This week is all about restaurant reviews.  I have three of them for you this week as I am trying to get caught up after taking so much time off! Hop and Grind restaurant is a unique new restaurant in Durham NH. They are located at 17 Madbury rd. (Madbury Commons area). They are open daily starting at 11:30 am.

If you know Durham, NH you know it’s the home to the University of New Hampshire.  There is a lot of activity and the hustle and bustle of the kids and staff in the college community. This little restaurant really fits into Durham for a number of reasons.  The decor at Hop and Grind is unique and colorful, the food is well thought out and priced just right for the college community.  The service is friendly with the food coming out hot, fresh and quick for everyone on the go.

Hop and Grind is a burger joint but not your typical burger joint.  They craft their own burgers, they have scratch made sodas and sell a large selection of local craft beer. Hop and Grind is also the baby brother to the Tuckaway Tavern Restaurant that you have seen on Food Network. New Hampshire restaurants are really stepping up in the food business!

When you first walk in, you head to the counter where you pass a cooler full of various waters and soda that you can grab before placing your order. You can place your beer or wine order at the same counter. The menu is not very big so it’s pretty easy to pick what you want.  It’s all about the burgers here. Jim and I both ordered the Hi-5 burger that has string onions, sweet pickles, cheddar cheese, American cheese and hop sauce.  Jim had the French fries with his burger.  I had the crispy onion strings. Once you order you are given a number,  then you can find a seat. This is where it can get tricky as it’s not a big restaurant. They have a number of seats at the bar and window area. Then they have a handful of 2 and 4 seat tables and a couple larger tables for bigger parties or community like seating. I’m not a huge fan of the community type seating, but we were able to grab a table that was for 6 people and shared it with two other fine folks. Not a big deal, but it’s not really our thing.

It did not take long for our food to arrive but before it arrived I have to say I was a little skeptical as Jim likes his burger medium and I like mine well done.  This place was so busy with people coming and going I wondered if they would just get the burgers on the plate, not really caring about the specific wellness.  I was wrong…both burgers were cooked just as we asked!  These burgers were very good and I’m not a burger girl. Now, the fries and crispy onion strings, let’s start with the fries…very good crispy on the outside and tender inside, a solid French fry! Now the crispy onion strings, these are super thin and super crispy.  Jim and I both ate those. Delicious!

Let’s talk about the amazing variety of burgers they offer.  It’s not just beef burgers like we had.  They also have chicken burgers that are all natural and hormone free. They have one called the hot chick with hot sauce, blue cheese, cilantro celery and carrot slaw, with a cool ranch sauce. I have to say that sounds really good! They have pork burgers and veggie burgers too. Maybe a pork burger called Uncle Ham with apples, dry aged bacon, brown sugar apple chutney, smoked Gouda, sage with a cider glaze. Sounds tasty right!  I also like the sound of the Beet Box burger with beets, quinoa, apple chutney, smoked Gouda and sage and honey butter, wow!

A couple of other choices that I’m kind of loving and that have become really popular lately is their fried chicken sandwich.  Get this,  they have a Honky Tonk chicken sandwich that is a Nashville hot chicken sandwich with pickles, slaw and sticky hot chili honey. Hot chicken sandwiches have been popping up everywhere over the past year and I love it!

So that’s a quick overview of sandwiches but they have some mouth-watering sides as well. Next time I go I am definitely trying their salt and truffle vinegar fries.  I love the salt and vinegar combination on anything and I know I already love the crispy onion strings. If you like fried mac and cheese or fried pickles, they have those too!

Earlier I mentioned their house crafted sodas.  They have several flavors including lemon, lime, orange, blueberry mojito  and raspberry Ricky.  If you like craft beer, this is a great place as they have sourced a number of local craft beer from places like Moat Mountain, 603, Allagash, River Walk and Ballast Point to just name a few. They have a full list on their website.

https://www.hopandgrind.com/

You can also check them out on Facebook. Go ahead and check out Hop and Grind you will enjoy some delicious burgers and cold local craft beer!

Enjoy!

Bully Hill Vineyard is located in Hammondsport N.Y. and was one of the places we stopped at while visit Amanda, Steve and the twins last summer. Although there are many, many vineyards in the Bath,  NY area where we were staying, this one particular vineyard always came up with one of the must go to places in the area. Who were we to dispute all of the recommendations! So after visiting a local aviation museum, we went to lunch at Bully Hill.

The first thing we noticed pulling in the parking lot was how beautiful it was overlooking Keuka Lake.  The view is just amazing. Bully Hill Vineyard is not just a winery, it has a restaurant, gift shop, a wine store and tasting shop. Let’s start with the restaurant, shall we?

