Restaurant Review: The Black Bass Hotel, 5 Yums with a River View
By Mark McNease
Restaurant reviews are based on a 5 Yum scale, 5 meaning put it on your must list, 1 meaning avoid at all costs.
The Black Bass Hotel
3774 River Road
Lumberville, PA 18933
(215) 297-9260
Website: blackbasshotel.com
Spend Meter: $$$$
Service: Excellent
Now that we and our friends have all been fully vaccinated, it’s time to get out there and enjoy each other’s company again. What better way to do that than with a fine meal in a fine restaurant?
My husband Frank and I have been getting takeout on Sundays for many months. It’s the end of my work week (Thursday through Sunday), and I’ve been determined not to cook, clean, or otherwise tax myself after putting in four days at the job. Once the pandemic started a year ago we followed all the precautions and restrictions, and with a few exceptions for outside dining last fall, we’ve been taking it easy with takeout.
At last the tide has turned! We’re back to eating out on Sundays, and this week we were joined by friends Ron and Tim at a favorite restaurant just a short distance from our house in Kingwood, New Jersey. It was our turn to pick a place, and Frank selected a reliable standby we’ve been to many times over the years and that never disappoints: The Black Bass Hotel, just across the river in Lumberville, PA. We’re able to cut the trip to just fifteen minutes or so by parking at Bull’s Island on Route 29 and walking across the pedestrian bridge that spans the Delaware River and leads directly to the hotel.
On its last legs in 2008 and in need of renovation, this historic hotel was purchased by businessman Jack Thompson, of Thompson Toyota fame. The Thompson family was committed to renovating the property and bringing it back to life, and they’ve succeeded spectacularly. You can read all about the restoration and the changes to the property at their ABOUT PAGE.
We’ve been going to this restaurant from time to time for many years now. Overseen by Executive Chef John Barrett, who has worked at the Black Bass both before and after the renovations, the menu offers some of the best food you’ll find in the area.
We sat by the long, large windows facing the Delaware River—reason enough to try a meal here. Our dinner started with soup. Two of us had the potato leak, made with spring garlic oil and frizzled leeks, while the other two had their special, a delicious sweet potato soup that hit the spot on a mid-April night.
Three of us chose their signature dish as our entrees, the Charleston Meeting Street Crab, a classic au gratin with reduced cream, sharp cheddar cheese and sherry. Frank went his own way with the stuffed salmon with scallop and watercress mousse, a delicate potato pave on the side and champagne chive butter sauce.
Because a restaurant meal isn’t really complete without dessert, three of us chose their simple ice cream three-scoop that came with espresso—or not—and Ron had a delicate pistachio cake that was glazed so perfectly it looked like half a Faberge egg (I hated ruining it with a spoon when I tried it, but it was as tasty as it was beautiful).
Over the last fourteen years I’ve been coming to the area with Frank, most of them commuting back and forth from New York City until we permanent residents several years ago, I’ve never had a bad meal here. It’s pricey, but it’s also proof that you really do get what you pay for. It’s perfect for special occasions, and coming out of a difficult, locked down, pandemic, year-long endurance test is the very essence of a special occasion. We’ll be back … time and again.
Mark McNease is the author of ten novels, two short story collections and miscellaneous fiction. He’s the founder and editor of LGBTSr.com, “where age is embraced and life is celebrated.” He was the co-creator of the Emmy and Telly winning children’s program Into the Outdoors, and he currently co-hosts the The Twist Podcast.