Chez Daniel — Restaurant in Frenchtown

I'm not entirely sure how to pronounce the name of this place, but I can tell you it's pretty good regardless. I came here with two of my OG chums this past Saturday for an early dinner (a little before 5 I think), on a deceptively nippy night. We made a very last-minute reservation (as in we were down the street walking over when we did it) but were easily able to secure seating. The restaurant was pretty bustling throughout our meal so if you have the ability to make a reservation more than two minutes beforehand, I would do it. This is a popular one right now.

I've driven by this building countless times but I think this is the first time I've been inside it (it's relatively new so it's possible I was in whatever business was here before years ago). It has a pleasant interior; kind of rustic but also some obvious homages to France on the walls, etc. - what else would you expect in a town literally called Frenchtown?

We split the brie en croute app, which I liked a lot. My only quibble is that I would have made the berry coulis denser to compete with the brie a bit better, but overall it was a refreshing way to start the meal. I didn't build up quite the appetite I was hoping for from metal detecting in the afternoon (which is one of the many negative consequences of a drought), so I went a little lighter than usual on the entree with the almond-crusted cod. It was tasty but presentation-wise? Eh. It's not really a fish you can "crust," if that makes sense, so the optics are a bit chaotic. It's more like a pile on your plate, which you can see in the attached photo. I did like the fact that the lemon sauce was on the subtle side - the citrus family is not one of my faves and it's often an accompaniment with seafood dishes, so I was pleased it wasn't the dominant flavor. Super flaky and loved the texture of the rice.

The service was excellent. Not only did we not have to wait particularly long for our items to arrive, but our waiter was very friendly and nice. I was accidentally under-dressed for the weather so I ordered a hot chamomile tea (very rare for me), and one of my chums also asked the waiter to pick a tea for her. I have a chum who used to work in the service industry who told me to never order hot tea from a restaurant because it's incredibly annoying for them to prep, but my argument would be that if it's on the menu, all bets are off. Regardless, I think in this day and age it's relatively easy to make - we watched the guy literally just use a hot water dispenser and put the tea bag in. Was definitely the right choice on this particular evening. Anyway. He was also knowledgeable about the menu and had specific opinions about certain dishes; one of my friends ordered the salmon entree and he immediately commented that it was his favorite.

We're always interested as born and bred creatures of the Kingdom of Hunterdon what the overall clientele in a restaurant looks like. In a tourist trap like Frenchtown, it's not unusual to go into an eatery that's full of out-of-towners squealing about the Delaware River or something. This was a very nice mix of both tourists and locals, which can definitely be a difficult balancing act. Given the bougie options on the menu, I thought this was priced competitively to allow for some of the nearby residents who might not be sporting boat shoes and polo shirts to wander in to sample the wares as well.

Wasn't blown away but overall this...

What a gem! Chez Daniel is a dining experience far exceeding any reasonable expectation for, what seems at first glance, an unassuming, restaurant in a small town. Cutting to the chase - while there are many great places in Lambertville/New Hope, this experience is well worth driving the 15 miles to Frenchtown. The food is expertly prepared and presented. We started with salads - the Avocado over spinach and other vegetables with a perfectly done lemon vinaigrette and the seasonal (summer) salad on its final night - Mandarin oranges, beets, almonds over greens, all topped with feta. We had the Pork Chop Normandy and Braised Short Rib. Both were excellent and I would especially praise the pork chop. It was flavorful and tender but what brought this dish to a sublime level was the apple brandy sauce along with the apples and bacon lardons. I could have taken some in a "to go" cup and been in heaven. This is not to slight the short rib - tender and tasty with asparagus and fluffy mashed potatoes. Absolutely perfect. And because it was a special occasion, we threw caution to the winds and order desserts - a not to be missed gluten-free pumpkin cheese cake and an exquisite fruit tart that was definitely not a run-of-the-mill, mass-produced treat in the usual shell. Au contraire! It was a hand-crafted delight of strawberries sandwiched in a pleasantly sweet crust coated with an almost decadent but perfectly balanced "filling" (not really a filling in this presentation so I apologize to the pastry chef for using that word here) topped with blueberries, lightly powder sugared and accompanied by fresh whipped cream. The perfect ending to the perfect meal. The restaurant is tastefully decorated with many French touches and conveniently located in the middle of Frenchtown. It's extremely friendly to gluten-free diners. Our server was friendly, professional, knowledgeable and accommodating. Prices were VERY reasonable. We could not have chosen a better place to celebrate our...

We really wanted to love Chez Daniel, but unfortunately we didn’t. Arrived for our 7 pm reservation Saturday evening and waited for 6 minutes to be seated. No one to greet us. The restaurant was totally packed and 3 staff members were hustling and very busy the entire evening-perhaps they were short staffed?? We waited a full 10 minutes to be greeted at our table and though our sever Erika was pleasant, the food service was very slow. Waited about 1/2 hour for our mussels appetizer. Flavor was very good, but for $17 all the mussels should have been fully opened, which they were not. Since we ordered an appetizer, we then had to choose whether our salad and soup were served with the mussels or with our entrees. Thought that was odd. The pumpkin bisque was delicious (highlight of the meal) and the orange almond salad was also good, but our entrees were disappointing. My husband and I each ordered the sirloin filet which was quite tough and since we didn’t receive steak knives we really wrestled with cutting it. Couldn’t detect nor taste any blue cheese and it was under-seasoned. Our daughter enjoyed her steak frites though the steak portion was on the small side. I will say that the temperature of each steak was cooked to our liking so that was good. The decor felt stark, and while we don’t need fancy surroundings, there was general lack of ambiance and the noise level made it difficult to hold a conversation. It was my husband’s birthday which we never mentioned to anyone because what difference would that have made? I felt guilty for pushing this restaurant on him when he had requested to dine at another spot down the street but I wanted to try a new spot.

It’s always great to see Frenchtown buzzing, the restaurants packed and people strolling the streets. Though we heard great things about Chez Daniel and the online reviews were high, we don’t plan to return. Just an overall mediocre...