Metroland

Metroland Readers Poll '15: Food

 

Best American

1. New World Bistro Bar

2. Five Guys Burger and Fries

3. 15 Church Restaurant

Though New World has lots of around-the-world influences, its seasonal and regional ingredients apparently qualified it for this category. Even so, the all-American burger and fries of Five Guys made a respectable second-place showing.

Best Italian

1. Café Capriccio

2. Lombardo’s Restaurant

3. (tie) Lo Porto Ristorante Caffe, D’Raymond’s Restaurant

Our readers know their Italian restaurants: This was the tightest vote count in the food poll.

Best French

1. Provence

2. La Serre

3. The Epicurean

The solid vote totals for each of these eateries signal that each has a loyal following—and great food.

Best Seafood

1. Reel Seafood Co.

2. Red Lobster

3. Ted’s Fish Fry

Locally owned Reel Seafood walloped chain-owned Red Lobster, its Wolf Road competition.

Best Chinese

1. Plum Blossom Chinese Restaurant

2. Ala Shanghai

3. Rain Modern Chinese

Troy’s Plum Blossom was the clear winner, but Latham’s Ala Shanghai and Lark Street’s Rain were in a tight race for second place.

Best Japanese

1. Shogun Sushi & Sake Bar

2. Koto Japanese Restaurant

3. Hana Japanese Steakhouse & Sushi Bar

Shogun edged ahead of Koto by a single vote.

Best Vietnamese

1. Van’s Vietnamese Restaurant

2. Sukhothai

3. Saigon Spring

You know what? Van’s is really good. Readers agree.

Best Mexican

1. El Mariachi

2. El Loco Mexican Cafe

3. Pancho’s Authentic Mexican Restaurant

It was almost a Mexican standoff between El Marachi and El Loco in this popular category.

Best Southern

1. Hattie’s

2. The Flying Chicken

3. Capital Q Smokehouse

The Flying Chicken rose to challenger status, coming in a close second to the venerable Hattie’s.

Best Caribbean

1. Roy’s Caribbean Restaurant

2. First Choice Caribbean

3. The Dutch Pot

For a long time there was only Roy’s (winner by a single vote) for authentic Jamaican, so it’s nice to see some competition.

Best Indian

1. Shalimar

2. Karavalli

3. Sitar

Regardless of cuisine, it seems the more locations, the more votes.

Best Greek

1. Athos Restaurant

2. The Greek House

3. Anton’s

The readers, the critics, even the complainers on Yelp agree that Athos is “amazing.”

Best International

1. New World Bistro Bar

2. Umana

3. Tara Kitchen

Ric Orlando is a chef of many talents—one of them, an ability to fold multiple cuisines into one outstanding menu (New World also won Best American and Best Vegetarian).

Best Vegetarian

1. New World Bistro Bar

2. Lil’ Buddha Tea

3. X’s to O’s Vegan Bakery

With inventive veggie dishes from roots to tofu, New World owned this category.

Best Steakhouse

1. Delmonico’s Italian Steakhouse

2. Angelo’s 677 Prime

3. The Barnsider

The Capital Region loves meat, judging by the vote totals in this category. And upstate chain Delmonico’s has the steak you crave.

Best Barbecue

1. Dinosaur Bar-B-Que

2. Capital Q Smokehouse

3. Pig Pit BBQ

Dinosaur in Troy is set by the river and has live music—we’re assuming these, and of course the tasty food, are among the reasons it smoked the competition. (And by “smoked” we don’t mean a cooking technique, we mean a 200-plus vote margin.)

Best Brew Pub

1. Brown’s Brewing Co.

2. Druthers Brewing Co.

3. Albany Pump Station

Brown’s, the granddaddy of regional brews pubs, won this by a heady margin. (Brown’s is another 200-plus vote margin winner.)

Beer Beer Selection

1. The Ruck

2. World of Beer

3. Madison Pour House

Gaze across the categories—you love the Ruck. The relatively new Madison Pour House has a ways to go to earn the love Mahar’s used to command.

Best Diner

1. Latham 76 Diner

2. Blue Ribbon Diner

3. Bob’s Diner

The road most traveled: Year in, year out, Latham 76 wins it--must be that Route 9, Latham, location.

Best Deli

1. Gershon’s Deli

2. Deli & Brew

3. Roma Foods

Gershon’s solid win honors their 60-plus-year tradition of deli deliciousness in Schenectady.

Best Brunch

1. Café Madison

2. Carmen’s Café

3. Iron Gate Café

This was a tight race, as well it should be considering the quality of these three cafes.

