Rat's Restaurant — Restaurant in Hamilton Township

I’m very sad to say that Rat’s Restaurant has gone downhill. My wife and I have been going to Rat’s and Grounds for Sculpture for over 20 years, since before we were married. Way back then, we loved it so much we decided to have our wedding reception at the restaurant. That was 21 years ago now and back then, going to Rat’s was a true dining experience. The wait staff was attentive, the courses were numerous, and the food itself was second to none. Some might have criticized it back then for maybe being a little on the snooty side, and yes, it was definitely “fine dining” and the prices reflected that. It was a place to go on special occasions. Since then, we have been returning to Rat’s at least once a year to celebrate our anniversary. And in those years we have seen the place evolve to change with the times, adding more casual fare and menu items to appeal to a broader base. However the prices remained high, which was fine since the food was still good, as was the atmosphere and surroundings.

However, this last time we went, June 4th, we saw that our once great place had turned into nothing more than a Chili’s at a fancy location. Upon entering, we were “greeted” by 3 very young, uninterested and bored teen hosts. We were seated right away since we had reservations (which actually seems like was just lucky for us), but we had to wait a solid 10-15 minutes before our waitress got to us. In that time we were not offered anything to drink or any bread while we waited. Finally the waitress arrived, offered one special which she struggled to recite, and took our order. Amazingly, our drinks, bread and food all arrived rather quickly which seemed a little suspicious, TBH. My wife ordered a salad with additional chicken, which turned out to be truly appetizer portions. Barely any leaves of lettuce, and a small sliced up piece of chicken breast which was bland and tasteless. I ordered the Beef Bourguignon, which was also a very small portion as well. Mine was a little more flavorful, but tasted a little “microwaved”.

After that disappointing and small meal, we decided we needed dessert. Lord knows we had plenty of room for it! It’s then that we realized that we had not seen our waitress since she took our order. A bus boy came to deliver the food, and she never came around to check in on us or to see how the food turned out. We looked up the dessert menu on our phones so we could just quickly tell our waitress our choices and not have to waste time on having her go and get dessert menus and then have her give us more time to peruse it. Well, we shouldn’t have even bothered doing that, because we did not see our waitress for another 45-50 minutes! We looked around for her to maybe catch her eye, but she was no where to be seen. We were sitting in the patio area, so she must have been assigned the inside tables as well because we never saw her outside at all. We grew more and more irritated as the time passed, and seeing other tables and groups get served. We honestly contemplated just leaving without paying—no one would have ever noticed. By the time we finally saw her from a distance, I just did the “check please” hand gesture, which she thankfully saw, and managed to get our check. Luckily that final transaction went quickly, but we could not get out of there fast enough after all that time sitting.

Needless to say, we probably won’t be returning to Rat’s. We had so many great years there. Every time we went was truly a lovely time with great food and great service. Sadly, that Rat’s doesn’t seem to exist anymore. Would...

We were very excited to experience a French restaurant in the area and after reading on the restaurants website that the management company was “chef drive “ we were hopeful for true French fine dining experience.

The atmosphere was charming and we were greeted by friendly smiling hosts and seated at a very nice table. Our server who let attended to us and we loved the bread and butter it was an excellent start.

The menu is limited as is the way now in the new economy and with high food costs, but plenty of great choices.

Appetizers We ordered the escargot - mussels -pork belly- baked brie

The escargot was ok but pastry mushy and very little flavor present looking for garlic fresh herbs olive oil wine salt pepper it was just sort of a sad tasteless dish nothing like we hoped…

Mussels were fresh , cooked well but again no flavor just barely a scant diced tomato that tasted it was unseasoned… no oil wine garlic herbs butter salt pepper it was like mussels steamed with a tablespoon on tomato vapor it was truly sad…

Baked Brie was a barely warmed wedge of domestic brie thin spoonful of raspberry sauce and sliced pita not warm except from the heat lamp or food warmer ugh….

Pork belly was a nice portion but sort of under cooked with nothing to bring the dish together just a plated garnished with some indescribable garnish I am really sorry to say.

I have never left such a bad review and regret it but it’s a shame this food is served by a chef driven restaurant company it seems the chef had driven home and left the cooking to someone else..

