The Stone Rose Restaurant has been one of the remaining restaurants in Conshohocken that I have not tried yet. So, when my parents offered to watch my son for the evening, my wife and I decided it was a good night to give it a try.
Some background first – prior to having my son, my wife and I would frequent restaurants in the city and ‘burbs about every week. I like to think we know the ins and outs of the restaurant business enough to know what is right and what is wrong. For the most part, The Stone Rose did a lot of things right. But, there were also some things that were wrong…
The service started quickly and the waitress brought us water and explained specials and the the multiple changes to menu (there were about 5 changes/adds/deletes from the menu). After about 5 minutes, my wife and I decided on a bottle of wine, 2 starters and 2 mains. We put down the menus and waited…and waited…about 10 minutes in total for the waitress to return. I could see her talking to the hostess, but for some reason, she took quite a while to return. She took our orders and came back with the bottle of wine.
Starters came out quickly and were very good. My wife had the house salad and I had the mussels. My wife enjoyed the salad but mentioned the dressing tasted very onion-y. For a vinaigrette, that might be a problem. My mussels were great, made in a white wine sauce where the mussels were tender and done perfectly. The extra bread that came with provided for great dipping by my wife and I. My only problem with the mussels were the quantity, there were too many! My guess is 20-30 total is probably 5-10 too many for a starter. I guess there could be worse things, too much food…
For the main, my wife had the fish special which was walleye. It was very good in a simple sauce that went well with the fish. I had the scallops, which included a great risotto and mushroom sauce.
Overall, the meal was above average, not great, but not horrible either. My scallops were a bit over seasoned and my wife’s salad was slightly off flavor. The food issues were minor compared to my other complaints.
The whole vibe of restaurant was strange. I wasn’t sure if it was a sports bar or a fine dining experience. For the price we paid (more on that later) there should be less meat-heads at the bar whupping up the last Yankee’s home run. The other strange thing was the management/staff. There were two well dressed men in the rear of the restaurant, not eating and talking it up with the waitstaff. They were going behind the bar, watching customers, checking out the food, etc..etc. I can only assume they were the owners. Quite frankly, they were creepy. If they want to keep close tabs on the restaurant, fine. But, don’t sit there and gawk as people are eating. My wife noticed it first and then I took notice and it wasn’t cool. If you are going to hang out, maybe once in while stop over to the tables and check in on everything. That little hello goes a long way.
As for the prices, they were way too high. Our total bill came in around $150, including a $40 bottle of wine. The prices at The Stone Rose are close to Blackfish’s prices down the street while the food, ambiance and service was not even close to it’s competition on Fayette Street.
Will I be back? Maybe. I’ll keep an eye on things and maybe stop in for lunch to give it another try. If I want to stay local and drop a C-Note on dinner, I’m heading down the Blackfish.
My wife and I tried Stone Rose on a babysitting night, too. Also had the scallops, I thought they were fantastic. Wife loved the burger. Plus a couple glasses of wine, tab came to around $70 with tip (if I remember correctly). I don’t think $150 is unreasonable considering that you had two apps, two entrees, and a bottle of wine.
Yankees fans? I’m never going back.
it’s “latter”, shit-head.
If you are going to be rude, you should at least know the English language..
Defination of later
the sample during the restaurant rally was outstanding but when i actually went in to eat, i was not impressed. service was slow, they were out of this that and the other. its not that great
My wife and I went to the Stone Rose a few weeks ago, we wanted to try it out during the Conshohocken Restaurant Week.
We walked in, the hostess sat us at the window table near the bar.
We waited 10 minutes, then 15 minutes, a waiter/ess never came by our table. The hostess was 10 feet away from us and just stood there, the restaurant was not that busy. Finally, we just walked out and went to Gypsy Saloon and had a very nice dinner (Lobster Mac & Cheese is delicious)
Had breakfast in the new restaurant which took over Boccella’s Aside from a few mistakes on our order, (It was the first time our server did this sort of work) The place was warm and friendly, the food was very good, and it was all in all a lovely time. The prices were reasonable and we are looking forward to trying their lunch and dinner. We love having a nice place to go , within walking distance of our home for a good cup of coffee and a hearty breakfast 4 stars.