the lack of complexity. The corn and bacon soup however was marvelous. For our second course, we had recommended the grilled pork nachos. They were not nearly as good as they had been before. They were not hot, they were dry and the cheese sauce was very bland. The Tilapia and the barbecue ribs were quite good but the grilled stuffed prawn was overcooked, dry, with no sauce and a stuffing that was a more of a distraction because the overwhelming taste was of bread and not of crab.
We will go back, but at their prices we expect allot more than they delivered the other night.
I wonder if the Red Rooster might be getting a little cocky?
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| 2) | crazymama (02-27-2008) |
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I had done a little on-line search for a nice restaurant in Flemington one cold Winter's night, and I came across this Matt's Red Rooster Grill. So my two daughters and I went to try it out. It was a supposedly quiet Tuesday night, already a few tables were occupied. We received exeptional service from this server (Mario?). My one daughter and myself had a rib eye steak with jumbo shrimps. What an experience, I had never tasted shrimps that were so good. I was originally from the far east, and I had dined in a lot of places all over the world, but let me tell you, this was the first time I had tasted such shrimps. The steak was exceptional too. But when it came to dessert, we ordered a wheat bread pudding a la carte. I can tell you that it is out of this entire world. It was so delicious. I am definitely giving this restaurant a 5 star. This is a "must" go again restaurant. Even the River Cafe in Brooklyn cannot top this one.
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