I'm a fan of this small obscure place off the beaten path in the city of Bernardsville which is located next to Basking Ridge. My co-worker, who lives in NJ, recommended that I pop in here for an IPA and some grub. It's much more upscale that meets the eye.
They have a nice variety of beers on tap and a friendly staff. It's already starting off right, isn't it?
Moving onto the exploration of the menu, you'll find a variety of your not-so-standard bar fare. They have burgers, pizza, steaks, fish n chips, sandwiches, but also some straight up restaurant entrees. I enjoyed this. Thinking that I want something not so normal in my travels to NJ, I opted for the Crab Burger. It was better than expected and the mustard was perfect for it. I'm a big mustard crusted salmon fan and this took the cake for a crab burger. It was a nice simple blend of flavors. The fries were hot and delicious.
The fact I was on the company dollar, I also decided to order a pizza for a late night snack. I ordered the standard pizza plus Italian sausage and wild mushrooms. I do wish there was more sauce but the crust at this joint is no joke. It is legitamately GOOD CRUST. I am a serious fan of this.
At the end of the day, this was a very pleasurable simple experience. It was annoying to see nothing but Golf on the channels but the peeps at the office the next day said that's standard for this area. It's a good thing I don't live here and substantiates why I don't want to.
I WILL be back to the Claremont. I think I will commit to at least 2x during the next week that I am in NJ (August). I am a fan of this place.
4 1-2 stars here!
We tried this place out thanks to a gift certificate and had a pretty good experience. The place itself is small, and was super crowded. Seems like a local favorite. We waited for about 20 mins for a table so while waiting, we went to the bar which was packed. Ended up getting a few drinks and standing while we waited. We were then seated by the hostess in the back room which was dimly lit and cramped. Then we were promptly greeted by our server and had our drink orders taken.
On to the food!
The crispy calamari was SO GOOD. It was served with a balsamic dressing and a creamy tomato sauce. YUM. Then there was the crab mac and cheese which was definitely better than most that I've tasted at other establishments. It was creamy and cheesy and had chunks of crab meat in there. I had the Crab Burger which was a crabcake with lettuce, tomato and red onion. OMG. This thing was delicious. The Diablo burger was delish too. The prices were moderate, something you expect from a smaller place, but the burgers didn't come with actual sides. I think the Diablo came with two onion rings on top which were delicious, but usually most places give a side of fries (or something else) with their burgers, although you could order other sides ala carte. For dessert, the Caramel Walnut Banana Spring Roll was YUM. Imagine a caramelized banana with candied walnuts in a fried spring roll shell with vanilla ice cream and chocolate sauce.
Service was really good too.
Our waitress came around to make sure everything was ok, and drinks were refilled often. 4 1/2 stars on account of
1. crowded, no waiting area (some people were waiting outside)
2. No actual sides that come with burgers.
This place is very cute and within walking distance of my house so I was crossing my fingers on this one. Unfortunately, the food was just not good. I've given it a few tries, too. With so many other "tavern" type restaurants in the area with similar food, I'd suggest passing on this one.
Review Source:We had a great dinner here Saturday night. Â What ever the initial issues were have certainly been addressed.
Love the atmosphere, service is great, great menu with interesting takes on typical bar food and more.
Loved the Dip Duo & Breads, Wing Trio, Ecuadorian Shrimp Cocktail 'Martini.'
3 of us had burgers, very good, and I had excellent Fish and Chips. Burgers come with onion rings and you can add from a nice selection of sides. Â
Draft beer selection is good for the average drinker. I wish they had more interesting. the Evil Eye IPA was the best.
Dessert was fun, we shared Stout Float with Cocoa Syrup and the Caramel Walnut Banana Spring Roll. Plenty for 4 people.
Gets very busy on Saturday night. Get there before 6:00-6:30 or you are likely to find a wait.
Looked at the menu and it looked great. Unfortunately the product didn't live up to the description. I ordered the bacon wrapped filet tips as an appetizer. They were far too large for one bite and the meat was a little tough so eating it was a little bit of a chore. For an entree I got the crab mac and cheese with asparagus. It seemed as if they have the mac and cheese and just drop some crab and full asparagus spears on top. It was incredibly difficult to try and cut the asparagus while it is sitting on top of the mac and cheese meaning I pretty much ignored them.
