The Dutch Pot

i've been wanting to go to the Dutch Pot Jamaican restaurant in Albany ever since driving past it a few months ago. the stars finally aligned this Saturday when we were in the area for Lark Fest and all needed a lil nosh. 
i ordered one of their small plates which comes with a meat and 2 sides -- i had the Curried Goat with sides of Rasta Pasta and Sweet Potato Fries. i don't know what curried goat is -supposed- to taste like since i shockingly don't eat it everyday (i think i've only had goat once before when eating Indian food), but i thought it was great... the goat was gamey, but in a really good way, not a funky way. the curry was spicy enough to give me a mild case of the sniffles, as was the rasta pasta which was a like a alfredo-based cajun pasta. across the board we all loved this place and gave it a "would go back". they have a small menu with a number of dishes i'd come back to try -- good stuff. 

national cheeseburger day!

yesterday, 9/18 was national cheeseburger day. a holiday that comith once a year, and to a burger aficionado is the equivalent of Christmas. it also fell on "healthy week" start since i've been eating like a HOSS and vowed eat light this week and lose a few L-Bs. i was not going to celebrate. i had chicken breasts marinating in the fridge. i was going to run for an errand. come home. go for a run. grill said chicken. 

as you would have it... errand was in the viscidity of New World Bistro Bar. NWBB has been rated one of the top burgers not only in the CapDis, but in all of NY. and i love it. K was in my passenger seat. K is a bad influence. net/net... no run, no grilled chicken, but yes a delicious cheeseburger. we split it to make it not "as bad" along with the Purple Haze Shrimp and some Blackened Stringbeans for him. 

it was... even better than i remember. perfectly cooked, well respected medium rare meat, peppered bacon, cheddar, grilled onion, chipotle aioli, pillowy soft fresh baked bun. total mouth party. the red onion was thicker cut and just grilled enough... which i really liked and will do moving forward. it gave it a nice lil crunch but was cooked down enough to have no onion "bite" to it, but still more flavorful than thin-cut carmelized onions. aaaah heaven. now today i will be healthy.... :o) 

hong kong bakery & bistro

i was tres-happy to learn about the opening of hong kong bakery & bistro in Colonie NY... it's menu is - i believe- the 3rd dim sum menu in the area. or at least the 3rd that i've been able to find so far (with the first 2 being CCK Chinese & Taiwan Noodle). apparently the operation had been working out of the Asian Supermarket and expanded to this standalone spot. 

Friday night i hit up the Asian Supermarket... it was MINDBLOWING -- i had already visited my fav Asian market in Danbury, CT not long ago (TBS Asian Food) and stocked up on rice noodles, curry, & impulse purchases, but somehow i ended up leaving with 2 giant bags of goodies anyway (i think there are 3 or 4 different types of dumplings & pot stickers in my freezer at the moment...oops). the mind blowing amount of products and total adventure of foreign foods is just something you need to visit (if you're into visiting Asian and/or new grocery stores... which um... kinda is one of my favorite adventures. heh.)

the market stpre still has a food stall in it for takeout, but it was closed by the time i left the store (i was there late late)... i popped up the street to Hong Kong B&B after. i ordered the shrimp and pork wonton noodle soup and an order of mini-steamed pork buns. the pork buns were pillow-soft, had a nice slight honey glaze to them, and were stuffed perfectly with lil bbq delish pork. i was eating solo and planned to save 1 of the 3 buns as leftovers... but there were none. the noodle bowl was equally as delish. the bok choy flavor did overtake the broth a little bit (which is fine, just not my personal preference), but i think if i had a beef bowl instead of wonton, the meat would help balance out the flavor. the bowl was HUGE, and i left with a hefty portion of leftovers from that. was even better 2nd day. i didn't try any of the pastries they had (and there were a loooot available), but they looked adorable. definitely plan on returning and trying a few of their signature dishes... very happy to have such a growing number of fantastic Asian restaurants in Cap City. 

new world bistro bar

lazy sunday morning... after oversleeping a bit it seemed like a brunch stop was in order. we had gone to New World Bistro Bar a long while back for brunch and thoroughly enjoyed it, and it seemed like time for another go at it. for being semi in the middle of no where in Albany, this place was still just as packed as ever.  

i had the crab, leek, and egg stuffed crepes with guava hollandaise... deliciouuuuuuus. the last time we were there i had the ropa bennie (shredded cuban pot roast topped with poached eggs and guava hollandaise), but didn't remember how supremely yummy that hollandaise sauce was. massive, but delicious breakfast. required a double workout later in the day to burn it off, but so worth it. 

