Stirling Hotel has been a pandemic staple for us. We haven’t been dining out in person basically at all since March 2020. So restaurants that have been smart in how they’ve adapted in the interim (and continued their to go options even after tings started to reopen) have maintained their status as some of our faves. Stirling definitely qualifies!
We unfortunately just missed their recent dinner event but went this past weekend for a rare in-person meal for a belated birthday celebration for T.
They have a lot of great options on their regular dinner menu, like the Carolina burger, pan seared salmon and fried pickles, but we usually are all about the nightly specials. They’re usually pretty solid hits and we love the seasonal variation.
I also really enjoy their cocktail menu. They have continued to allow you to purchase a few cocktails of the day to go which, as parents who don’t get to go out, is a huge plus. On this visit I had their passion fruit guava margarita and the blackberry smash, which is made with Buffalo Trace bourbon, simple syrup, blackberries and topped with Topo Chico. Both are amazing.
We started with an order of their whipped ricotta, which was served with their house made peach jam, almonds, basil and honey served with pieces of warm pita. We also ordered the heirloom tomato caprese. We haven’t had something like that in so long that it was particularly refreshing. The tomatoes didn’t look super heirloom-y, but was still enjoyable nonetheless. Just needed a bit of salt!
Next up was their banh mih pizza. Stirling often has some unique pizzas. When you know a place has a solid pizza base (the crust is nice and fluffy) it makes it easier to check out a special like this. It was mozzarella, pulled pork, carrots, jalapeños, radish, cucumber, cilantro topped off with a sriracha aioli. I’m always a fan of a BBQ pizza and this was a high class adult pork version of that. So good!
Finally, we had their scallops. Scallops are always such a hit or miss thing. You almost know going in, it’s never going to be enough food for what you’d like — especially given the price tag. That was the case here. It was served with a Mediterranean orzo salad, tomatoes, zucchini, kalamata olives, red onion , fresh herbs and a sundried tomato pesto.
We unintentionally ended up being the last people out in the garden. We really wanted to try the banana pudding so got it to go along with the check. No photos of that but can confirm it was amazing. Definitely recommend not skipping on that! It was overall a great meal and we’ll definitely be back again soon.
Stirling Hotel – 227 Main Street, Stirling, NJ Reservations Suggested
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