It is a nice little place with a promising menu but unless the execution is better I don't see myself going back.
The noise level was horrible, kids screaming and running around. The waitresses seemed inexperienced & had too much to handle. The hostress was also the "bus boy". We had been sitting for 1.75 hours and only had drinks and pizza, the hostess asked if we wanted dessert while she simultaneously  cleared the table - she wasn't phased when we said we hadn't received our entree yet!!!  The meal arrived 20 minutes later.  The short ribs would have been exceptional, however the salt was overwhelming.  The sirloin tips /sauce tasted canned.  The drinks however were great.
Review Source:This restaurant is such a great find! My friend and I wanted to try something new and I heard this place was pretty good. We went on a Friday night and there was some live music in the bar which was great and they happily took requests. Its a full bar and the specialty cocktails are what anyone needs for a night out and they also have a great selection of beers on tap.  Their dinner menu is simple and everything sounded delicious. We just shared a few sides and and appetizer. The calamari was great! It had a balsamic glaze with it. The Mac and Cheese was my absolute favorite. Topped off with bread crumbs and done right :) The managers gave us a visit to make sure we were enjoying everything. With the good food, great staff and good ambiance, I'm looking forward to  my next visit.
Review Source:My husband, son and I ate here on a Saturday night. It was busy. Service was slow but competent. We had burgers and pasta dish. The burger was so-so. Parts of it were overcooked and tasteless. We were told it came with onion rings but none appeared on the table. The pasta sauce was too cheesy, difficult to eat and frankly unappetizing. My husband and son's food arrived table side a full 5 minutes before mine did - bad form that. We wish this place could get its act together because the neighborhood needs a decent burger joint.
Review Source:We stopped by for a late lunch on a Sunday and the place was deserted (perhaps the big crowd was coming later for the Super Bowl. Â Half of our group ordered burgers and the other half salads. Â I had the chopped salad with walnuts and cranberries (and chicken for an extra $6). Â It was a nice enough salad....not sure it was worth the price, however. Â The burgers looked great and everyone liked them except felt that the bun was kind of overwhelming. Â Also surprised that fries were extra. Â And they charged for soda refills (which always really annoys me). So....a bit expensive for the meal we had.
Review Source:My wife and I went here for dinner for the first time the other night. Â Overall, it was a pretty enjoyable experience but there were a few things that I found a little strange, to say the least. Â A few starters/tips - the parking lot is very small so if you aren't lucky enough to get a spot, you may have to find a spot on the street and it is in a very residential area. Â We ate at a table in the bar area and the place is very nice. Â It has the high end pub feel to it and they pull it off very well. Â I especially liked some of the woodwork - the place definitely has some character. Â I also liked that they had a number of TV's in the bar area. Â
I was looking forward to having a draft beer - they had 8 beers on tap but not one domestic light which I thought was strange. Â I went with a Yuengling - tasted great. Â The service was fine - wasn't very friendly or personable but it wasn't bad, by any means. Â We started out with an order of the italian stuffed bread, which I would almost compare to a very gourmet stromboli - if you can follow that. Â It was very good - stuffed with some great meats and roasted red peppers. Â I was very impressed by it. Â I would recommend and definitely order again. Â It was the highlight of the meal. Â It was also drizzled with a balsamic reduction that was done perfectly. Â We eat out a lot and I remember saying to my wife that this one of the best apps we have had recently.
While we were sitting, I saw them bring out a number of burgers that looked phenomenal so it made my decision pretty easy as I am a big burger fan. Â I decided on the "Claremont Burger". Â My wife went with the "Steak & Bleu" dinner salad. Â My burger was decent - it was no where near phenomenal but it wasn't bad, either. Â I was a little disappointed by the black marble cheddar that came with the burger - I was hoping I was going to taste the cheese a little bit more. Â The bun also overwhelmed the burger a little bit as it was fairly large. Â I could tell it was definitely a fresh bun that had never been frozen but there was a lot of bread that took away some of the flavor from the burger. Â Still, it was decent. Â On a side note, the fries that I ordered a la carte were very good. Â I was glad I got them.
My wife enjoyed her salad - she said several times that everything tasted very fresh. Â I sampled her salad and I would agree, but the steak that came with it was pretty tough. Â But, she liked it so that's all that counts. Â
As stated earlier, we did have an enjoyable dining experience and I do think that I would give them another shot.
