I must admit Rho and I are in a relationship...and it's complicated. I want to like Rho, I come here often, it's pretty, it has a nice outside area, the food is decent - but like in mos relationships the little things annoy me.
The happy hour scene:
Mostly older people (30+) come here for drinks. It's pretty mellow, they have bands sometimes playing elevator music kind of low or nothing at all. The drinks are good depending on your bartender- I would stick to the inside bar since that one is usually better stacked. It gets filled up quickly around the main bar early, so come early if you want chairs inside. They also have a beautiful outside area overlooking the river, equipped with nice fire pits, if the weather permits. We went on Friday and they had a great $20 cover that included unlimited food buffet (lots of choices) & $18 towards alcohol (including drinks specials like $5 absolute & $5 skyy drinks).
The night life:
This always turns out to be a pretty young crowd considering the colleges nearby). The one side tends to always have a live band which is a good change of pace. There are DJ's usually on stage outside in the nice weather and shot girls walking around. The crowd is pretty mixed, but the music not so much. For the most part is top 20's or house music. Although they definitely do not have any Spanish music in the mix here - which sucks for Latinos like me.
Food & Drinks:
The food during happy hour was decent, nothing great, just very regular. Drinks are just regular, no drink menu, although they do bottle their own Rho wine (I've never had it).
I'm sure I will return, I like the happy hour scene better, especially during the nice weather for the nice outside area, but the place as a whole is missing some "umpf".
I have not been to this establishment in years. My honest observations were this will soon be added to the list of Trenton flops!
We visited on Sat with another couple for apps and some drinks (630).
1)Service HORRIBLE
2)Drinks HORRIBLE (worst LI Ice Tea I have ever had)
3) Food was HORRIBLE Menu lacks diversity.... Pizza's were frozen box quality at best, Calamari were like eating rubber bands!
I do not see how this place will survive. This place could be such a successful location with proper management, cuisine and atmosphere.
Too bad for Trenton, the current owners do not seem see the obvious.
I've been going to this place since it was KatManDu, now under new ownership this place was rebranded as Rho. I have never dined at this venue outside of a catered event simply called Oktoberfest back in October 2012 - that was a great experience!
Being a Hamilton, NJ resident, I find myself at Rho often on College Night (every Thursday) or the occasional Friday (for live music). This place is huge, there is indoor, outdoor, and a combination of both with no shortage of bars & liquor. Great selection of craft beers as well as your regular brews - liquor as far as the eye can see. The main dance floor inside (aka the club) is very large & gets packed on Thursdays! The sound is premium and there are plenty of crazy light shows. On occasion I try the bottle service (wallet friendly considering this is not AC or the city) - they just remodeled their VIP areas with cool color changing cube tables, great service overall!
Ill be coming back here again and again..
Seemed exactly the same to me as before (when the place was called KATHMANDU).....atleast the dancing area.....this place has very distinct crowd depending on when you go...When TCNJ is on...you see a lot of college kids while if you go when the school is closed...you see a lot of local...nd ppl from Hamilton who wonder....why is there no nightclubs in hamilton
Review Source:We went to Rho last night, mainly to see our favorite band, High in the Mid-80's (A great 80's band lighting up the NJ circuit!). Our first time there, since Kat ManDo closed. Nice warm night, we decided to the head outside patio bar to grab a drink and some food before the show started. I ordered a meatball parm sandwich at the bar - comes with salad. $10.00, not bad I figured. It was absolutely horrible ! Â It was tasteless slop...I sent it back with a funny look on my face. We cook alot and know good food, especially homemade Italian. This sandwich was the most pathetic tasting thing I've ever tasted. Anyway, the second point is, there was hardly anyone there for a beautiful Friday evening in late Sept!! When it was Kat Mans, this place was PACKED with people (anybody that frequented KatMan's knows this). So, we went back inside to see the band, they put on a awesome 80's show (as they usually do), but the crowd was very light. I suspect that this is due, in no short order, to the poor food/restaurant reviews this place has been getting. They are NOT getting any return customers, from what I can tell. I mean, come on...it's a warm Friday night on Sept 28th...everyone is back home, back to school, back to work, etc...and this place is nearly empty!! Â My advice would be, eat somewhere else first, there's TOO many good restaurants in the area to take a chance with this place, then go here for the entertainment and drinks only. The remodeling was done nicely, but it's very Italian style (I'm half Italian), with lot's of large pillars. They sunk alot of $$$ into the place to give it a modern, updated feel, but it's also very Italianized, so it may miss the mark on bringing in those large, diverse crowds that they will need to stay afloat. As some astute writers remarked here on Yelp...Rho will be rowing down the Delaware River soon, if they don't wake up and change the head of food/dining experience in this place AND get some larger crowds in here, along with loosening up that ridiculous page-long dress code. The place will not stay afloat long.
Review Source:I came for Father's Day brunch with my family. The food was alright, some of the chicken was cold, omelette station subpar, chocolate fountain was disappointing. Rho has some potential, but the new owners have lots of work to do before their popularity and overall dining experience improves to the higher standard that Katmandu had set. The new interior design may be a refreshing change, but the stucco and white arched pillars mean nothing without the quality service and most importantly the food to support it. Get with the program Rho or your business will be rowing down the Delaware River with consistently poor reviews... I won't plan to be back anytime soon.