6th annual troy pig out

...

this little piggy went to the bbq...

we hit up the 6th Annual Troy Pig Out today in Troy, NY. beyond the bbq, this year the fest joined forces with BaconFest this year to deliver a fantastic array of cow and pig products. mmmmm. sweet, tasty farm animals. me and a bud shared a bunch of bites to avoid getting too full too fast. while everything we had was delish, the one thing i was hoping for was more sample-sized tastings... unless that only occurs at a certain point of the day (bbq competition submissions perhaps?). i'd love to buy $1 tickets and just run around sampling every single trucks meat slabs, but one can hope for next year at least. all in all though, it was an absolutely delicious day, and one that i was quite happy i did a large gym session this AM in preparation for it - bacon guilt successfully avoided. 

smoked pork, jalapeno cornbread
& collard green eggroll 

pork belly, fried egg, arugula &
 garlic mayo slider 

rrribs

bacon wrapped dates

Sukhothai - Albany, NY

Sukhothai on Lark St in Albany has been on my to-visit hit list for some time after hearing of it and good things about it. we went on a friday late afternoon and it was pretty busy - surprisingly so. we split the Hoy Joh (crab wrapped in tofu with sweet & sour sauce) and i had the massaman curry as my meal. the app was fairly light & delish, and the massaman actually tasted just like the delish massaman we had on the scuba boats in Thailand. i asked for it a little extra spicy and it ended up with a just right mix of spicy & sweet. i didn't order a drink, but the well-stocked fridge of Sapporo and $5 saketinis that looked fab. definitely a go-back spot. 

Nighthawk's Kitchen

we hit up Nighthawk's Kitchen at the Troy Farmer's Market this past weekend. after all these years in Albany this was our first time hitting the market... which we did only because we heard a good burger lead was nestling in its stands. Serious Eats did a piece on the smashed burger from Nighthawks - not only is it rare for Albany burgers to get a blurb on SE, getting a full article is unheard of. 

Kyle & i did halfsies with a green chili cheeseburger with a side of buffalo mac & cheese and a BBQ burger (which had the BIGGEST slab of bacon on it, mother of god) with a gouda and something-something mac & cheese on the side. 

the burgers were served on potato buns, nice & juicy & a bit messy, with the toppings played nicely with both. the meat had an awesome taste to it, and the giant slabs of local cheese were the perfect gooey blanket to the meat party. i assumed the smashed burgers were going to be thin, but they were pretty hearty. enough so that i had to struggle through the mac & cheese, which was well worth the struggle. definitely a place that i will pop back to, especially after seeing the amount of delicious available at the market (it's more local cheese & bread than it is veggies, and a lot of gourmet snacks. good stuff).

taiwan noodle

last week we finally made it over to Taiwan Noodle, dim sum & noodle shop we heard about via the Times Union. anyone in Albany knows there is a major shortage of dim sum joints (with exception to CCK Chinese, which i'd place as the top contender in Cap City), so any new find is like Christmas. i don't know when Taiwan Noodle opened, but i'm very happy we now found it. it's super casual, and seeing that their customer base was 75% Asian was definitely a nod to their good cookin. 

we ordered the Pork & Leek Dumpling and Shrimp Shu Mai off the dim sum menu and I had the Garlic Chicken Wing Lo Mein as my meal. Not only was everything super-cheap (each DS was between $3-$4, the Lo Mein $7), it was excellent. crispy juicy chicken wings & oodles of noodles. our only regret is that we didn't order any of the noodle soup which is kiiinda their specialty, so we will have to head back soon for more.

update 6/8: went back and hit up the beef noodle bowl. it delivered. SO gigantic i had to take half of it home. will be back. 

capital city gastropub

finally made it to Capital City Gastropub this past Wednesday... every Weds they have 1/2 price grass fed burger night. def our kind of happy hour. the place was teeny, busy (surprisingly so on a Weds night), and cozy inside. casual but have a very fun but not-so-casual ingredient menu. the burger has "Tilldale Farms" beef and comes with garlic aioli, grilled onion, and hand cut fries. i ordered mine with a slab of Harpersfield Farm Ale Cheese  on it.