Best Outdoor Dining

1. Brown’s Brewing Co.

2. Jumpin Jacks Drive-In

3. The Mill on Round Lake

Brown’s has a patio deck overlooking the river by a marina; outdoor dining doesn’t get much better than that, except for when the beer selection is brewed on the same premises.

Best Cheap Eats

1. Gus’s Hotdogs

2. The Brown Bag

3. Famous Lunch

Decent food just doesn’t get any cheaper than Gus’s; the same can be said for Famous Lunch, which followed the relatively upscale Brown Bag by a mere two votes.

Best Burger

1. Five Guys Burgers and Fries

2. Red Robin

3. The Brown Bag

Five Guys likely got a quadruple boost from its multiple mall locations, since it raked in four times more votes than Red Robin or Brown Bag.

Best Wings

1. The Ruck

2. The Ale House

3. Bombers Burrito Bar

You, dear readers, can’t get enough of either the Ruck or Troy in general.

Best Pizza

1. DeFazio’s Pizzeria

2. I Love NY Pizza

3. Paesan’s Pizza

DeFazio’s, Troy’s longtime culinary anchor, gets the biggest slice of pizza love.

Best Bagels

1. Bruegger’s Bagels

2. Uncommon Grounds

3. Psychedelicatessen

It’s true that Bruegger’s makes a nice bagel, and thumped the competition (by 200 votes) with their multiple locations. However, Troy’s wonderfully named, single-location Psychedelicatessen nearly caught Albany-Saratoga mainstay Uncommon Grounds.

Best Subs

1. Subway

2. (tie) Deli & Brew, DiBellas Subs

4. Andy’s Italian Food & Deli

Subway wins again. (Sigh.) Just wait until Best Of, however: last shall be first.

Best Ice Cream

1. Stewart’s Shops

2. The Snowman

3. Ben & Jerry’s

Stewart’s ice-cream has won top prizes from national diary competitions—and is a regular winner here, too. The Snowman in Troy (which makes a memorable pistachio) came in a solid second.

Best Coffee

1. Dunkin Donuts

2. (tie) Stewart’s Shops, Starbucks

4. Uncommon Grounds

Dunkin Donuts wins again. We’re tickled, though, that Stewart’s tied Starbucks.

Best Desserts

1. Bella Napoli

2. Villa Italia

3. Sweet Sue’s

Lots of yummy new confectionaries around, but readers stood by their longtime favorite, Bella Napoli.

Best Wine List

1. Lucas Confectionary

2. The Wine Bar & Bistro on Lark

3. Yono’s

Troy wins again.

Best Bakery (Desserts)

1. Bella Napoli

2. Villa Italia

3. (tie) Leah’s Cakery, Schuyler Bakery

Bella Napoli: Because authentic cannoli is a thing of beauty, especially when it’s on Route 9, Latham.

Best Bakery (Breads)

1. Bella Napoli

2. Rock Hill Bakehouse

3. The Placid Bakery

Bella Napoli: Because authentic Italian bread is a thing of beauty, especially when it’s on Route 9 in Latham.

Best Indian Buffet

1. Shalimar

2. Karavalli

3. Lazeez

So many Indian food buffets—and so many good ones.

Best Place to Take a Date

1. New World Bistro Bar

2. Peck’s Arcade

3. 15 Church Restaurant

Whether its Delaware Avenue location is romantic is your own call, but New World’s adventurous menus and cocktails and comfy atmosphere are as romantic as you could ask for.

Best Place to Take the Kids

1. Friendly Restaurants

2. Red Robin

3. Dave and Buster’s

Friendly’s wins with the nostalgia vote, as this once ubiquitous eatery has dwindled to a mere few across the region.

Best Food Event

1. Troy Pig Out

2. Troy Chowderfest

3. Mac ’n Cheese Bowl

When it comes to bacon there is no competition.

Best Power Lunch

1. Jack’s Oyster House

2. Angelo’s Prime 677

3. Panera Bread

Panera for a power lunch? And we thought the down economy was on the upswing.

Best Place to Eat at 3 AM

1. Bob’s Diner

2. The Brown Bag

3. Denny’s

Even a location in every ’burb couldn’t put Denny’s in the same league as the other two eggs-over eateries, Bob’s in Watervliet and the Brown Bag in Troy..

Best Breakfast

1. Café Madison

2. Carmen’s Café

3. Manory’s

Raspberry-oatmeal pancakes must be a sure-fire vote-getter, as Café Madison is a perennial winner.

