Caro Restaurant & Bar - 4 Ottawa Street North, Hamilton Ontario

Caro Restaurant & Bar

https://www.carorestaurant.com/

Caro Restaurant & Bar is located on the corner of Ottawa Street at Main Street East in Hamilton.  This location has been home to a few restaurants over the years with the last one being a pizza place.  It is a great location and the new signage is very visible from the street as you pass buy.  The owners have done quite a bit of renovations and it looks fantastic.  We met the owner when we walked in and he was busy serving and seating customers.  We actually phoned ahead and he had added us to the wait list, so when we arrived the wait for a table was not too long.

It is not a big place but the seating is perfect and there is a large open bar area where people were either waiting for a table or eating their meal.  We sat at the window in a great spot.  A patio in the summer would really be ideal for this restaurant.

The draft beer was not set up yet so we ordered a craft bottled beer made by Fairweather brewery in Dundas.  The beer was citrus flavored and a bit hoppy which we like.  The menu has a selection of apps, pizzas and pastas.  We decided to order two apps to share and two pizzas.  The Brussels and Porchetta ($8) and Roasted Parsnip and Garlic Ravioli ($10) were excellent.  The brussel sprouts had a nice flavor combined with the prochetta but I think we liked the ravioli even better. 

For pizzas, we ordered the Mushroom Pizza ($13) and the Herbivore ($13).  The mushroom pizza was topped with arugula and had a honey glaze on the crust.  The herbivore pizza was topped with feta cheese and just as good.  We would have preferred a crust that was not as doughy, so maybe a bit thinner crust but no complaints about the taste of the toppings.

This restaurant should do well at this location with this menu.  Hopefully they will get permission from the city to open a patio in the summer.  We enjoyed our experience at Caro and will definitely go back, maybe for brunch next time.

Roasted Parsnip & Garlic Ravioli

Brussels and Porchetta

Herbivore Pizza

Mushroom Pizza

View of the Bar

Donut Monster - 246 Locke Street South, Hamilton

You have to try Donut Monster!!

Donut Monster has a newly opened storefront on Locke Street.  They are still supplying local coffee shops and businesses with their donuts.  The line up was long but moved quickly.  You can enjoy your donut(s) with a coffee while dining in or take them to go, like we did.  6 donuts cost us $17 but it was well worth it!

So many donuts to choose from!

Orange Cashew Donut - pictured centre

From left to right - top row - London Fog, Classic Apple Fritter, Sarsaparilla

                                                   Bottom row - Sugar donut, Orange Cashew, Chocolate

33 Bowen - 33 Bowen Street, Hamilton Ontario

33 Bowen

33 Bowen is a new restaurant in Hamilton located in a historical building that has been home to a few businesses over the years.  More recently, it was the location of The Keg up until 1995 and then Slainte Irish Pub until 2015.  This new restaurant is part of the Unique Restaurant Group that also owns The Powerhouse, Pheasant Plucker and The Augusta House.

The building itself is beautiful and inside there is a large stone fireplace, which is exactly where our table was for our visit here.  I was happy to be sitting next to the fireplace at first, but it did get a little too warm as the night went on.  They have removed the old bar and replaced it with a more modern looking design.  The menu had a good selection of starters and entrees but that night the starters and choice of salads appealed to us the most.  As we were leaving, the entertainment was just getting started with a singer and keyboardist that sounded good.

Instead of ordering an entree, we selected three starters to share and ordered a small salad each.  We also ordered a draft beer.  There wasn't a huge selection of craft beers but this was their first week being open and we did find one to try.  I started with the Bowen salad (small for $6) with arugula, pecans and parmesan and my husband tried the small Brussels and Bacon salad ($7).  Both salads were delicious and a good size as well.  If I was having lunch, I could easily see myself ordering the large size salad and being totally satisfied with that.

For our three starters, we tried the Pan Seared Calamari ($15), Naan Flatbread ($15) and the Tempura Vegetables ($12).  The calamari was good, but a bit plain tasting and maybe a deep fried calamari might have appealed to us more.  We did enjoy the flat bread which was served like mini pizza slices and tasted nice with the apples, bacon and carmelized onions.  The tempura veggies were also quite tasty.

We would definitely go back to 33 Bowen but next time try one of the entrees.  As we watched the entrees being delivered to other tables, they looked like nice size portions.  The prices were good and so was the service.  I hope they do well in this location as it is away from the main hub of restaurants in downtown Hamilton but it is such a beautiful historical spot.

Pan Seared Calamari

Tempura Vegetables

Naan Flatbread

Brussels and Bacon - small salad

Bowen Salad - small size

The Diplomat - 43 King William Street, Hamilton Ontario

The Diplomat:  web site  http://thediplomat.ca/

Planning to head to The Mule for tacos, we spotted a new restaurant open on King William Street.  King William from John to James Street has so many choices for restaurants.  The Diplomat is actually in the location where The Baltimore House used to be and you would not recognize it after all the renovations. 

The Diplomat is open concept with lots of seating but not crowded.  We ended up sitting at a high top table looking out the front window of the restaurant.  There are roll up windows on both sides of the restaurant that will open up to the street in the summer.  They will also be having a patio available in the summer months.