the burger was well seasoned with a salt & pepper crust, and super-juicy. cooked perfectly medium rare. bun was pillowy (just the way i like em), and the cheese was redonkulously cheddary delish. tho the cheese was strong, the meat was still able to stand up to it - they merged together and became cheese+burger super friends. fries were cooked perfectly as well. they came with house made ketchup, which i tip my hat to, but it tasted more like a marinara sauce then it did a ketchup. so. that was weird.

kyle wasn't AS happy with his burger (i voted about an 8, he was more around a 7.5)... his wasn't cooked as medium rare, and said it was a bit too firmly packed for his taste... could just be since it was a little more cooked it seemed a bit more dense. all in all, we both thoroughly enjoyed them and would absolutely go back. one of the better burgers in albany. (esp for $6.50 before extra fixins... you can't beat that. that's McD prices!)

city beer hall

we've gone to City Beer Hall, Albany NY before a few times for drinks and always liked the joint (it's in an old historical building, adorable, and has a great selection of drinks and big open patio). they have a great loooooking menu that i've always wanted to try, and today we finally did for brunch (they have brunch on both Saturdays and Sundays which is pretty much unheard of in Albany - at best, there are a few places that have it on Sunday).

they had a burger on the menu - hand packed grass fed beef with aged cheddar, fresh baked buns... YEP! the burger looked delightful, and was super tasty. just a touch of salt/pepper seasoning that i could tell, and the rest of it was just pure meat city. unfortunately they overcooked it a tad (i asked for medium rare, got it cooked medium with juuust a touch of pink), but luckily that did not affect the taste or juiciness too much. i would definitely come back, esp in hopes that next time the temp is cooked as medium rare. the fries were hand cut and fried delightfully - equally on par with the great burger. 

CCK Chinese Restaurant

the one thing we didn't get to do in San Fran that was on my must-do list was to hit Chinatown and have some dim sum. when we got back i tried to find a few places in Albany that had it, only to learn that really none do. Yips is our go-to Chinese place, and they had it on their menu... only to inform me that they stopped serving it as no one ordered it... baaah! after a little digging online, i found CCK which apparently not only has it on their menu but was Yelped as the best Chinese restaurant in Albany. it's very unsuspecting from the exterior (it's located on the borderline of ghetto-Albs), but it's very quaint and cute inside. 

we ordered the dim sum sampler - i can't recall exactly what everything was... Spring Rolls, Dumplings (which were slightly blackened on the bottom - oh-so-good), Shrimp -something or others- and some type of Pork wonton that was quite yum. we also got the steamed pork buns as an app - i've seen them on every menu but never tried them - carpe diem. loved them.

we both got crab as our entree - i had the Crab with Curry and kyle had the Crab with Ginger and Scallion. we assumed it would be a dish with a few scant pieces of crab, but we served these awesome whole crabs simmering in some banging sauce. the curry was nice & spicy - enough to get the sniffles but not enough to drown out the dish, and was stuffed with yum veggies. i didn't try K's, but the it smelled awesome with the hot fry they did to the garlic & scallions... yum city. 

we would def go back - they had a lot of specials that were not on their menu but are very diff that what the typical Chinese restaurants in the area serve. on top of that - they are super reasonable. the crab dishes were $9.95 each - they were on special, but even still that anywhere else would be at least the $13-$15 range. 

Blue Spice - Nov 2012

we hit up Blue Spice Thai restaurant in albany, ny a few weeks ago (i've been terrible about updating this lately) - it's a place i've been wanting to hit for a while, and luckily they popped up a groupon deal a short while back. while the service we had was admittedly a little slow, the meal we had was pretty darn good.  

i ordered the Blue Spice Duck which was nice and crispy and fatty (as it should be) and sweet & sticky. it was served with veggies and rice which made for a fabulous little mouth party. it was so long ago i can't give it much deeper of a description, but i remember it all on a positive note. sorry for the lame description, but in short, i would go back. 

Bros Tacos, Yonos, & Genoa

over the past month i visited 3 restaurants/eateries on my gotta-try-em list in Albany.  for 2 of the 3, i was either too distracted or it was too fancy to snap a pic. so... all i have are delicious memories.