Entrees chicken coque Au vin Chicken seemed barely baked nor like steamed skin was runner but chicken was tender inside and the sauce seemed pan made with carrots onions bacon and the cream sauce was ok but room temp…..

Scallops were nice size and blackened on one side and had a smoked bacon flavor which was good but they were well done if that’s the recipe it’s fine but they were dry and a bit cooked but fresh and flavorful..

We orders the halibut and that was cooked well with a nice pan sear while inside firm and that dish was done well and was throughly enjoyed.

I ordered the duck and was served about 5 oz two slices of duck breast which I asked for medium as I don’t like blood in the juices and some chefs hate to cook it more than med rare because it makes it tough but I was fine with it I just wanted the duck flavor and some hopefully crispy skin and a nice sauce….

It was spongy like a super processed chicken breasts soaked in liquid before cooking it was a sad duck breast. The sauce had a fruit taste but I just can’t tell you I tasted orange and it was seriously like a tablespoon at best the rest of the plate Turnips firm and tasty asparagus soggy and over cooked.

Mom asked for a cup of coffee and it was so not hot I just held my finger in it and presented to stir in some sugar it was really like lunches left over in an airpot forgotten ..

So very sorry to report all this Ir could be a bad night and chefs night off but this was the worst meal we have had in such a nicely self described special restaurant.

Rat’s! Is what we all walked away saying because we really we excited for a fine French meal in a beautiful venue.

Our server was super sweet and attentive and had nothing to do with all of this but maybe the coffee you college kids who don’t drink it would not notice the lack of heat from the cup I suspect.. she was a good kid and...

I tried contacting the restaurant via email but it was kicked back so I'll leave this public review instead. I proposed to my wife at Rat's on her birthday in 2014. We were married at Rats on her birthday in 2015. We've had multiple meals over the years since our wedding and returned this May 23rd with 9 additional guests to celebrate her birthday and our 10 year anniversary. I made reservations 2 weeks in advance and told the booker that we were celebrating the 2 special occasions and that we were engaged and married in the restaurant. We arrived a few minutes early and they had the table ready so we were seated right away. Now, I honestly didn't expect them to roll out the red carpet, but I thought someone would have said something to us. No happy birthday, no happy anniversary, no table touch from the manager, no little special amuse bouche for my wife and I, no little complimentary glass of champagne. Im not mad that we didn't get free things, Im just disappointed that they could have done something small to make our evening special and they opted to do nothing instead. Food and service throughout the 3 hour meal was lackluster. I ordered a lot of food for the table; cheese plate, 3 onion soups, mussels, 2 caesar salads (1 chicken, 1 shrimp), 5 kids meals (3 kids but didn't know what they would like). Salads were ok, but my chicken was so hard and dry that I had to spit it out. Waiter removed it from the bill. Cheese plate was maybe 3 ounces of cheese and looked lost on the giant board they slapped it on. No one bothered to explain what the cheeses were. For $30 they could have done much better. We didn't get the normal bread service despite the basket being on the server station next to our table. Popovers came after the apps and were fine. Mains took close to 45 minutes to arrive. My sis ordered the squash cassoulet but they sent a chicken dish. The refire came out quickly but was ice cold. Four $65 NY strips all had ice cold fries so they sent us new ones. The manager came by to talk about the fries and I mentioned the cold cassoulet. He seemed more annoyed than apologetic and said it was supposed to be room temp, not cold. I doubt that very much and think it was supposed to be hot. My wifes cod was very meh, but she kept it. Potato wedges were the same ones that came with the kids meals and had zero flavor. The "broccolini" was broccoli rabe and no one told me of the change when I ordered it. After the meal they brought us boxes instead of packaging things for us. Then we waited 10 minutes before being offered desserts, another long wait for the bill, then another wait for them to come take my card and the bill, then waiting again as they processed the card. It took a half an hour to get out of there. Considering we had kids with us they could have moved things along. I left out a lot of details as this only allows so many characters. Overall it was a terrible experience and not what we remembered this restaurant to be. Food was not impressive or worth the $800 price tag. They wont acknowledge this review just like all the others they ignore because they dont care. They will continue to get business because of their location and continue not being concerned with addressing their shortcomings. We...