Blog Archives
“Forget about being world famous, it’s hard enough just getting the automatic doors at the supermarket to acknowledge our existence.”
Doug Coupland
I love buying things that are abnormal, that you wouldn’t normally cook with or can’t find at your local Price Chopper. I’ve been trying to make sushi recently. I bought a book, the supplies, read up on it on the internet but I needed to find noori (seaweed). I used to live in NYC with a plethora of Asian Supermarkets, there were probably more of those than American Supermarkets, and I missed knowing right where to go for my favorite bites from overseas. 
If you’re like me, look no further than the Asian Supermarket (1245 Central Avenue, Albany).
I believe I’ve mentioned before my love for Moshi which is a type of ice cream surrounded by rice starch (don’t knock it until you try it!). Thankfully they had some there! Though the cheapest version was about $5.00, that’s just about the normal cost for them. Overall the supermarket is much bigger than I expected it to be from the outside. I couldn’t help but go down each and every aisle to see what they had to offer. Most of the back of the first aisle as well as some space in the back of the store was rice – so much rice.
What I was most impressed with was their seafood section. Almost the entire left wall from when you walk in is seafood either living or not. Not only just seafood but seafood that I had only seen on the Food Network like geoduck and some of the biggest catfish I’ve ever seen!
Even if you’re not looking to buy anything new, go in and take a look at all the different things (and things your used to) they have at great prices! Doesn’t hurt to give it a try! Let me know what you found there & how you liked it!
“Spring is when you feel like whistling even with a shoe full of slush. “
Doug Larson
It’s official, Spring has begun. It may not look like it outside but with 2/3 of my favorite 518 ice cream places open, believe me it’s only time before the snow stops and the warm weather is upon us. 
This past week’s weather has been cold to tolerable to beautiful to snow but that didn’t stop my Mom and I from going to Kurver Kreme in the cold. Be forewarned, Kurver Kreme is CASH ONLY so make sure you stop at the bank before experiencing this great ice cream.
What I really like about Kurver Kreme is that the ice cream is so soft and there are so many flavor options. When my mother and I went, their No Fat/No Added Sugar options were vanilla and peach. I’d never had the peach before but the flavor was great, I could really taste the peach. One of my favorite accessories to my ice cream is their chocolate mint sprinkles. What I love about Kurvers is that I enjoy their vanilla ice cream just as much as I enjoy the flavors. Those sprinkles on plain vanilla ice cream is probably my favorite thing to get there.
Though it’s an ice cream place, don’t rule out getting food there either. They use local Albany hot dogs and are tasty for a great price especially when the weather gets nicer! Am I making your mouth water yet? You don’t have to wait, Kurver Kreme just recently opened for the Spring, stop by for a scoop or two!
“The difference of a single day is perceptible. Vegetables can only be tasted in perfection, gathered the same day.”
John Pintard
I recently tried this new restaurant, Garden Bistro 24 (1839 Central Avenue, Colonie) for lunch with my Mother. 
I’ve heard great things about this place and since it’s further back in it’s plaza it almost goes unnoticed. After eating this food, I was excited to share this hidden gem with those who follow my blog.
We had just missed the official lunch time (11-3) by a half hour so we ordered from the dinner menu. The environment was very open and bright, there wasn’t that many people in the restaurant but it was 3:30PM on a weekday so that was to be expected. The waitress was very attentive, checking in from time to time and open to answering any questions.
It happened to be a rather cold day outside so both my Mother and I decided to order soup. I was just getting over a cold so the onion soup was just what the Doctor would have ordered. The menu made it seem like it wasn’t a French Onion soup so I didn’t think to ask for no cheese but it still tasted very good, it was just a little too much for my taste. I really liked this soup, it was slightly heavy though so I didn’t finish it, afraid that I wasn’t going to finish my entrée.
For lunch, I decided to order the Spinach Salad (tender baby spinach, fresh strawberries, toasted almonds, sliced mushrooms, crisp bacon and local goat cheese). When they say fresh they really meant fresh. 
This was one of the best salads I’ve had in a long time. I’m not sure how local the goat cheese is but I could tell by taste how fresh it was, very soft and strong tasting. I don’t know where the strawberries came from but those also tasted fresh. I left the meal with a full feeling but not a stuffed feeling, everything was just very light and fresh. I saved some of my salad for later and though the lettuce ended up a bit soggy, everything still tasted as fresh as it was the day before. I don’t like bacon but the crispy texture ended out the flavors perfectly so even if you’re not a bacon fan, give this salad a chance! If you’re looking for a place in the area with fresh ingredients and a plethora of choices, look into Garden Bistro-24!
“Money, like vodka, turns a person into an eccentric.”
Anton Chekhov
Looking for something to do each Thursday? The Thursday I went, the radio station B95.5 was at Central Steak (1632 Central Ave, Colonie) from 5-7PM giving away gift certificates, as well as diamond earrings. 