This restaurant is under new ownership and management, so forget any review before June 2011, as they do not reflect the current state of things. One of the new chef-owners is Andrew Pantano, who is the man behind Culinary Creations in Hillsborough. Now, I've been a big fan of CC's brunches and Friday night dinners for a while, so I was excited to try Andrew's new place. I gave it a couple months to get over the "new restaurant" jitters, and checked it out recently with my husband.
We started out with onion rings, which had a nice light batter - more tempura than the usual heavy batter you see on onion rings. Really tasty.
For dinner, we both got burgers and traded halves. I got the Chipotle Turkey Burger; he got the Blues Burger. As it turned out, we each liked the other's burger better. My turkey burger didn't have quite enough spice for me, but was otherwise well prepared. The Blues Burger was perfect - well cooked, great blue cheese. For sides, I got the beer macaroni and cheese - the beer flavor was subtle, the dish was good. I would have liked to see a stronger beer flavor, but I'm also a beer cheese soup fan. My husband got the asiago steak fries, which were tasty - be forewarned, they come with a LOT of roasted garlic cloves. Good thing we both like roasted garlic.
We weren't going to get dessert, but I couldn't help myself. :) I was surprised by the dessert prices, but my portion of Chocolate Raspberry Panini was huge - I wrapped half. My husband ordered the "do it yourself" chipwich from the kids' menu, which looked really good. For gourmet desserts to share (and they warn you on the menu they're meant to be shared) order from the adult dessert menu. For cheaper, more traditional desserts, order from the kids' dessert menu.
Next time it's the prosciutto and fig pizza for me. Actually, maybe the fish and chips. Oooh, but the short ribs sound good too...
Anyway, if you're an Andrew fan, come check out Claremont Tavern. If you're not familiar with Andrew, come check out Claremont Tavern and become a fan.
This restaurant is under new managements. Â The new menu has an assortment of amazing offerings. Â When i was there I had the gorgonzola caramelized onion pizza, which was amazing. I also tried the gnocchi which was almost as fantastic. Â The restaurant also has a pretty good beer selection on tap.
The waiters, not just the one assigned to our table, were very attentive. Â Give this restaurant another chance. Â I had an opportunity to speak to the new owner, he said they have professionally trained chefs in the kitchen now, instead of just cooks.
I work close to the Claremont Tavern so I stopped here on the way home for a bite to eat, and was pleasantly surprised with the atmosphere service and food.
I had the pulled pork Quesadillas which was something different from the ordinary chicken, beef, or cheese you usually get. I was very happy with my meal. The bartender and waitress were very attentive.
The place is nicely located and has a bunch of TV's so its a good place to watch a game. There is a private party room upstairs if you were looking to have a private party.
Stopped into the Claremont Tavern for a late (8pm) dinner this past Saturday night with high hopes -- as the restaurant is affiliated with the upscale Equus up the street. Â Compared to Equus, Claremont Tavern is a very casual local watering hole in the midst of a residential neighborhood with a decent juke box and plenty of TVs in the bar area showing sports to a mixed crowd including plenty of families with kids. Â
Based on my recent experience, it seems they've worked out a couple of the issues noted in previous reviews.. but they still have some issues to resolve. Â They seemed to have simplified the menu, which is now comprised of pub favorites like burgers, sandwiches, a handful of traditional tavern entrees including crab cakes, salmon, brisket, and baby back ribs. Â Prices range from $8-$12 for burgers and sandwiches to $14 to $28 for entrees. Â The food was pretty good and our server was attentive and friendly, but professional. Â One key issue, which has been noted by other reviewers, is that the chef seems to enjoy freelancing -- dishes may be served with slight variations from the menu descriptions. Â This has the potential to cause problems for people with food allergies -- so be sure to make your server aware of any specific requests when ordering.
Overall, The Claremont Tavern offers a convenient and casual, family-friendly dining experience, but it also has the potential to be so much more.  Hopefully, the restaurant continues its upward trajectory and  improves further.
I was very excited when I heard the Claremont was opening. Â However, my excitement quickly dwindled after a couple visits. Â At first we tried blaming the poor service and unbelievably (and expensive) poor food on the Tavern's recent opening and inexperience. Â Unfortunately, after having several meals there over the months we will not frequent it anymore. Â It's a shame.
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