A thread for restaurants that do not suck… we can have a suck-food thread later maybe…
I’ve been to most of the better places in Hamilton over the last 2 years I’ve lived here. I’ll go step by step through my reviews of the places in Hamilton… expecting to see some Buffalo, Rochester, Mississauga and Toronto reviews…
No national chains, no pizza (we should have a separate thread for that entirely), no buffets… basically, if there is no entree on the menu over $30 then don’t bother putting it here unless it deserves special mention. We’ll also have to have a Roti-specific thread at some point in the immediate future as well.
Sirloin Cellar - Hamilton downtown
Over-rated… heard lots of great things. i no longer care for the opinions of anyone who recommended this place. It’s basically the steak-house equivalent to The Cosy (my family’s restaurant)… meaning, it’s waaay past prime… It’s passable, but i would never go there by choice.
Shakespeares - Hamilton downtown
Same as Sirloin Cellar… these places are from back when Hamilton didnt quite suck as much as it does today… these restaurants i do not think have changed at all in 30 years… very average by today’s standards. I would not return unless it was socially inappropriate not to.
La Cantina - Hamilton downtown
Great atmosphere, good service, fantastic bread… food quality is high but i just haven’t had a dish there that would bring me back yet. However, the rest of the place is good enough such that i will continue going back on rare occasion until i find a dish or couple of dishes to choose from that i really like… I am sure I’ll find it. This place is several times better than the previous two.
Lo Presti’s - Hamilton downtown
Mega old-school feel. Server’s wear suits or tux’s or something. Everyone is old including most of the clientele but the food is great, the service is great too. I had one dish here, their escargot, that was wrapped in phyllo (<spelling) and drizzled with some crazy sauce it was incredible… haven’t had a bad meal here… been 3-4 times… service was great whether it was private room or just with the wife at random. Would go back and would recommend.
Fuloney’s - Ancaster
Not bad, not great… i have to go back one or two more times. Supposedly known for steaks, the menu selection was appropriate for a steak house. The NY strip i had here was solid, but not remarkable. The dining room lay-out is weird; it was distracting a little bit actually. It was a few months ago that i went… tough to remember but that means 5-6 out of 10 anyways.
La Spaghett - Hamilton Mountain
You have to go here. Small to the point of annoying, service is borderline terrible at times… and yet, the food is incredible… i’ve been more than 10 times and will keep going… i’m one of very few people that order take-out there… they are totally not set-up for it but it means that i can enjoy the food and not have to endure the rest of it. Nothing over $20 on the menu… choose your style, chose your pasta… go. Tons of garlic, like too much no matter what. The fruit medley salad is the best salad you can get anywhere. the garlic soup will kill vampires. Go.
Romano’s - Hamilton Mountain
I have to go here often because it’s close to my office. The first 5-6 times i went i hated the place… took my wife there and hated it even more after that but the last 3 times i’ve been have been exceptionally redeeming. The pear salad and the spicy pepper oil are great… bread is always good because the place is in a bread factory… the restaurant is definitely an after-thought and every table has at least 2 Italian people sitting at it no matter what time of day. I wouldn’t quite recommend the place yet, but i can see me getting to that point soon.
Prime - Burlington
did a spouse dinner thing here with Dan (U2N) and i think he’ll agree that other than the company ( 
) the place was pretty solid. Steaks were above average. Service was okay, crab was good, salad was pretty good… we were there for the taste of bulington, by chance, but the menu was pretty good anyways. I’d definitely go back and bring people along. The place turns into a club at night and it was super annoying when they started playing the deep bass when there were still diners in there but whatever, cant have it all i guess.
I don’t know of any other place that preps it that way. The rest is just random desi food made well.