The week I went, they were giving away free samples of Godiva’s new brand of vodka. They have the samples on an ice bar tended by “The Ice Man” as well as drink specials on the regular bar. In order to participate in the activities, you must have a dollar bill that has the letter B and the numbers 9-5-5 in the serial number. Then, you roll a die and the number you roll corresponds to the number of the balloon you pop and your prize is inside. The first guy to participate won the diamond earrings which the DJ said he had a 17% of winning.
Even if you don’t have a dollar to participate, this tends to be a very popular event with a lot of people to mingle with, if you choose. While they play music and you “get your drink on” waiters come around with samples of Central Steak food for you to try. 
My Mother and I ordered the special Godiva martini, she ordered the chocolate and I ordered the chocolate raspberry for $5 each. (Sorry for the blurry picture, I didn’t realize until later that night that it was blurry but it’s still a cool picture). The vodka tasted good but those drinks and the espresso one “The Ice Man” was sampling all tasted like Bailey’s. I have no problem with Bailey’s but if I want something to taste like Bailey’s, I figure that I’ll probably just order Bailey’s. I made friends with Charlie “The Ice Man” and got to try quite a few shots of the espresso shot they created. 
It was a very low key situation with great people, great food and great drinks. Check their Facebook page for their list of changing events!
“Playwrights are like men who have been dining for a month in an Indian restaurant. After eating curry night after night, they deny the existence of asparagus.”
Peter Ustinov
It’s almost impossible to get anywhere in the 518 without having used Central Ave/State St. When I travel the distance between Schenectady and Albany, I can’t help but notice all the places to eat that go unnoticed. Maybe because I always look out for places to write about but it seems as if we get into a habit of thinking of the same places when going out to dinner, the chain restaurants like Applebees, or fast-food like McDonalds. One night, I was looking for something different (after PF Changs was too busy of course) and my boyfriend and I decided to check out Sitar (1929 Central Avenue, Albany), a restaurant I pass all the time but have never been adventurous enough to try- that was the night!
We were seated immediately at a two person table on the side.
The middle, main dining room, was quite lit up but it seemed as our area was darker than the rest of the restaurant. The service was great, could be because the waiters all seemed to be in the same age group as us and we were the youngest in the restaurant so we got into quite a few conversations. They were teaching us how to pronounce things on the menu and recommending food for our next visit, some of the best, most attentive service I’ve experienced.
I ended up ordering the Tandoori Chicken Wings (spicy chicken wings cooked in clay oven) which were $6.95, not a bad price for the amount I was served (picture to right) *NOTE- all pictures were lightened on my computer because it was too dark in the restaurant for the pictures to come out correctly on their own. My boyfriend ordered the Reshmi Kabob (chunks of lamb mildly spiced, charcoal broiled on skewers in a clay oven) for $18.95. His food came with a side & some naan and for the side he chose the vegetables which were great! It was a plethora of cooked vegetables in a spiced sauce that wasn’t curry but still tasted very good. I ended up ordering some for myself because I kept hogging his. I also ordered a side of the garlic naan (bread) because it’s my favorite.
All of the food tasted very good. 
Naan is just bread cooked with garlic and oil, not like Italian garlic bread more like a thick garlic pita. They have a bunch of different Naan flavors so see if there’s a kind you may want. It’s usually my favorite and I was satisfied. The garlic flavor wasn’t as strong as I’d like but it tasted very good dipped in the vegetable sauce.
Since we were both curious, we each ordered a dessert as well. There are 4 options and each is $3.95. The names are hard to spell/pronounce but I ordered the doughnut-like option. They were doughnut balls in maple syrup and honey, very sweet. I actually preferred my boyfriend’s dessert which was mango ice cream with nuts. 
I don’t usually like nuts but it added a great flavor to it. The taste of mine was very good but it did after awhile get too sweet to eat.
This was all a lot of food for us for one sitting so I ended up taking at least half of it home. When I got home I realized that my chicken wings were a bright yellow color that I was unable to see in the dark- kind of made me nervous. The next day, though, I realized I was correct in being nervous. The following 3 days I was on the couch with food poisoning. For the record, there is no way to prove that my food poisoning came from this particular restaurant or that it was food poisoning at all. All I can say is the 3 days following eating here, I was on the couch with sharp stomach pains and I wasn’t able to eat a thing. Could it have been a 3-day stomach bug? Possibly. I just want to disclose the full truth of my experience to those reading to make sure you’re aware. Therefore, I can’t tell you how the food was as a leftover because after being sick, it was the LAST food I wanted to eat. If you’re not used to Indian food, my recommendation would be to try something light, maybe just vegetables & naan until your stomach gets used to the spices & make sure to leave room for dessert!!
