Provence

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Category: Restaurant Reviews

Provence Restaurant is located in Stuyvesant Plaza, in Guilderland, and is situated towards the back of the shopping complex. The menu is very French, and the decor is quite classy; up to and including the open style kitchen centered along the left wall as you walk halfway into the establishment. At first you may think, "Hmm, should I have dressed up for this?" or "Wait, this upscale a restaurant, in a strip mall?" I do assure you that Provence manages to strike that balance, catering to a relaxed atmosphere, in an upscale environment.

Brian, and I had been to Provence at least once before. Although we knew what quality to expect, that would not dissuade us from providing a truthful account if we received anything less than that. I'm happy to report that in all but 1 aspect, Provence did not falter.

Since this meal was a special occasion, we decided to sample appetizers (and cocktails), in addition to our standard entree fare. Appetizers were the Bacon Wrapped Monkfish, and the Sizzling Chili Shrimp. For our entrees, I ordered the Canard au Cerises (pan seared duck breast). Brian ordered the small portion of Steak Frites, and tied that with an appetizer of the Lobster Mac & Cheese.

Our waiter for the evening was very knowledgeable, pleasant, and prompt. Bread was served, alongside a pesto/olive oil mixture. The bread would have been better warm, and the dipping accompaniment needed a touch of salt.

As we noshed on the bread, we took joy in watching the hustle and bustle of the kitchen. Our seats had a direct view.

The Sizzling Chili Shrimp were described as having a touch of red chili flake, but not being all that spicy. I would disagree. The sauce had a bit too much chili flake, providing a heat that was almost overpowering. I don't mind a little heat, but either the chef was heavy handed with the chili flakes, or the dish was described wrong. Also, the shrimp, although cooked perfectly, had an off taste that (to me) was very reminiscent of problems with freezer storage. Brian disagreed, but I couldn't deny the lingering, almost metalic, taste in my mouth that didn't dissipate until I ate and drank something else. Brian, though, enjoyed the shrimp thoroughly.

By contrast, I really enjoyed the monkfish. It was succulent, juicy, cooked perfectly, and wrapped in bacon. What more could you ask for? I also think the bacon helped bring out a natural saltiness that the monkfish has. It's a nice, rich flavor. I enjoyed this dish more than Brian.

Towards the end of our appetizers, Brian resumed his enjoyment of watching the staff in the open kitchen. A few moments later, he kind of gave me a confused look. When I asked him what was wrong, he told me that he saw one of the waitresses plucking Frites (french fries) out of a fresh basket that was placed on the open kitchen counter (where the orders come from). Now, I was confused. Did the waitress order the Frites for herself?

No, she did not. We know this because, mere seconds later, Frites disappeared from that counter and Frites were delivered to our table...

I encouraged Brian to bring this to the attention of the restaurant's management. There was only 1 basket of Frites on that counter. It was the one Brian saw the waitress eating out of. Now that basket was no longer on the counter, and Frites were on our table.

Brian chose not to bring up the Frites. At best, the waitress had ordered, and was eating, Frites on her shift, straight from the open kitchen counter (I find myself not believing that to be the case). At worse, she ate someone's (Brian's) Frites. I find that unacceptable.

Our entrees arrived, and though there was a sour dampener on what we had witnessed, we still partook of the food.

My duck was perfectly cooked. The breast needed a little salt, and so did the confit potatoes, but the skin was wonderfully crispy and there was even some dark meat in the dish as well. Delightfully flavorful. The brandied cherries were a perfect touch, and that's the way to do a cherry sauce with a duck entree. Bravo.

Brian's steak was cooked more rare than he ordered, but it was tender and juicy. I won't talk about the Frites .. But, I will say that the lobster mac & cheese was "WOW!" It was a towering, overflowing, vessel that was oozing an AMAZING cheddar sauce, TONS of lobster meat, perfectly cooked elbow macaroni, and seasoned breadcrumbs. It's, by far, the best lobster mac & cheese I ever remember having.

Feeling well fed, we passed on dessert and waited for the check. The wait stretched for some time, and I was beginning to get frustrated at the sight of our waiter going in every direction, suddenly, but ours. To my pleasant surprise, when our waiter returned, he both acknowledged and deeply apologized for the wait. This man impressed me. I believe his name was Bill. {I bet he doesn't eat off of customer's plates.... Sorry, I just had to throw that in there one more time ...It angers me...}

Pilfered food notwithstanding, Provence really is a high quality restaurant. Unfortunately, I just don't feel I can have enough trust to go back, which is a real shame. A real shame, and it's one that I'm terribly unhappy about.

(More pictures below the final review)

Sizzling Chili Shrimp	Bacon Wrapped Monkfish
Lobster Mac & Cheese	Pan Seared Duck Breast

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The Point Cafe

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Written by Brian

Category: Restaurant Reviews

The Point Cafe is located in Schenectady.  I had heard good things from people on another review site, so I was excited to give it a try.  Basically, they were wrong.

