Hungry? Head to Hamilton's!

It was back to the Loveliest Village on the Plains for Three Friends and a Fork this weekend. I went down with my youngest son to tour the college and take a close look at the vet school. He isn't sure what he wants to get a degree in, but he loves animals and has been interested in checking out the vet program at Auburn. It was also a chance for us to see my oldest son and Rob's big brother who is an Auburn freshman. Rob and I arrived on Friday, in time to meet J.D. and his roommate for dinner. We decided to visit a restaurant that I had been to last year when my friend Teresa and I had taken our boys down for freshman orientation. I remembered the food was really good and I thought my boys would like it.

When Teresa and I came down for orientation, while the boys were off doing their thing, we stopped by the downtown eatery for a nice dinner. Hamilton's is upscale, but college town relaxed and noisy. The staff is friendly and welcoming. I love the caricature paintings on the walls.

 Teresa had been before, but it was my first time at Hamilton's.  We started with a some pretty martinis. I can't for the life of me remember the names of the two in the first picture, but the bottom pictures are called Lucille Ball and are made with Grey Goose, peach schnapps and cranberry juice.

We had the lobster bisque. It was silky and delicious.

I had a salad of sweet chili noodles with crawfish and shrimp. It was made with linguini noodles tossed with sweet chili sauce, carrots, lettuce, and green onions with a peanut sauce. It was a salad with an Asian twist and I enjoyed it.

Teresa also ordered a salad, but her's was a spinach salad loaded with  cranberries, oranges, pecans, strawberries, sunflower seeds, feta cheese and tossed with a cranberry citrus vinaigrette. It looked wonderful and she confirmed that it was.

When the boys and I visited Hamilton's, we ended up with two giant platters of hummus. Two, because Rob and I shared one while we were waiting on JD and his roommate, Cody, and then the two late comers ordered one for the two of them to share. It was really, really good hummus. We loved the pickled onions, pepperoncini, olives and pita wedges that accompanied the dip
. Rob even mentioned wanting to go back and get some more the next day.

                                           

I tried a different soup this time. It was a shrimp and corn chowder, spicy and chunky. It was very good, but I should have gotten a cup instead of a bowl. It was a lot of soup... too much to finish.

I also had a house salad with a Thai cilantro lime vinaigrette. The salad was topped with crunchy tortilla strips and parmesan cheese. The salad was good, but the dressing was a little tart for the salad. I think next time I would get a different dressing. I think that dressing is probably much better on a salad with more sweet and fruity components.

J.D. enjoyed the sesame crusted, pan seared tuna with a wasabi vinaigrette. It must have been delicious,because he ate every bite! It came with wild rice and pickled ginger.

For some reason we failed to get a picture of Rob's chicken Caesar salad. He was like me in that we had filled up on the hummus so much that we really weren't hungry for anything more than a simple salad.

Hamiton's should definitely be high on any list of restaurants to visit in Auburn. It is upscale and casual, fun and tasty. And the hummus platter is really good!

Three Friends and a Fork, our friend Teresa and all the guys give Hamilton's 3 delicious Yums UP!

War Eagle!