Yonos we hit up for our 12 year anniversary. i had the Indonesian Sampler Plate which consisted of Chicken Sate, Vegetable Lumpia, Bakmi Goreng, Pork Tenderloin, Beef Short Ribs, Jasmine Rice, Krupuk, Acar, Sambal, and Peanut Sauce. it's the ADHD of plates. i loved every part of it except the Acar, but i don't really like veggies or pickled things, so that's no surprise : ). for dessert we had the chocolate praline creme brulee which was so decadent. it tasted like a fancy version of eating undercooked brownies (which doesn't sound like a compliment, but believe you/me it is). best part of this place is that they pay attention to the tiny details - 2 amazing butter selections for your 3 choices of bread, a ottoman for your purse so it doesn't touch the floor, amuse bouche of a cold asparagus and caviar soup, you name it. for a 5* restaurant in albany, it's on the top of the list. 

Bros Tacos i've seen seen a lot recommended for albany restaurants on various blogs, or as a reco as best cap city tacos. my bff & i hit it up this past weekend (or last weekend?!).  i had one Carnita Taco (slow cooked shredded pork, onions, cilantro, salsa verde and cojita cheese) and one Fried Shrimp taco (beer battered/fried shrimp, topped with pico de gallo, salsa roja, pineapple and bros tacos crema). had it with a side of rice (no beans!!!). we both really liked what we had, particularly how fresh the ingredients were and the good selections of fresh cheese (no crappy packaged shredded standard cheddar), BUT... thought they weren't the "best ever" which was our impression walking in. and i know that's lame to say - they made (i believe) fresh corn tortillas, but i found the tortilla a bit try. might have had better luck with the flour tortilla - maybe that's what my issue was? idk. i would definitely go back as they have a lot of fun items on the menu and i liked them, but i wouldn't go out of my way as many other Albanians do.

hot pastrami silf

Genoa Importing i've heard from every person in Albany how amazing it is. it was right down the street from my old school, but some how i never made my way there. HOLY COW. i went with Kyle and my BFF and we decided to do a 3-way split on each of our 3 subs. we had a Mad Cow (prime rib, melted meunster, lettuce, tomato, horseradish mayo), the A-Rod (hot pastrami and corned beef, swiss, red onion & russian dressing served on triple decker rye), and a chicken & ham sub with other-delicious-extras-that-aren't-currently-on-the-menu-BUT was amazing sub. one thing about Albany is that it doesn't have any delis (and the few that do suck) - this place blows even a metropolitan area deli out of the water. frankly these sandwiches are all i can think about now, and am kind of happy i didn't try them back in college or i would have easily hit a freshman 15. tip my hat to these fellas.�

Creo'

This summary is not available. Please click here to view the post.

druther's brewing co

this weekend we were in saratoga and ended up having din at druther's brewing co. who would have known they have one of THE best burgers i've had in a while. circus cafe was known to have the best rated burger in saratoga (had it, liked  it), but this hands down has it beat. i went halvsies w/ kyle and had the "if i had my druthers burger"(blend of chuck, short rib, and smoked pork belly, local aged cheddar, pickled green tomato, lettuce, pickled shallot, and druthers sauce) and the "something spicy burger" (blend of chuck, short rib, and smoked pork belly, havarti cheese, pickled spicy and sweet peppers, baby greens, and smoked chipotle aioli). pattys were AMAZING tasty & juicy. cooked perfectly medium rare as requested. preference went to the druthers burger since the spicy drowned out the meat a little bit (although it wasn't super spicy). fries were those super skinny lil guys that have been popping up on menus lately (like half the width of a shoestring little effers), weren't mind blowing but still enjoyable. will definitely be back.

for the record, the point is still my fav albany burger joint, but this is eeking toward the top of the list for the area.  

Farmer Boy Diner

Farmer Boy Diner had been on my list of must-visit Albany restaurants ever since the Mac & Cheese Festival - of all the many (30?) mac & cheeses, Farmer Boy was the stand out winner to me. perfect cheesey flavor and gooey texture. their menu is a little less jam-packed than a normal diner,  and pride themselves on fresh-made food. MMM-MMM.

i believe at one point i had also read they had a good burger, because i was dead-set on testing it before we even got there. when it was served, it was a fairly thin patty served with lettuce, tomato, and my requested add-ons of cheddar, bacon & sauteed onions, on a plain-old bun. we suspect, though actually couldn't confirm, that it was a frozen patty. it still was very juicy (and cooked medium rare as requested, not easy for a thin burger), and had a great char-broiled/grilled flavor. it tasted very straight up- kind of like a simple backyard good burger. it makes it a bit hard to rate... i wasn't BLOWN AWAY (and wanted to knock off points for potentially frozen meat... no-no there), but i did have a good old time eating it. maybe i'll pop it a 6... yes it would lift my spirits on a bad day, but it wouldn't be my ultimate go-to.

the fries were crisp & delish, and dipped in a side of horseradish ranch dressing perfection.

