AOA2 Birthday Party & Recovery Room (Troy, NY)

Happy belated birthday All Over Albany!

On Thursday, AOA threw a party to celebrate the big OH TWO. And I was there! Really! Unfortunately, M and I arrived pretty late. Okay, okay... really late. The weather downstate sucked and the drive was not the best. But I made it in one piece!

I have no pictures, but I did try the much talked about cupcakes- and I have nothing but praise for the bakers. They were good and helped melt away what was left of my winter driving stress. Our late arrival cut into the people talking, but I did get to meet Kevin Marshall and the Profussor. Albany Jane spotted us out by the bar, and it was good to see a familiar face. I'm sure I could have made my way through the rest of the crowd, but I am way too shy to go up to people and start talking.

After the party we made plans with one of M's friends to meet up at the Recovery Room for a quick bite. And as usual with M's friends, he bailed last minute. Not really in the mood to go anywhere else, we decided to stick with the RR.

From the outside, it looks like the restaurant doesn't take up that much space in the hotel. But the whole "looks can be deceiving" saying... so true. It's a large space, which unfortunately is pretty cluttered with seating. In the back of the restaurant the seating is more reasonably spaced and the walls are adorned with televisions and the usual shtick.

Honestly, there wasn't much on their menu that appealed to me. So I played it safe and did the girl order- Caesar salad and their soup of the day, Tomato Bisque. The salad was edible, but barely. The dressing clearly tasted like mayo and it looked like something you'd expect from a bag. The Tomato bisque was good, and surprisingly had chunks of tomato. I was thinking about throwing my croutons into the soup, but it was coated in that mayo disaster. M ordered a vegetable pizza, which was pretty good. It was topped with portabella mushrooms, artichokes, red onions, and spinach. I should have dropped the girlish act and ordered a pizza as well.

If we do come back to the Recovery Room, it will probably be pizza and wings. Apparently the RR serves some of the best wings in the area. And their beer specials don't sound too bad, either.

Supper Club (1/29): Golden Dynasty (Hillsdale, NJ)

My friend read my fortune cookie before I did and insisted I use this as default picture for the Supper Club FB page. It's a bit funny, considering the kind of Chinese food that most people eat won't keep them healthy at all.

Technically I'm supposed to be picking next week, but the person who was supposed to go this week backed out and I got bumped up (he ended up coming to dinner btw). People have mentioned Golden Dynasty to me in the past, but I never got around to actually going. Thanks to Matt who has ordered food from there on two separate occasions, I figured tonight would be a good time to try it out.

I wasn't sure how their dinner traffic was, so I made a reservation for seven at 8:00PM. The reservation wasn't necessary- when I arrived there were maybe a handful of patrons besides my dinner party. Our server took our drink orders and we waited for the rest of the group to arrive. NOTE: If you order a soda, be aware that they do not offer free refills.

The interior seems to be a tad worn out, but it was clean and very presentable. As you walk up the stairs to the restaurant, you are greeted by two tanks full of large koi. Upon entering there is a small bar to your left and the hostess booth on the right (just a bit cramped).The dining area is a large room filled mostly with tables for parties of 4 or less. To the back of the dining room is where they have their larger tables and I believe I saw a set of stairs so maybe they have a private room upstairs? The service was adequate, but not spectacular.

The menu is diner menu thick, with the regular Chinese restaurant items, along with plenty of specialty dishes. I had looked at the menu online and decided that I would order one of the specials: Crispy Squid with salt and pepper, but there was no mention of this dish in the menu, nor was there a sign that listed their specials. With my original plan scrapped, I flipped through the menu hoping one of the dishes would sound appealing. Sadly, there was none. I settled on vegetable pan fried noodles and a hot and sour soup. My friend D was the only one to order a House Specialty, Green Jade Chicken - chicken and beans sauteed in a brown sauce. The B&B twins both ordered the Szechuan beef and E went with a diet-friendly steamed chicken and broccoli. A and N both went with noodle dishes (pork lo mein and beef pan friend noodles) and I can't remember what G chose, but I'm sure it was a chicken dish.

 

 

I liked the hot and sour soup, but a waiter came and took my soup before I could finish. Not good... he didn't even ask if I was finished. The pan fried noodles were good, but the sauce was too salty. I didn't really notice it when I was eating, but I really notice it now as I pick at the leftovers. Half of the table ordered ice cream for dessert and stuffed our faces with fortune cookies. An old review on the Golden Dynasty had noted that at the end of the meal guests were treated to orange slices and moist towelettes. Did they give this up? Perhaps, given this economy.

Dinner for seven before tip came out to $123.00.

I enjoyed dinner, but this place will be a once in a blue moon type of place for me. They have another location in Franklin Lakes that serves Chinese and Japanese food.

Golden Dynasty
295 Kinderkamack Road
Hillsdale, NJ 07642
201-358-8685
201-358-1855fax

Website

Side note: I went bowling this afternoon and bowled my best game yet! Totally getting the hang of this hook ball thing.