Service was really bad from the start, it took way to long to seat us.  There were two people working there, one whose job I have to assume was to stare blankly at the wall while I need a drink refill or need the check, and the other who does all the actual work, but you only see her if there is a baby at your table that she finds cute.  It was so bad, other customers were getting up and grabbing stuff off the storage area because you never saw a server.

Onto the food:  Josie ordered the strawberry stuffed french toast with a side of bacon.  She got the choice of stuffing it with either cream cheese or cottage cheese in addition to strawberries.  (she chose cream cheese).  First off, it wasn't stuffed.  It was two pieces of french toast with a glob of cream cheese in the middle, and a cold strawberry pie filling topping.  The cream cheese ruined it, so she quickly pulled that off, and the french toast got cold quickly due to the cold topping.  There was nothing special about the dish.

I ordered cinnamon swirl french toast (not pictured) with a side of hash browns.  Basically, it was just french toast made with cinnamon raisin bread.  It was a good bread, but slightly overcooked.  The hash browns were cooked well, but had absolutely zero flavor.

The two entrees with sides and two coffees came to $24, which is pretty high for breakfast for two in the area.  Mediocre food and horrendous service earned The Point Cafe 2 Forks.

Strawberry 'stuffed' French Toast	Hash Browns (Cinnamon French Toast not pictured)

Ambition Bistro Coffee House & Eatery

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Category: Restaurant Reviews

Ambition Bistro, also known as Ambition Coffee House and Eatery, is located at 154 Jay Street in Schenectady. Now, if you're not familiar with downtown Schenectady, allow me to pass along something I learned the hard way. Not all of Jay Street is actually a street! There's a small one block section of "Jay Street" that's actually a sidewalk. This is where you will find Ambition. I don't advise driving down the sidewalk.. I'm pretty sure law enforcement would frown on that. So, cross your fingers and find parking!

Ambition Bistro boasts a menu of fresh made specialty sandwiches, coffees and lattes, cocktails, wine, and pastries. My original plan was to order a couple of sandwiches to go. Then I walked inside. The decor is so quirky, and off the wall that it's actually welcoming. It had that cafe feel of, "grab a seat, grab a latte, grab a sandwich and stay a while." So I did. There are even cafe couches in the far back.

When you walk in, there's a sign saying to seat yourself at any clean table. Now, this admittedly had me worried. Would the wait staff know that a new customer just randomly occupied a seat? Are they really that attentive? They were pretty busy. Well, they really were that attentive. Seconds after I took a seat, I noticed one of the servers poke his head around. A minute later, a server (I couldn't tell if it was the same one) was delivering a sandwich to the table behind me, and told me he'd be right back. Another minute (or two) later, he was back and I had menu in hand. A few minutes after that, a second server came to make sure I had gotten a drink order in. Since I had, I decided to take the opportunity to order my sandwiches.

My meal consisted of the "Brie My Raspberry," and "Jay Walking" sandwiches ($8 each). The Brie My Raspberry is a seasoned, grilled turkey breast (not the cold cut stuff folks!) with warm, melted brie and a raspberry compote served on grilled sourdough bread. This was a perfect balance of flavors. The turkey was fall apart tender, and so juicy. The raspberry compote was perfectly balanced (hardly tart at all), and the brie was warm and creamy. Brie was a good call for this dish, because a stronger cheese might've clashed or overpowered the flavors. The sourdough was hearty, and held the juicyness well. I wonder if it's homemade.

The Jay Walking is a grilled chicken breast with bacon, cheddar, and a house made bbq sauce served on grilled multigrain. When the Jay Walking arrived, I pinched off a piece of the grilled chicken and have to say I was mildly disappointed that the chicken breast wasn't seasoned. Then I took a bite of the whole sandwich. That'll teach me to pick apart my food (not really). The bbq sauce brought everything together. Eating the sandwich, as a whole, added so much flavor that there was no real way to tell that the chicken itself hadn't been seasoned. I can't recall a dish with grilled chicken breast that actually managed to get away with that. My one critique about the Jay Walking was that the house bbq sauce could have used a bit more tang (more worcestershire maybe). It was a little too sweet, and a little too thin in consistency. The multigrain bread, as with the sourdough above, was hearty and really tasted homemade.

The service was impeccable, fast and friendly. I will say that, in my humble opinion, $8 is a bit pricey for a standard sized sandwich; even with the chips. On the flip side, if you're going to do crafted sandwiches, do it right. Ambitions does it right. So, if you find yourself in Schenectady, wanting a meal that's light and tasty; complete with a warm, unique, and friendly atmosphere then you need to visit Ambition.

"Brie My Raspberry"	"Jay Walking"

Mr. Pio Pio

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Category: Restaurant Reviews

Brian, and I were in the mood for something different for dinner this time. After two misses with places that had recent "For Sale" signs on them, we stumbled upon Mr. Pio Pio. Now it wasn't exactly a stumble, as it popped up as being a restaurant in the vicinity. So we knew the address we were looking for while driving. If we didn't have that, we'd have driven by this place never the wiser. The front sign is so faded, it's basically non existent. When you walk in, there are roughly six tables in the small restaurant.