We arrived in time for lunch and were seated quickly and shown the daily specials. One of the first things we noticed was this was a gratuity-free restaurant meaning, no tipping. We wondered a little bit about this and wondered how the service was going to be. Well, rest assured our waiter was terrific. We had water at the table,  our wine and appetizer order placed in time. We chose the spinach artichoke dip to start. This was amazing. It was creamy, rich, smooth, and velvety served with warm bread slices. This dish came out piping hot and it was so good I don’t think we gave it one minute to even cool down. If no one was looking I think we would have fought over the last bite of this rich tasty dish, what a way to start lunch!

And, since we were at a vineyard I ordered a glass of wine. One of the recommendations I was given was to try the Bass Riesling with flavors of apple and nectarine. Jim does not drink wine at all and I am picky about the ones I like so I was not sure what to pick, but the Bass Riesling was just right. Sweet, but not too sweet, with light fruit tones. Perfect for our lunch!

I ordered their Margherita Pizza with, tomato, basil, garlic, and mozzarella. Sounds pretty basic right? It is, but what made this pizza stand out as that each layer was nicely seasoned, the tomatoes were salted just enough to bring out the sweet flavor to combine with the basil and mozzarella. This was really good and also a lot of it, enough to bring back to the RV and enjoy later!

Jim had the Smoked BBQ Sampler Platter with smoked, pork, chicken and brisket with sides of beans, coleslaw, and a biscuit. Now that’s a huge lunch but it did not intimidate Jim in the slightest bit.  He was ready to dive in and did just that! He joined the clean plate club for this lunch! Needless to say, it was delicious and Jim can be picky when it comes to smoked meats. He does not like anything that has an overly smoked flavor and this platter had a touch of smoke and wonderful BBQ flavors.

After all that food we did not have room for dessert but we were ready to take a walk around the property and check out the gift shop and the wine store and tasting area. First stop was the gift store. They have everything wine related there,  from wine-related apparel, glasses, sauces, and jellies all made with wine.They even wine gummy bears! So many things to see in this shop!
Next stop was a small walk to the wine store where you can purchase their wines, taste test and take a tour! They have wine for everyone’s taste. Blush, red, white and sparkling wine. We left with six bottles to take back to NH to enjoy. We loved Bully Hill and look forward to going back.

For some important information on Bully Hill Vineyard, they close for the winter season but will be opening back up on Memorial Day. So if you are traveling through the area or happen to live in the area and have not checked Bully Hill yet, Take some time out and go for lunch, you ont be disappointed ! Don’t forget to get more information online and follow them on Facebook!
https://www.bullyhillvineyards.com/

Enjoy!

We have been going to Patrick’s for a number of years now, it’s one of our favorite places in the Gilford NH area. My parents have a boat just across the street from Patrick’s so it’s a great spot for lunch or dinner while spending time on Lake Winnipesaukee.

We were joined by my parents for lunch when we went a few weeks ago. We got there when it opened for lunch at 11:30 and were greeted and seated in no time. For an appetizer, we ordered Barbs Onion Hooks $6.99. These are julienned onion slices, hand tossed with a light breading and deep fried with a creamy horseradish sauce. These were so light, crispy but I loved that when you took a bite of the onion all of the breading actually stays on! The horseradish sauce is the perfect compliment to the onion hooks, it adds a little bite of flavor. These were gone in no time and always a favorite.

For our main course, my parents split the Turkey Club $11.99 as all of the portions are plenty enough for two! This club sandwich is always a favorite of theirs. The turkey club has roasted turkey breast, lettuce, tomato, bacon, mayo, American cheese all on grilled bread. Sounds delicious, doesn’t it? They cleaned their plate!

Jim had the Harvest Turkey Sandwich $12.00, This is always one of Jim’s favorite sandwiches to order anyplace we go but Patrick’s does an exceptional job with this sandwich with the addition of the pumpkin apple butter! What’s not to love about turkey, cranberry apple stuffing with sausage and of course the pumpkin apple butter all on a grilled Italian bread. You won’t leave the table hungry with that sandwich, not a crumb left on Jim’s plate!

Last but not least I ordered the Bistro Salad $10.99, this salad was huge! I mean really, really big with lots of great flavors and textures, you truly eat with your eyes when the salad is put in front of you.It’s beautifully made with crisp romaine, house made Caesar dressing, crumbled bacon, red onion, diced tomatoes along with Gorgonzola. This also comes with warm grilled pita slices. This was a delicious salad and because it was so big I was able to take it home and have more for dinner!

Patrick’s Pub has so much going on, they have two clubs that you can be a part of each having some great perks! They can do private parties and have many events such as ladies night, dueling pianos and so much more. You can find Patrick’s Pub at 18 Weirs Rd, in Gilford, NH. They open at 11:30 daily and of course you can see the full menu online but don’t forget to give them a like on Facebook too!

https://www.patrickspub.com/

Enjoy!