His & Hers: Avenue A (Albany, NY)

HIS 

First Impressions:


Linens and omelets. And bottles of wine. All in a fairly ghetto-ass section of Albany/Delmar. Nothing about it really seemed to make much sense.


Menu:


Save for a veggie wrap and a veggie omelet, there wasn't much for me. And considering that you can get either of those two items at any diner, it really didn't seem worth the $10-18.00.


Service:


Service was excellent. I swear our waitress was more aware of my drinking habits than I was, myself. Everything came out fast and always with a smile.


Meal:

Wasn't spectacular.. And at those prices, I expect spectacular. I ordered the veggie omelet -- which came with homefries and ciabata bread. The thick omelet was packed full with large chunks of mushrooms, peppers, onions, and ... other various vegetable items. It appeared that the veggies were grilled seperately from the eggs, then later sandwiched in, leaving all the delicious juices and flavors in the pan. What I ended up with was an egg pattie with some grilled vegetables. The ciabata bread was charred, leaving the white tablecloth and napkin speckled black. The homefries were mediocre, and I ended up turning to the ketchup to give them that needed kick.


Other Thoughts:


I am an Eater concerned first and foremost about the flavor of what I'm consuming. The presentation means nothing to me. This said, my meal consisted of 90% presentation, 10% flavor.



Overall:

2 out of 5 nums


HERS

I am disappointed. I had such high hopes for this place, and it has let me down.

M and I finally made it over there for Sunday brunch. We arrived to an empty restaurant, save for a gentleman at the bar watching the game. We were promptly seated at a table by the window, which made for better picture taking (the rest of the dining room is pretty dark).

Sundays mean a Bloody Mary with brunch. This Bloody Mary however, was a strange one. It had a weird taste to it and I could not figure out what was the odd ingredient. M took a sip and immediately knew the answer: Clamato.

Do you know what is in Clamato juice? Tomato juice and clam broth. I don't think I'll be ordering this again, or I'll have to check to make sure they don't Clamato it up.

With the drinks out of the way, I already knew what I wanted. I heard that this was the place to go for decent Korean in the Capital Region. I checked the menu online and was debating between the Korean pancakes and the Bulgogi (my #1 go to dish). I was set for beefy delights when I just happened to gaze at the price.

$25.

Are you serious?

I went with the pancakes instead.

According to the menu, these pancakes are an "Avenue A favorite!" A savory pancake filled with chopped zucchini, red peppers, red onion, and carrots served with a "ginger honey soy dipping sauce." It was presented well, but I don't know... maybe there should be more served than two pancakes roughly the size of my palm.

I have to give them credit... they don't skimp out on the filler. Decent pieces of shrimp as evidenced by the picture above. Unfortunately, the pancakes were completely bland. The only time I experienced a flavorful bite was when I bit into the vegetables or shrimp. The sauce... was lacking. Ginger? Honey? Maybe they grabbed the wrong bottle. All I tasted was soy sauce. I think a sauce similar to the one I would get with scallion pancakes would be better suited- a hoisan (sp) type of sauce.

Maybe I should stop trying to find good Korean in Albany. Perhaps I should just make it, and save myself from the let down.

For once I shared M's sentiment on a restaurant. Too bad.

Avenue A
544 Delaware Avenue
Albany, NY 12209
(518) 434-2832
(518) 434-0555 FAX
http://avenueaondelaware.com