Jack's Drive Inn

i've always seen Jack's recommended as a must-try burger joint around the Albany area, but had no idea where it was and had never gone so far as to try and venture. we were in the Wynantskill area where it's located a few days ago, so it turned into a magical night of burger fate.

i had no expectation going in since i had no pre-burger research done, but at first glance the place was adorable. tiny, roadside old-school place with a simple menu - burgers, dogs, fries & shakes. boom! and the prices were shocking... burger was $1.99... whaaat! (also good b/c it was cash-only and we only had $13 on hand... once again, work of the burger fate)

they served up fast-food style burgers - thin lil patties, standard freihofer buns, and no gourmet cheese or topping selections (it's "you want grilled onions and ketchup" or "no grilled onions and ketchup?" only. hell yes i want grilled onions and ketchup*!)

these were messy little things... the burger tasted almost like it was steamed ala the white castle burgers... i didn't see how they were cooking them but i feel like it was griddle cooked with the griddle just not -quite- hot enough to char the outside of the patty. it's not a gourmet fancy pants burger which is my usual epic burger style, but if you're going to for a fast food style nosh this little bugger is a delight. i had a blast getting that onion ketchup mess all over. and fries were frozen but they were fried JUST right so they were nice and crisp... hell yes.

*ketchup: i'm a ketchup hater (snob?). there are so many other fun things to put on a burger, i usually put whatever random sauce is around on it, or nothing at all if it's a very fine burger patty. it's like putting ketchup on a steak... just sacrelig! if it were up to me, i wouldn't even keep it in the house. the exception i make is for fast food burgers (keep it classic) or backyard bbq burgers (again... classic old school). when it works, it works.

valentines day love

...with this ring, i thee wed
(Juicy Burger, albany NY) 

Sri Siam Thai Restaurant

i've been patiently waiting for Sri Siam Thai to open for a while now... it's super-close to our house and has been teasing me with the "coming soon" signs for months. i -think- it just opened earlier this week - as soon as i saw the open sign it was go-time.

we didn't dine-in, although it seems very cute inside. we ordered some spring rolls, samosa, and pad thai to split, and loved all of it. the spring rolls/samosa were fried just right - they were not too greasy at all and were perfectly crisp. flavor was awesome (i had never had samosa before... delightful little chicken/potato concoction). everything seemed very fresh, great flavor, and when were done we were pleasantly full, not that oh-god-i-ate-too-much grease and sugar feeling from chinese.

we will def be returning... it's so conviently close i'm scared to see how often : ) the red curry is on tap next mmmm.

taste

duck

friday night we hit Taste, albany ny. it's been on my hit list for a while and was def worth the visit. we had two small appetizers (most have small or large app sizes) - one being the braised bison short rib ravioli with truffle foam, the second grilled scallops and pork belly with a gingered carrot puree and cider glaze. um... yum. i was most excited about the pork belly but i think i liked the scallops even more... nice crisp grilled finish and seriously the yummiest sauce ever (and i'm not a big scallop eater...texture issues and have never had a scallop i loved).


for din dins i ordered the espresso spiced rougie duck breast which was served with a burnt orange sauce, cherry balsamic glaze, and wild rice. this was the best duck i've ever had, period. not gamey, not greasy. just tender thin sliced meat in the yummiest sauce ever.  kyle had the kobe meatloaf with pineapple bbq sauce and yukon gold smashed potatoes which he really liked. all the plates had cute/cute presentation, and the i left perfectly full but not feeling gross stuffed. 

meatloaf

my only complaint about the overall experience was the service... the waiter was attentive and did all the by-the-book things he should have, but it wasn't what you'd expect of this formal a restaurant (we were missing 1 bread plate... since no one was ever within eye sight we ended up switching plates back & forth for the bread (which was delicious btw... 3 options for spreads, one being an amazing citrus aioli). i finished my first glass of wine and didn't see the waiter for a good 10 minutes after until our entrees were served... he dropped the plates & tried to run off so fast i had to call him to get another glass with dinner). so... not the WORST, but not the "damn he's good" impression by any means.) still had a great time, and the food was fantastic, def go back.