Service is seriously lacking, for two main reasons. First, Mr. Pio Pio is an authentic Latin American restaurant. While that will mean true Latin flavors, that also means a language barrier when ordering; and a language barrier can be difficult if you have questions about the dishes or can't quite translate them off the menu. Second, this place gets busy (justifiably so, which we'll get to later) and there's just not enough service or kitchen staff to meet that demand. The staff seems stressed, and not all that willing to put out exceptional service.

All that said, we move on to the food. Oh, the wonderful food. For an appetizer, we ordered the Chicharonnes (crispy fried pork!). For meals, Brian ordered the Grande Feast which consisted of a 1/4 rotisserie chicken, grilled beef, spare ribs, rice & beans, and plantains. I ordered the Carne Asada, which is a marinated and grilled beef that comes with rices & beans, and sweet plantains.

After a good wait, our chicharonnes arrived. I was really looking forward to my maiden taste of chicharonnes. Without having another example to compare it to, I can say that the pork was crispy on the outside, and moist on the inside. Although the flavor of the chicharonnes was light, the fattyness made them very rich. My main critiques: the chicharonnes were a bit tough to eat texture wise due to the frying, and given the richness, I think there were just too many of them in the appetizer (too much of a food.. I know right?).

When our entrees arrived, there was a mixup with mine (remember that language barrier). After taking our order, the server misunderstood a question we asked, and replaced my order with something else. In the end, I had to wait a bit longer for my dish. Oddly enough, it came out faster than anything else in the meal.

The chicken, and beef in Brian's dish were absolutely amazing. The beef was well marinated, pounded thin, grilled to a nice char, and tenderly cooked. The chicken was marinated, moist, and amazingly juicy. You could pick up cilantro, and lime amongst the flavors. The ribs, though tasty, were a bit tough to cut through but still pretty enjoyable.

My steak, just like Brian's, was marinated and cooked to perfection. Every bite made me want to do a happy dance. I ordered the steak medium, and was amazed at how a steak that's been so thin it's almost reduced to one side, can actually be cooked to a medium temperature. Lo and behold, there was pink in the steak. My hat's off to that level of skill. The plantains were perfectly cooked, and they even take the time to season their rice!

All in all, Mr. Pio Pio is a must eat! My big recommendation, though, would be to call the order in and pick it up. Really, the service is that lacking, that I would even venture to say that it's not worth going there to eat a sit down meal, but it is a meal worth eating.

Chicharonnes	Rice & Beans
Grande Feast	Carne Asada

ALA Shanghai

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Written by Brian

Category: Restaurant Reviews

Have you ever had soup dumplings?  If the answer is no, then this review will change your life.  If you have, and didn't know about ALA Shanghai, then this review will also change your life.  I had soup dumplings in China Town in NYC a number of years ago, and had been looking for a local place to get them since.  I finally stumbled upon ALA Shanghai and my search has ended.  ALA Shanghai is in Latham just past the circle.

We walked in on a Friday evening (I'd recommend reservations, it got busy fast).  First off, we had to order dumplings - and lots of them.  They had two types of soup dumplings, one with just pork ($5) and one with pork and crab ($7)  Both came with 6 dumplings.  We also ordered some traditional pork dumplings ($5).  I had magical memories of soup dumplings, and these did not disappoint.  I thought the wonton skin was a little on the thick side, but it didn't take away from the amazing flavor.  (side note on soup dumplings... they come very hot, I usually just barely bite the top off, to expose the inside and let it cool down).  If you go to ALA Shanghai, you must order some soup dumplings.  the traditional pan fried pork dumplings were also very good, cooked very nicely and a good juicy flavor.

We ordered two entrees to split, Tong-Po Pork ($12) and Orange Flavored Beef ($14).  Tong-Po Pork is Stewed pork belly in Shanghaiese style.  It was difficult to cut and very fatty.  It had a nice flavor, but wasn't really our thing.  We could tell it was cooked well, and while hard to cut, it was still quite tender (I can't really figure that one out).  Not something we would get again, but I'm sure if you like this dish you would like their presentation of it.  The Orange Flavor Beef was thin and tender, dipped in batter and lightly fried.  The sauce is like an orange flavored sweet and sour sauce.  It is hard to keep beef as thin as this was, juicy and tender, but they pulled it off.  We would get this again, once we go through the menu a bit more.

The menu is massive.  There are many things we will have to go back and try.  Wait staff is very friendly, and while there is a language barrier, they make sure the person who seats you and takes your order speaks English well.  Although I would guess a majority of their patrons speak Chinese.

Conclusion, great, authentic Chinese food for a reasonable price.  And of course, try the soup dumplings!

Crab and Pork Soup Dumplings	Pork Soup Dumplings
Tong-Po Pork	Orange Flavor Beef

Pan Fried Pork Dumplings