To celebrate my brothers high school graduation this past weekend, a few family and friends went out to eat at Rat’s restaurant in Hamilton, NJ. While the name is not the most appealing thing in the world, Rat’s is actually said to be one of the best restaurants in all of NJ.

The restaurant itself is very unique. When my brother and I arrived, the front desk told us the rest of our party hadn’t been sat yet, they were “walking the grounds.”? Rat’s is located on a 35-acre area that is reminiscent of a European village. The grounds are filled with a variety of sculptures scattered throughout. On a day with good weather, it’s a very nice walk.

Anyone longing for a visit to a historic European village, but without the time or means to get there, may satisfy their craving with a visit to a new restaurant with the unlikely name of Rat’s. Rat’s is among the latest additions at the 35-acre newly redesigned Grounds For Sculpture. Designed to make visitors feel they have stepped into a village reminiscent of French impressionist Claude Monet’s beloved town of Giverny, the village is the culmination of a six-year dream of sculptor J. Seward Johnson Jr.

Here’s a few pictures of the restaurant and the grounds…it reminded me of Disney World when I first drove in:

Rat’s is known for its extensive wine list. In fact my aunt (who lives in London) ordered a bottle of wine (1990 Chateau Haut Brion) that was normally around $3,000/bottle in England, but around $250 (50% off) at Rat’s. One of the things I really liked was that they had popovers for bread, something I experienced for the first time when dining at BLT Steak in Washington DC. This is by far my favorite type of bread.

Here are some pictures of some of the food we ordered:

Roast leg of lamb with new potatoes, minted pea puree, roast baby Vidalia onions and jus

Pan roasted Barnegat scallops with wild mushrooms, crispy artichokes, polenta cakes and verjus reduction

Pairing of free range veal: braised breast and medallion with potato cake, roasted early onion stuffed with mushrooms, creamed spinach and sherry vinegar and foie gras sauce

Griggstown chicken cooked under a brick with sage flavored bread sauce, Spring vegetable ragout and natural jus

Pan roasted halibut with chanterelles, pommes fondant, wilted pea shoots and avgolemono

Double cut Berkshire pork chop with buttered fava beans, pioppini, creamy farro and strawberry ketchup

Molten chocolate cake

Cheesecake sundae

I personally had the pork chops and molton chocolate cake, both were excellent. For an interesting dining experience, Rat’s is a great place to go. It’s a very quiet and romantic setting, it would be a perfect place to take a date.

I was extremely lucky when I found my new Dodge Viper, in that the car was located about 20 minutes from where a good friend of mine is attending law school. She was able to check out the car for me, and ensure that everything was legitimate. While I was out picking up the car, I stayed at Lisa’s place for a few days since I never get to see her. In return for helping me out, I wanted to take her out to a nice dinner, so we decided to go to The Chophouse in downtown Ann Arbor.

The restaurant was interesting, it actually had a separate section to it called “La Dolce Vita“, which was a lounge type area for desserts and coffee. Before I get into that, lets get into the dinner itself.

All week Lisa was saying that The Chophouse had the best filet mignon. I’ve had a good amount of filet before, from some really nice places…so I definitely wanted to give it a comparison shot. So of course I ordered the 12oz filet for my entree, and Lisa had some sort of filet special which had crab cakes and something else on it. We also split a side of the cheddar au gratin potatoes with a nice bottle of wine.

I have to say, Lisa was right. This was probably one of the best filet’s I have ever had. I have never seen such a tender piece of cooked meat this size. It was also a huge piece of steak, I could only finish about half of it…and I hadn’t even eaten anything else all day.

We boxed up what we couldn’t finish, and headed over to La Dolce Vita for some dessert. Since we were both already full, we decided to split the chocolate melt cake…unfortunately I didn’t remember to take a picture until we were halfway done with it. Trust me, it was good though

The dinner was great overall, it was about $200 all said and done with a bottle of wine. If you’re ever in the Ann Arbor, MI area…make sure to stop by The Chop House.