Overpriced NYC

Had an unexpected trip into Manhattan today. While I was waiting I decided to grab a bite to eat. Got a sicilian slice, cherry coke. Came out to five-ish, which isn't bad for Manhattan. Then I got to thinking I may be waiting a while so I should probably get something else to eat. There were chips by the register so I grabbed a bag and proceeded to get my card out.

The chips brought my total to nine-ish.

What?!?

Four bucks for those chips? Are you serious? Of course, I should have asked how much they were before buying them, but I wasn't in the logical mindset. Lesson learned.

Perks of the Job

The place where I work is an island of sorts – I can’t leave to get something to eat, which is fine since there aren’t places in walking distance. Sure, there is stuff a few blocks away on the main road, but I only get thirty minutes. I have been known to kill at least half of that in the cafeteria waiting for my food or just circling the cafeteria to find something worth eating.

So yes, I am jealous of places somewhat similar to where I work that have shops right outside their doors – Starbucks, restaurants, and ahhhhhh… Panera! Free wi-fi and bottomless cups of coffee and all the hilarious conversations that go on there.

I had to drop M off in Albany for some work training Sunday, and hit up Panera for lunch before going to my volunteer gig. It’s the first time I’ve been to the one over by Albany Med, and it’s nice. The place wasn’t too busy for a late Sunday morning. There was a spattering of law/med students, with the random hospital employee picking up a meal before heading back across the street. I’m pretty sure this place is crazy during the week.




I kept seeing all these signs for their “power” meals, which may be stuff from their hidden menu that is no longer hidden? Who knows… but they seemed to all have meat so I passed on that. Ended up going YP2, with a Mediterranean salad with Salmon and French Onion soup. I can’t remember if I’ve had it before, but it was actually pretty good. Lightly dressed, if dressed at all. Didn’t really taste the mandarin orange, the olives dominated the flavor outside of the salmon. Stilled liked it, though.





The FOS had tons of onion (which I love), and just the right amount of cheese. Their soup was thicker than other places I’ve been to… which is surprising, because I thought most of their stuff was made elsewhere and then shipped to the stores. Which would make you think they would all be uniform. Maybe they just didn’t add more liquid?

And then there was the coffee. Black gold, half & half, sugar in the raw. Can’t even tell you how many cups I downed.

Too Much Salt is Asin

There’s this old Filipino joke that roughly goes like this -

Why did the priest stop eating salt? Because it’s asin!

You see, salt in Tagalog is asin. A sin. Ha ha! Alright… done with the silly jokes.

M and I went up to Clifton Park for a little bit of shopping and a quick bite to eat. I was leaning toward Saigon Spring, but burgers and fries are usually a good cure-all after a night of drinking. The menu at Red Robin has changed since we were last there, and I think the prices have gone up slightly. We both ordered the Whiskey River Burger, with the veggie burger.

I’ve ordered it several times before, and it was always really good. This time, nowhere near that. My burger was salty. And not just slightly salty, but extremely salty. At first I just thought it was some seasoning I had accidentally sprinkled over it while spicing up my fries. It wasn’t throughout my burger – there were bites that were completely fine. But it was salty enough for me to not finish it. It was starting to make me feel nauseated. M finished it, but also remarked how salty it was.

What the hell. So horrible. I actually wanted to have more fries, but anything with salt was making me sick.

M and I are thinking it was the onion straws. Someone went salt crazy and I was the unlucky victim. I really don’t think we’ll be going back to that location.

Chinese New Year Dim Sum

For those of you that celebrate the Lunar New Year, gung hay fat choy! M and I decided to head over to Ala Shanghai for a light lunch and welcome in the year of the snake. And just as expected, the place was packed. Most people made reservations, but luckily there was an open table for us.

The meal was primarily vegetarian, but I had to get the pork soup dumplings. I mean, come on… soup dumplings. Delicious as they should be. I didn’t realize it before, but one of the little dishes of sauce was on the sour side. Perhaps it’s a dark vinegar? Better on the spring rolls than on the dumplings.

 

Soupy dumplings aside, the rest of the dim sum consisted of scallion pancakes, spring rolls, and these vegetable dumplings. I may have had them before, but I can’t remember. I didn’t like these at all. The filling is minced, which is fine, but it was a bit on the mushy side and too mushroom heavy. It tasted like they used reconstituted shitake mushrooms, which unless really drained, has a weird taste to it. The spring rolls were crispy as they should be, but the inside was mush. And it’s mostly cabbage in there… and mushy tasteless cabbage is the worst.

I didn’t think the dim sum would be enough, so I ordered some vegetable lo mein. A safe enough option for a picky eater, but it was pretty underwhelming. It reminded me of pancit canton (which basically that is) only it needed more seasoning. Maybe if I had some chili oil or chili paste I would have sung a different tune.

When I asked M what he thought of the place, he said he really liked the scallion pancakes and that was it. He also said if we were to go out again for dim sum, we should go somewhere else. And as much as I hate to admit it… I agree with him.

Sorry all you AS lovers out there, it’s just not our thing.

Losing My Cred Series: Buca di Beppo (Colonie, NY)

We food bloggers/over-enthusiasts are guilty of many things, the worst of them being (in my opinion) narrow mindedness. There are those that get so wrapped up into it, they lose sight of reality. 

A blanket generalization? Perhaps. But at least for me,  I'm "keepin' it real."

Yes, I write about food. Not as well as others, but I do write about it enough to keep some people interested. I obviously talk a lot about it since I have become the go-to person of sorts when it comes to food at work. I try my best to support local businesses, (which is evident if you've read any of my posts) but there are times when I am nowhere near these places and I need something convenient. And what is almost always convenient? A chain establishment.

Yes, a chain. McDonalds/Dunkin Donuts/Pizza Hut/Olive Garden/insert any other looked down upon establishment that has invaded your town. Here's the thing - if I'm on the verge on hangry, I have no qualms walking into said places and grabbing a bite. M definitely has no qulams because he's seen my hangry and let me tell you, it it not a pleasant sight. And if I have a coupon or I can get a free meal, we can't get there fast enough. Why? Because I have a coupon... making that overpriced meal not so overpriced. 

And sometimes... sometimes... I just feel like it.

Could I have chosen to spend my hard earned money at a local/happy meat supporting/taking it to "the man" place? Sure. But I was feeling a little narrow minded, Sorry!

Does this mean I have to turn in my foodie badge?  

Now that I got that out of my system, let me tell you about lunch. As we were going over our plans for the morning (estate sales!!), M mentioned the coupon I got from Buca di Beppo was going to be expiring soon and it would be nice of me to take him out for lunch (he's not letting up about my 27 dollar steak, that boy). I was fine with that; it's been a while since we were there last, and I was in the mood for it. We got some stuff for a steal, and made our way over to Wolf Road.

The coupon was ten dollars off a bill of twenty or more. M got the eggplant parm, I got the soup and salad (Tomato Basil and a Cesar salad). Nothing out of the ordinary, but it did hit the spot. After the discount, our meal came out to eleven bucks. Not bad, considering that's about the price for one of their dishes.

The Vietnam (Again)

I've written about this place plenty, so no more needs to be said. Except... did you know they also own Mekong Grill in Ridgewood, NJ? I haven't been there yet, but my cousin has and likes it.

She also likes the guy working at the restaurant who told us about Mekong.

Cute. And go, try them out.

Eating Out

Eggplant Parm from Bucca di Beppo. We had a coupon