The Circular, located at The Hotel Hershey in Hershey, Pa., is a AAA Four Diamond-designated restaurant. For 85 years, AAA provides its top hotels and restaurants using AAA Inspections and Diamond Ratings. Each diamond presents another reason to visit and experience food and drink at these restaurants.
AAA designated The Circular as “Distinctive” with its Four Diamonds Award, one of only 11 such designated restaurants in Pennsylvania. The Circular has received this honor for more than 30 consecutive years — longer than any other restaurant in the state. Only 2.4% of restaurants recognized by AAA have received the Four Diamond designation.
Interested in another area AAA Four-Diamond winner? See my review of Amorette.
The Circular at The Hotel Hershey
If you’re looking for fine dining around the Hershey area, The Circular is it. The historic round room — designed by Milton Hershey himself to avoid bad seats in his upscale restaurant — is centered by the circular bar, where artisan cocktails are crafted and available, along with wine, beer, and spirits.
On our visit, we sat near one of the picturesque windows overlooking the grounds and enjoyed watching light snow peacefully cover the ground.
We began our multi-course meal with decadence – the Hudson Valley Foie Gras Torchon, served with kumquat chutney, brioche, Jefferson Reserve Bourbon Caramel Sauce, while my friend opted for the Maine Lobster Toast.
A quite upscale take on “toast,” this featured Parisienne root vegetables, pancetta, brioche, and a vanilla beurre blanc.
From there, we shared a gorgeous Baby Gem Caesar Salad made with Pecorino, Olive Praline, and Grilled Tuscan Bread
For entrees, we chose two paths: Juniper Crusted Elysian Lamb Loin (me) and Truffle Stuffed Chicken Breast (my friend).
The lamb was prepared absolutely perfectly and served with farro risotto, parsnip puree, broccolini, elderberry compote, and a port-demi glace. The result was a wonderful combination of flavor and texture that delighted the palate (and was quite filling!).
The Truffle Stuffed Chicken Breast came atop a rutabaga-portato puree with butternut squash, pearl onions, and a truffle demi. We oohed and ahhed over both selections (which, I should note, were difficult to narrow down from The Circular’s menu).
Because when you’re in Hershey, you need to chocolate things, we completed this incredible dinner with the Tasting of Chocolate for Two. This platter of chocolate included dark chocolate mousse, milk chocolate and Kahlua cremeux, and white chocolate cheesecake.
At the conclusion of your dining experience, you’ll receive a sea salted caramel, a nod to Milton Hershey’s first candy business.
Dine at The Circular
The Circular is open for dinner 5-9 p.m. Thursday and 5-9:30 p.m. Friday and Saturday. Open Feb. 13 and 14 for Dinner. Call 717-534-8800 for reservations or book online.
The Circular also offers a daily breakfast, buffet or a la carte menu, subject to change, 7-10:30 a.m.
To discover more AAA Diamond program designees, visit here.
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