Black Bass Hotel
As others have recently reported, the Black Bass Hotel has been in various stages of operation. Now looks to be closed for good. We have mixed feeling as we enjoyed some fine summer dinners here, but more recent visits (during the River road bridge reconstruction) were less than stellar. Hope it comes back to life.
Here's your opportunity, fellow hounds, to buy a piece of history!
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Foody4life
Aug 31, 2009 07:23 AM
We dined at the newly restored Black Bass this past Saturday and have many compliments for the cuisine, ambiance and service. No expense was spared in the restoration and the result is nothing short of outstanding.
We arrived about 45mins ahead of our reservation in order to enjoy a cocktail in the cozy bar room. J had a glass of a CA meritage and I had a perfect martini prepared by the personable bartender. The bar room has retained the historic bar top and now hosts the extensive collection of British memorabilia that was previously on display in the main dining room. The adjacent stone walled room is now the tavern dining room where a separate, less formal menu is served. It'd be a great spot to grab a quick bite or casual dinner, which we look forward to in future visits.
We were seated promptly at 7 in the main dining room at our requested window table overlooking the Delaware. The main dining room has been given a complete renewal. The result is a comfortable ambiance for one to enjoy the company they are with, along with the fine cuisine.
There's many old favorites on the dinner menu along with new additions. Specials of the day including a crawfish ap, a seared tuna ap, a prime rib entree and a whole bronzino entree.
For appetizers, J ordered the crab cake and I ordered the crawfish special. Her crab cake was a very large cake filled with lump crab set in a rich sauce. My crawfish was a heaping bowl of sweet tailmeat with a rich creole broth that had a bit of spice. The warm loaf of bread was put to good use with both dishes and thoroughly enjoyed.
For entrees, J ordered the sea bass and I ordered my old favorite, the Charleston crab. J's sea bass was a large serving, perfectly oven roasted and served atop a gumbo sauce that included crawfish and crab. The gumbo sauce was a great compliment to the bass.
My Charleston crab was outstanding. The serving dish was filled with huge sections of sweet jumbo lump crab in a rich cream sauce. We were beginning to fill up quickly from all the rich and creamy sauces, but I succeeded in finishing and would order it again.
One small dislike was the accompaniment to my entree - asparagus topped with carrot bits and a very dry rice pilaf of some sort. The asparagus was large cigar sized spears that were tough and stringy. With all the local farm fresh bounty within a few miles, one would expect the use of a local seasonal vegetable and return to asparagus in the spring.
We finished the evening with a well prepared espresso and left dessert for another time as we were beyond full. Service throughout was professional and cordial with our needs anticipated and met by the well trained staff.
All in all a great evening at this beautifully restored jewel. We look forward to many return visits.
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I am happy to announce that The Black Bass Hotel has been purchased, renovated and is now open to the public as of June 29, 2009! You can reach us at: 215-297-9260. Open for lunch, dinner and our infamous Sunday Champagne Brunch. Chef John Barrett is back too!
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re: black bass hotel
bucksguy14
Jul 6, 2009 06:54 AM
Putting your menu(s) on the website would be a great, and helpful, addition.
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Foody4life
Jun 29, 2009 05:38 PM
Black Bass Hotel - REOPENED 6/28/09 after the complete rebuild & renovation by Jack Thompson. This is great news!
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I'm thrilled also. I sure hope the menu can hold on to customer favorites such as mine, the Chareleston crab (crab au gratin).
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re: murano
Foody4life
Apr 6, 2009 03:23 PM
Looks like a very good chance the Charleston Meetinghouse Crab (my fav too) is coming back.
The current issue of Buck's Life mag has an article on Jack Thompson's Black Bass renovation / rebuild. They mention plans to rehire several former staff members including chef John Barrett "whose mouth watering meals helped make the BBH a staple of Bucks County's dining scene." He'll reintroduce popular items and also spice up the menu with some modern dishes.
Let's hope it all works out for them (and us)!
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Foody4life
Mar 11, 2008 04:24 PM
Yesterday, the historic building was sold in less than four minutes. Jack Thompson, 76, a prominent Doylestown auto dealer, bid $830,000 and pledged to reopen the inn and preserve its historic and decorative ambiance.
Complete story here:
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kissdadish
Mar 10, 2008 08:08 AM
great place to stop and have a beer while biking around Bucks/Hunterdon counties!. Unfortunately this place needs This Old House to show up and do a major overhaul. Most of the woodwork is worn and needs some major sanding and varnish. There are too many nice places to go in the area and old world worn country inn isn't bringing them in anymore. In the listing under banquets, it is listed as "none booked", this is a killer and means there are no weddings booked for at least the rest of the year. This place needs that to survive. The hotel rooms look really dated and uncofortable. :-(
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re: kissdadish
crazyspice
Mar 10, 2008 03:08 PM
I had heard through friends of the owner this was going to happen. Very sad indeed. My last visit there was brunch and we really did enjoy ourselves and will miss the place. Tough location for sure, but it would be nice to see it brought back to life.
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flourgirl
Jan 18, 2008 11:45 AM
My husband and I have always had a soft spot for this place. Beautiful building, beautiful setting and great food. (We hadn't been there in a VERY long time, so I can't speak to how the food was before the establishment's troubles began.)
One can only hope that whoever ends up buying the place has the vision and talent to do it justice.
It is a risky location - I can't imagine buying anything right on the Delaware River with that low an elevation given all of the recent flooding in the area.
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Sadly, this is something that will be pretty common along the Delaware river north of New Hope. Many restaurants and Inns are closing due to the road construction that has finally started to fix the flood damage. You literally have to travel miles out of your way to get to these restaurants due to construction detours and these hotels and restaurants can't survive.
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