We didn't really look over the drink menu in detail but ordered a few craft beers.  They had a shareable sides menu and the main menu.  It was a difficult decision on our appetizer choice but went with the Crab Rangoon Dip with wonton chips ($12), which was excellent.  There were large pieces of crab meat in the dip and definitely enough dip for the number of chips.

Main course selections were the Wellington County Beef ($29) and the Ricotta Gnudi ($20).  I wanted to try the Chili Crab and Sticky Pork but the waitress let me know that this was a very spicy dish, so I switched to the Ricotta Gnudi, as I did not feel like spicy.  My husband said that the Wellington County Beef was his favorite dish out of many of the dishes we have tried at similar restaurants.  The beef was done to perfection and there were whole roasted baby onions on the plate.  He had the brussel sprouts as his side which he loved.

My daughter and I had the Ricotta Gnudi which to us compared to extra larger gnocchi filled with ricotta cheese and served with brussell sprouts topped with pumpkin seeds and a pesto sauce.  So delicious!!

We would definitely return to this restaurant and highly recommend to others.  Quality food and service in a really nice atmosphere.  We liked our seats at the front because it was quieter and would be the perfect spot with the front windows open to the street.  The prices were definitely comparable and we found out that this restaurant is owned by the restaurant group, Equal Parts Inc. which own the Aberdeen Tavern and The French.  In comparing to Aberdeen Tavern and The French, we would say that we enjoyed or meal at The Diplomat just as much or even more.

Wellington County Beef with side of Brussel Sprouts

Ricotta Gnudi

Dinner Menu

The Diplomat

Moody's - 107 George Street, Hamilton Ontario

I read about Moody's in the Hamilton Spectator and really wanted to try it based on what I read in the article and the fact that they are owned by the same people as the The Ship on Augusta Street.  Moody's is located on George Street in Hess Village.

They have a list of beers from local and Toronto area craft breweries along with a small selection of mixed drinks.  We tried the Peach Uber Sour from Nickelbrook and the Karma Citra IPA.  Both very good!

We started with the Table Salad which was an iceberg mixed salad with a house dressing and the Brussels Sprouts with bacon which were delicious.  We shared these two dishes among the three of us and then shared two pizzas.  The Mac Daddy signature pizza sounded interesting and it was made up with ingredients of a Big Mac hamburger.  It was topped with lettuce, special sauce, ground beef cheese and pickles.  The Buffalo Cauliflower pizza had a bit of a bite to it.  I enjoyed this one with the blue cheese drizzle on it.  The pizza crust was delicious and reminded me of the taste of an Everything Bagel at Tim Horton's.

We had plenty of food for the three of us.  Besides pizza, there are pasta and sandwich selections on the menu.  We enjoy The Ship and Moody's was equally as good plus it was reasonably priced. 

Buffalo Cauliflower Pizza

Mac Daddy Pizza

Beertown Public House - 2050 Appleby Line, Burlington

We read about this new restaurant in the Hamilton Spectator and decided to give it a try.  Of course the idea of a huge selection of local craft beers attracted us as well as their menu.  This is the fourth Beertown, as there is already London, Cambridge and Waterloo locations.  We have been to the Craft Beer Market in Calgary which is very similar to Beertown with a long list of craft beers and similar type of food on the menu.

We were not disappointed with Beertown Public House in Burlington.  The list of beers offered is divided into rotational pours and bottles as well as static pours and bottles.  There is a lot to choose from with the majority from local craft breweries.  I selected the Ceres Cucumber Lime Gose (a sour-gose), my husband tried the Bronan IPA and our son tried the Batch:1904 cider.  All were good!

For food, the menu selection is perfect with sides, sandwiches, salads and lots more.  The Power Bowl was delicious with kale, chicken, quinoa and edamame and worth it for $17.99.  The California Turkey Burger was a good size and my husband chose the blueberry and kale salad as the side dish.  It was also a good price at $16.99.  Our son had the Beertown Pad Thai with shrimp for $18.99.  We were glad we didn't order any starters because the meals were plenty to fill us up.

We would definitely return to Beertown.  It was well worth the money and the selection of local craft beers was awesome!  You can't eat a meal like this at some of the chain restaurants like Kelseys or Milestones and they also don't have the long list of craft beers to try.

Beertown Pad Thai with Shrimp

California Turkey Burger with Blueberry and Kale Salad

The Power Bowl

Black Sheep Snack Bar - 189 Ottawa Street North, Hamilton

We have been to Black Sheep Snack Bar for dinner twice in the past couple of months.  We like this place. It is a small restaurant and very comfortable inside.  It is part of The Other Bird group of restaurants, so the same group that owns The Mule, Rapscallion and other places in Hamilton.

Both times we showed up later at around 7-8 pm.  It was busy but we managed to walk in and get a table.  The menu is small and apparently they change it up periodically but it has plenty of interesting dishes as well as a good selection of cocktails and beer including some craft beers.  You want to plan to order 5 or 6 dishes for two people.

For our first visit, we ordered the Devilled Eggs, Four Perfect Nachos, Chicken Skin Roast Potatoes, Pierogi and Kielbassa, Sweet Potato and Chick Pea Curry and Brussel Sprout Pad Thai.  This was perfect for two people.  We were feeling full and probably would have been fine with one less dish.  If you like the idea of a menu of shareable dishes, we would recommend Black Sheep Snack Bar.

Four Perfect Nachos

The Menu

Pierogi and Kielbasa

Sweet Potato and Chick Pea Curry