Metroland Readers Poll '15: Etcetera

 

 

The free-for-all category in which our readers muse sagely and rant wildly

Best use of public funds

Albany Public Library, CDTA, infrastructure, education, housing, Troy’s new snow emergency plan, Albany Convention Center, Alive at Five, Albany Barn, keeping Ladder 1 open, roads, moving Hoffman’s Playland to Albany, indict Silver, support for the arts, red light cameras, Troy’s Riverfront Park, blowing up the Wellington Annex, “is this a trick question?

Best misuse of public funds

Andrew Cuomo, Troy’s King Street demolition, New York State Legislature, “University at Albany cutting humanities,” red light cameras, politicians, Assemblyman Sheldon Silver, Albany’s St. Patrick’s Day Parade, Tappan Zee Bridge, suburban sprawl, “paying to move Hoffman’s to Huck Finn’s,” Schenectady Metroplex, “Governor’s Mansion not being used.”

Best way to lure people to the Capital Region

Saratoga Race Course, LarkFest, Albany All Stars Roller Derby, more Trader Joe’s locations [editor’s note: you TJ’s people aren’t satisfied, ever, are you?], arts, candy, casinos, “change the road signs,” colleges, craft beer,  jobs, “legalize it,” lie, lower taxes, mini hot dogs, music, outdoor festivals, political drama, advertise our proximity to other places,

Best time to be had in the Capital Region for under $10

Empire State Plaza summer concerts, Tri-City ValleyCats, Alive at Five, Troy Night Out, classic movie nights at the Palace Theatre, Peebles Island State Park, New York State Museum, Caffe Lena’s open mic,  Troy’s Rockin’ on the River, “Redbox and stay home,” Spectrum 8 Theatres, Empire State Plaza Ice Rink, “ice cream cones at Jumpin’ Jacks while listening to the free concert series on the water,” Washington Park.

Best place to see and be seen

Troy Farmers Market, Saratoga Race Course, “that inane ‘Were You Seen’ feature on the Times Union site,” Lucas Confectionary, Alive at Five, PearlPalooza, Lark Street, “Oliver’s Beverage Center around 4 PM on Fridays,” SPAC, the Joe, UAlbany women’s basketball games, Washington Park’s Knox Street Mall, “I’m too old for that shit.”

Best thing that could happen to Albany

Wegmans, BusPlus Purple Line, stop the bomb trains, arrest Cuomo, bury I-787, aquarium, “the WonderBeards break big,” light rail, skate park in Washington Park, “the Empire State Plaza never happened,” restore historic sites, “people stop bitching about the Empire State Plaza—that place is awesome,” more parking, more concerts, IKEA, impeach Cuomo, “SPRING!!!!”

Best thing that could happen to Troy

Less crime/drugs/murder, BusPlus Blue Line, movie theater, better bus service, “the whole ‘next Brooklyn’ thing could fade away and Troy could just be thought of as cool on its own,” aquarium, “the mayor would fix the water pipes—dick,” Uber, “WonderBeards go platinum,” waterfront development, “new mayor—where are you Harry, we miss you!”

Best thing that could happen to Schenectady

Casino [editor’s note: this is happening, right?], the casino falls through, “pave the damn roads,” skate park, less crime/drugs/murder, GE resurgence, downtown grocery, “oust Gary McCarthy,” Wegmans, socialism, land bank, “knock down I-890 and bring back Pleasant Valley Park,” gentrification, meteor/asteroid, more parking, earthquake, zeppelin service, retail stores.

Best thing that could happen to Saratoga Springs

Affordable housing, “it’s perfect,” longer track season, nothing, no more horse racing, more parking, “stop building condos and fairly tax the ones we already have,” stop sprawl, Chick-fil-A, cigar bar, “don’t change,” bike lanes, Kid Rock, “remove pokers from residents’ asses,” more poor people, slow growth, “stop being so snooty,” more opera, Wegmans.

Best thing that happened in 2014

Paul McCartney at the Times Union Center, Wellington Annex implosion, Albany Barn opened, Schenectady casino announced, Cider Belly Doughnuts, “eating chicken at the Flying Chicken (see also 2013 and 2015),” The Neighborhood That Disappeared, Union College NCAA hockey championship, Whole Foods opened at Colonie Center, “WonderBeards played at Gug’s a few weeks ago” [editor’s note: not bad, dooders], Kathy Sheehan inaugurated, Republicans took over the state senate, Dance Flurry festival.

Best reason to live in the Capital Region

Affordability, quality of life, change of seasons, the people, Troy, proximity to other places, music scene, Nipper, history, “all the atheists,” diversity, creative energy, arts, fall foliage, quality of life, the Snowman’s ice cream, WEXT, state jobs, Stewart’s Shops, global warming, “friends become family.”

