Basil City Has Closed

 

 

I was driving past Basil City on Sunday when I noticed a sign on the door. I figured it was going to mention that the store was closed for a summer vacation.

 

Turns out that vacation is permanent.

 

Now, I have no idea how long that sign has been on the door. But in the note, the "economy + hard times" were the main reasons why they had shut down. They may have also mentioned thanking their customers for their patronage, I can't recall.

 

Basil City was always on my list of places to check out, as it was on my way home from work. But it seemed every time I drove past, the place was empty. Other than the write up done by All Over Albany (and maybe a spattering of food bloggers), I really haven't heard much about the place. You would think the location (near RPI and by a hospital) would have been great for business. But looking at Yelp reviews, they perhaps needed to focus more on their food and service.  

 

Tack that onto the list of "places that didn't cut it." I hear a few places over at City Station made the list as well.

 

 

 

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.

Places to Eat: Glens Falls, NY

Ruby Tuesday’s Veev Acai Cocktails

On Sunday, M and I headed over to Albany to find out what all this drink fresh talk was all about. And we weren’t disappointed.

Anniversary Dinner

My parents recently celebrated a wedding anniversary. They’ve been married for over 30 years… impressive, no?

Saigon Spring (Halfmoon, NY)

There’s a new Vietnamese restaurant in the Capital Region.

It’s about time.

Vietnamese Restaurant Opening in Clifton Park

I spotted this on a recent trip up to CP. It’s in the same shopping strip as Sushi Na (at least I think that’s the name of the restaurant) on Route 9. Possibly next to Aldi’s. I’m not sure when it will open up, or it did and immediately closed.

Let’s hope that wasn’t the  case. Let’s get more Asian restaurants (that aren’t Chinese or Japanese) in the Capital Region!!

Pearl of the Orient (Loudonville, NY)

M and I decided to spend a  not-so-Chinese New Year at a place other than Ala Shanghai.

In Memoriam

The restaurants (that I've been to) that we lost this year:

Ta-Ke
Ginza
Arrirang
Kobe Buffet
Bombay Grill
Royal Indian
Metro 20 Diner

So Long, Kayo

I was heading over to some pizza place to have lunch with classmates when I noticed something missing.

The sign for Kayo was not there.

For a second I thought maybe they were replacing it. It's been pretty windy lately, and who knows? A branch could have smashed into it. But I was wrong. The  banner stretched out on the side of the building read "GRAND OPENING" with the new name, Sugi buried in some text at the top.

I should see if they still have Korean bbq.

For The Love of Pork

And we Filipinos really do love our pork.

Hey TU person who was asking about Filipino restaurants in the Albany area. Sadly, there are none. But if I were you, I would head down to Queens. Woodside... on the Flipside (hahaha, OA naman!)

The NYT has a review of Engeline's. If you need a Sisig fix, go there. And while you're at it, hit up Jollibee. Yes, it is a chain... but it's Jollibee!

Muza (Troy, NY)

NOTE: Here's another long forgotten post!

Do you ever get that "corner of your eye" catch when you're out driving? I was heading up Rt. 2 one day when that happened. M had told me about it last summer, and I was reminded again after Celinabean did her review. But it wasn't until that drive up Rt. 2 that I finally decided that I had to try it out. M had been there before and didn't like it, but I made him go anyway.

On the outside, the restaurant looks like it takes up three storefronts. On the inside, however, it looks like a small house that was converted into a restaurant. As you walk in, to the left is a small room that looks more like a sitting area than a dining one. As you walk through on the right, you pass up the kitchen, and into a somewhat larger dining area with stairs leading up to another dining level. More like half a level. We chose to eat upstairs, where it was nice and empty.

I didn't really look through the menu because I already knew what I wanted- golompkies and pierogies. I picked the Polish sampler that had those two plus potato pancakes. M went with the croquettes, and we split another order of pierogies.

Croquette (as per Wikipedia):

A croquette is a small fried food roll containing usually as main ingredients mashed potatoes, and/or minced meat (veal, beef, chicken, or turkey), shellfish, fish, vegetables, and soaked white bread, egg, onion, spices and herbs, wine, milk, or any of the combination thereof, sometimes with a filling, often encased in breadcrumbs.^[1] The croquette is usually shaped into a cylinder or disk, and then deep-fried.

And the Japanese version (once again Wikipedia):

Generally patty-shaped, it is mainly made of potatoes with some other ingredients such as vegetables (e.g. onions and carrots) and maybe less than 5% meat (e.g. pork or beef).

That is the version I am familiar with. A mass of food in the shape of a patty, breaded and deep fried. So when our croquette came out, I was a bit confused. M had to point it out to me, that yes it was the croquette, and not some mistake. Actually, they had given us the wrong type of croquette, but M ate it anyways. It was alright, but nothing spectacular. And it was a bit greasy.

Since when is a potato pancake supposed to be flattened mush? What happened to shredded potatoes held together with a binder and fried to golden brown? Isn't that what a potato pancake is supposed to be? The consistency was such a turn off that I gave it to M to finish. The pirogies were good. It's a good thing I got another order of them.

The glompkies were... fine. Perhaps too meaty. I really had to force myself to finish it. If I didn't have so many pirogies, I may have thought differently.

Westchester Restaurants Participating In Restaurant Week

121 Restaurant & Bar
42
80 West
Alaroma Ristorante
Bistro Z at the Double Tree Hotel
Blu Riverfront Bar & Bistro
Caravela
Casa Rina of Thornwood
Crabtree's Kittle House
Equus Restaurant at Castle on the Hudson
Goldfish Oyster Bar
Half Moon
Harvest Grille at the Westchester Marriott
Harvest on Hudson
Il Sogno Ristorante
John Michael's Restaurant
La Lanterna
Le Fontane
Legal Sea Foods
Marc Charles Steakhouse
Melting Pot
Off Broadway Restaurant
River City Grille
Seasons American Bistro & Lounge
Sonora Restaurant
X2O Xaviars on the Hudson
Zanaro's Italian Restaurant

As of last week, a number of participating restaurants did not have their restaurant week menus posted. It's three weeks away, so hopefully they will have them up soon. Also, why is it that we can choose from 27 restaurants in Westchester County, 21 in Dutchess County, 13 in Orange County, but only 9 in Ulster County, 7 in both Rockland and Putnam Counties, and ONE in Greene County?


Check the Hudson Valley Restaurant Week website for details.

Dining With T-Bone

Here’s a review of an Indian restaurant from my friend T-bone. He’s currently in Pharmacy school and has a love for all things Indian.

Cendrillon

One of my favorite bloggers, The Amateur Gourmet, tried out some Filipino food in NYC. You can read his experience here.

It’s been there for ten years and I still haven’t tried it out. I don’t really eat at Filipino restaurants, mainly because I can get it at home. Also, I feel like I might be biased. Nobody makes pancit like my grandma does. Same goes with my aunt and her Goto.