Review Source:This went from good to not-so-good pretty fast. Here for Cinco De Mayo so you would think that margaritas would be common and they were for $5.00 each. With the exception they were served in Coke glasses without limes or salt. Really? Salads--- Caesar for my wife which was a stalk of Romaine lettuce wrapped in a slice of prosciutto with dressing on the side. I had the Spinaci which was spinach run through a paper shredder, pine nuts and sliced mushrooms and onions. Not too bad. Main course for me was Linguine Allo Scaglio which was a scallops, clams, mussels, shrimp and calamari over linguine. Wasn't really linguine, but was spaghetti #9. That's OK. It was really good. Nice chunks of tomato and bits of garlic. My wife had the Cavatelli. Served with a massive amount of sliced olives along with broccoli rabe. The broccoli rabe was very bitter and the cavatelli was very overcooked to the point of being mushy. Our server, Amy, started out pretty good, but got progressively less attentive. All of this while two Bat Mitzvahs were going on which made the noise factor the reason they call this place a Discoteca. My ears are still ringing even hours after leaving. The real disappointing factor was during coffee. My wife ordered a regular coffee which Amy had to come back twice to confirm if it was regular or decaf. I ordered a Mexican Coffee (usually regular coffee with tequila and Kahlua added) since it was Cinco De Mayo. We had no silverware nor cream and sugar brought over. Took my wife 10 minutes and 2 reminders to Amy before we had her coffee fixins. The real surprise was finding out my Mexican Coffee cost me $15. That's $2.00 for coffee, $6.00 for Tequila and $7.00 for Kahlua. Bad move guys. It won't happen again. $3.00 to park because there was a baseball game going on.
Review Source:A co-worker told me the old KatManDu is now a new Italian restaurant and dance club. She said she had dinner there and it was really good, so tonight I decided to grab a fellow foodie and check it out. A fresh coat of paint, some added windows and walls really changed the appearance nicely. It was light and fresh, reminding me of walking into an Italian villa. We were greeted at the hostess stand and seated immediately, because not too many people know Rho is open yet we had our choice of seats so we chose a corner where we had an amazing view of the river.
The tables were set beautifully, our only complaint was that it was a little chilly but not bad. I just hope that in the colder weather they turn the heat up. Our waitress, Kristin, greeted us quickly. She was very knowledgable in not only the correct pronounciation of the Italian dishes, but in the specials as well. As usual I was torn between a couple of dishes that looked good and asked her opinion, she steered me towards her favorite, and one of my options, Conchiglie con Gamberi - shell pasta, shrimo, smoked bacon, red seedless grapes, scallions in a cream sauce. My foodie buddy chose the Cavatelli - homemade ricotta pasta, broccoli rabe, kalamata olives, garlic, extra virgin olive oil and pecorino romano.We both immediately settled on the Arancini - fried bolognese stuffed risotto balls served in a tomato sauce and topped with melted mozzarella.
Our drinks were brought immediately, as was some tasty bread with a bit if a strange herb, olive oil, butter, margarine spread. The spread seemed like it was an identity crisis, pick one, of course we would have preferred either straight herbed butter or straight herbed olive oil.
The Arancini was delightful - saffron risotto, sweet peas, not too heavy on the bolognese all in a perfectly crisp ball, there were three to the plate. The tomato sauce was light, not overly acidic with a hint of sweetness. The whole appetizer had a perfect mouthfeel and was not over seasoned or salted. Honestly I could have had that for dinner and been a very happy camper, that was until I tasted the entrees.
The Cavatelli was the right amount of bitter and flavor. The pasta, made that day, was light and tasty. The brocolli rabe was crisp tender and the olives were not overcooked. For me, though, the Conchiglie con Gamberi stole the show with a perfect umami flavor, the sweetness of the grapes contrasted perfectly with the saltiness of the plump, juicy shrimp. The cream sauce was not too heavy and the smoked bacon came through perfectly. My only complaint was that the bacon was way undercooked, it could have been rendered a while longer which also would have added another texture to the dish. The shells were cooked a perfect al dente
We both were very happy that the amount of food on the plate was just right, no too much and not too little, of course we still got doggie bags because we wanted to leave room for dessert and we were very happy we did.
We finished the dinner with the most wonderful chocolate raspberry truffles. Three crispy fried balls filled with melted dark chocolate, a hint of raspberry and a touch of cinnamon served in a raspberry sauce. Light, delicious and a new favorite! It paired perfectly with the cappuccinos.
The prices were right - moderately low, definitely reasonable, the staff was very knowledgable. The restaurant made sure the staff tasted items on the menu, which in my opinion makes for the best education in training staff because they will have honest, first hand knowledge about the dishes. My compliments to Chef Luis Martinez and the rest of the Rho staff, especially our server Kristin who made the meal and evening a time to remember.
If you take my advice and check out Rho, go now!! Ask to be seated in Kristin's section. The grand opening is this weekend and the host of the event will be one of the "Housewives" forgive me I don't follow those shows so you will have to check the local papers. I have a feeling this place will be packed for dinner and lunch on a regular basis. I hope their nightclub is also a great success.
Cheers Rho - two thumbs up from this critical foodie.
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