Ken Stewart's Lodge — Restaurant in Bath Township

I brought my family up from Washington DC to visit my parents for Christmas and celebrate my son's birthday. I looked around, talked to a few friends and family, and decided to make reservations at Ken Stewarts Lodge. Below is my experience from A - Z.

Reservations: Easy. I was able to book my reservations over the phone on relative short notice. Any group greater than 8 must go through catering. I had a party of 9, spoke to the hostess and reserved the "Moose Room" for Friday night, 12/22/23.

Arrival: Greeted and directed to the Moose room. The room was well decorated in a Christmas theme with a fireplace and warm fire. The table was nestled right in front of the fireplace. The only issue here was the room was slightly bigger than what are party called for, but still very nice.

Service: Luke was our primary server and rattled off a lengthy list of specials (slightly absurd list of specials, there must have been 50). 5 STARS for Luke. He was excellent. Supporting Luke was Leanne. 3 STARS for Leanne (See final bill for details).

Food and Drink: 2.5 STARS. Mixed bag. We started with a few Rob Roy's and Martinis. These were very good. Kudos to the bartender. Unfortunately, the later rounds were served in champagne glasses versus traditional martini glasses, but the drinks were still good, even though the forgot my blue cheese olives on the vodka martini. The food did not fare as well as the drinks.

We started with a seafood tower to kick off hors devours. At 125.00, you would expect the presentation to be as advertised, but unfortunately, our tower, came in a flat ice bowl. The best thing on the platter, the Tuna Tartar. I suggest saving some money and get just the tartar. The rest of the platter was just ok.

This is not a steak house. There are far better steaks elsewhere. I had the 6 oz filet. Although it was cooked to spec, it was not worth the $54 price tag. The $83 trio was very disappointing, as we added the scallops on two of the entrees. The scallops were a 4 out 10 and were extra chewy and very salty- my wife found them inedible and gave them a teenager at the table that would eat anything. The trio of supposedly 3oz filets were mostly bite sized and just not well prepared with a confusing array of sauces (eg blue cheese butter with a port sauce on top - not a good combo). Totally avoid this, three of us ordered it and all were disappointed.

The best thing on the menu was the Sea Bass and Crusted Pork Chops and the salad. 5 STARS. The steaks were 2.5 STARS.

The Check: Full transparency here, the restaurant does state that a 3% service charge will be added if you use a credit card on the front of the menu but not at the time you make reservations. I guess they expect I might have $1500 cash on me at any given time. In my opinion, this cheapens the restaurant feel, and is inconsistent with the price point of the meal. However, it was stated, and I did use a credit card. However, this is what really bothered me. The 3% was added as a line item before tax and before tip. The restaurant charges a 20% tip for parties over 8. This is standard and I did not have a problem with the tip. In this case, I did have a big issue with the server, Leanne, who I asked to remove the 3% fee, and requested she talk to the manager, as the 3% fee was included in the tip. For example, 20% of the credit card fee was included in the Tip. When Leanne brought the tab back to me, she said nothing, and nothing was done to the total bill. 1 STAR for charging a tip on the credit card fee and lack of communication by Leanne. So in essence, we got to pay a 20 percent tip on the ticky tacky 3 percent credit card fee.

Overall, we had a great time with family and the room was nice but the food was a low point. It's overpriced for the quality that you get. We...

It was extremely pricey. The lower rating was due to a missed detail and cost for quality I thought would be higher. The atmosphere feels like a lodge and very quaint and cozy. The staff wished us a happy anniversary as we arrived. They were on point with attentiveness, extremely thorough and very warm and friendly. They did not miss a beat, accept one detail which I’ll mention later.

I had the Insalata Mista, 6 ounce filet, lobster tail, shared sides of mashed potatoes and asparagus with Parmesan cheese, a peanut butter bomb for dessert and an espresso martini.

They are known for their flame charred meat which I didn’t know what to expect. I personally don’t like the taste of anything charred. One side of my filet was charred the opposite side was not, maybe that’s how they do it? This reminded me of amateur grilling, not something purposely fancy to be famous. This also took away from the melt in your mouth tenderness that you expect from a filet. I relied on the Bernaise sauce to hide the char flavor, which by the way, was an added cost on top of $56 for the filet and an extra $46 for the lobster tail. The lobster tail was delicious but a bit overcooked in my opinion, with a side of dipping butter which had no added flavor. The shared sides were standard but too full to eat. The asparagus was perfectly grilled, mashed potatoes were flavorful and recommend. The peanut butter bomb dessert was a hot, barely baked peanut butter cookie with hot fudge and vanilla ice cream. Need I say more, a chocolate peanut butter gooy dream. If anything, stop at Ken Stewart’s Lodge bar for a late night cocktail and dessert, you won’t be disappointed there. I paired dessert with a wonderful espresso martini, which I thought was average. While still good, I would expect a signature and higher quality from a high end restaurant. For the price, they do bring you a lot of food. There are extras of fried onions and roasted garlic already plated with your filet. The sides are enough for 2–3 people. And, if you order a salad before dinner or a dessert after, they are also large enough to share for 2. I would rather have smaller portions and pay less than pay more for larger portions wont finish.

The ⭐️ of the night was the Insalata Mista. full of flavor: tomatoes, asparagus, shaved parm, avocado, hearts of palm with a lemon vinaigrette.

And, that one missed detail you ask? Why inquire if there is a special occasion if there is no benefit. While the staff wished us a happy anniversary, there was no card, no little box of chocolates from the chef, VIP card for a future visit, special plated dessert or champagne toast. This is the first anniversary dinner where one of those mentions didn’t happen, and the priciest. BIG disappointment and missed marketing opportunity for the local chain enticing us to want to come...

​We chose Ken Stewart's Lodge to celebrate our anniversary and unfortunately had a very poor overall experience that fell far short of expectations for a restaurant in this price range.

​Logistics & Seating: The evening started poorly with the parking situation. The lot was overly crowded and essentially required mandatory valet service just to get near the entrance. Once inside, we were seated at a table that was far too small and crowded; we genuinely did not have enough room to comfortably manage our plates and dinnerware, making the meal feel cramped and unpleasant.

​Service and Bar Quality: Our server was noticeably short-tempered and rushed throughout the evening, giving us the distinct impression that they were overwhelmed and hurried to turn the table. This lack of attentive, patient service was a significant detractor from what should have been a relaxing celebration.

​The bar quality was perhaps the most shocking aspect. The mixed drink ordered—an Old Fashioned—was prepared completely incorrectly, tasting like a bad mix of lemon, crushed ice, and cola. While the restaurant did comp the drink, this fundamental error at the bar speaks volumes about their attention to standard quality and training.

​Food Quality and Execution: Regarding the main course, the cuts of meat were good quality filets. However, the execution was severely flawed. I ordered the filet trio and was disappointed to find that each of the three small filets was cooked to a distinctly different temperature. This type of basic inconsistency is unacceptable for a high-end restaurant and reflects a clear lack of attention to detail in the kitchen.

​Value and Overall Impressions: We spent two hours at the restaurant, and the final bill for dinner was approximately $300. Given the cramped seating, the rushed service, the poor bar quality, and the highly inconsistent food preparation, the experience did not justify the high cost.

​In my experience, Ken Stewart's locations, including this one, have consistently been "meh" or just okay, never delivering a truly spectacular or high-end dining experience. I do not feel their standards are currently high enough to warrant the premium pricing, and I would not recommend the Lodge for a...