Best local celebrity you’d like to date

Skeeter Creek’s Buddy Cocker, Matt Baumgartner, Trishna Begam, Jeff Nania, Julie Chapman, Mickey Rourke [editor’s note: huh?], Rosemary Armeo, Yolanda Vega, Mary Panza, DJ Trumastr, John Gray, Nipper.

Best kept secret in the Capital Region

Troy, the Malt Room, Leah’s Cakery, Kateri Peace Conference, Tivoli Preserve, Averill Park’s Town Tavern, “you don’t really have to stop at red lights,” Hudson River, Mohawk River, prostitution, “who killed Legs Diamond?”

Best [???] add your own category

Best Body Piercer: Karla Sharps (Tattoo World) and Will VonDoome (Classy Body Art); Best Doughnuts: Cider Belly Doughnuts; Best Celtic Band: Triskele; Best Medium: Katie Manning-Hilton; Best Youth Organization: Troy Boys & Girls Club; Best Cuban Food: Carmen’s Café.

 

 

 

Survival Kit

. . . spotted at Crossgates at the Fresh Healthy Cafe.

Readers Poll FOOD

Best American

New World Bistro Bar

Albany Pump Station

The Point Restaurant

 

Best Italian

Café Capriccio

D'Raymonds

Lombardo's

 

Your Opinion Counts

 

VOTE in the Metroland Readers Poll!  

The Year in Pictures: Our Favorite Covers

 

Cookbooks

Very little cooking can happen if you don’t wield a knife well, and that’s one reason why The Zwilling J. A. Henckels Complete Book of Knife Skills by Jeffrey Elliot & James P. DeWan (Robert Rose) leads this list. Another reason is that it’s a terrific book, laying out the construction and design of kitchen knives before teaching different cutting techniques and then going on to show how they apply to a variety of meats and fruits and vegetables. Nicely illustrated and spiral bound for ease of tabletop use, it’s an essential.
We’re going to get awfully healthy as this list goes on, and where better to start than the Mediterranean?
With the success a few years back with The Silver Spoon, Phaidon Press followed up with a similar book about pasta, and this year’s offering is titled Recipes from an Italian Summer. It comes from the Silver Spoon team and further explores what can be done with fresh ingredients from a benevolent climate. Lots of salads. Plenty of grilled items. Unusual fare like ham and kiwi mousse. Even in the dead of winter, it’s filled with inspiration.

"A Very Cool Brew!" indeed.

On my way to visit a friend in the Adirondacks last weekend, I got a text that read "mtn brew beer ice-stewarts." It seemed incoherent, possibly intoxicated, but I stopped at the first Stewart's Shop I saw to investigate. Sure enough, on the bottom shelf of the cheap cooler--you know, under the Beast and Natty Ice--I discovered a six-pack of silver cans with the instantly recognizable Stewart's font. At $2.99, the beer with the redundant alpine name pretty much sells itself.

Brewed by the Genesee Brewing Company, Mountain Brew Beer Ice has been described variously as "cheap," "awesome," "passable," smelling like "cigarette ash," "it could be worse," and "goes down smooth and takes the skin with it."

And look at all the fun activities (as illustrated on the can) that you can be participating in while drinking this "Very Cool Brew": Volleyball! Boxing! Fishing! Soccer! Something that looks kind of like fencing! Volleyball again!

The report: Cold, carbonated, tasted like beer, did not cause blindness, could be enjoyed while sitting on a couch.

Oh, and did I mention that it's $2.99?

My northern friend assured me that this delicacy could only be acquired in the real upstate parts of upstate NY, but just this weekend I stumbled upon a Stewart's in Troy that carries the stuff. So, people, do yourselves a favor and pick up a six-pack of the mountain beer brewed ice-cold with a dusting of snow on the M, B, O, and N. And please report back to this comments thread to tell where you found it.

Rock to Rebuild

It's pretty amazing how quickly this community has rallied around Tess Collins, whose bar and restaurant The Lark Tavern was gutted by a fire last Thursday. Lark Street business owners are scrambling to find work for her employees, and community members have pumped more than $20,000 into the Lark Tavern Fire Fund, set up by Bombers owner Matt Baumgartner.

On Saturday, May 22, the Washington Park Lakehouse will be the venue for Rock to Rebuid, a benefit concert and art auction to help allay Tess' cost of reconstruction. The lineup has yet to be announced, but tickets will be $10.

To volunteer, please send an e-mail to [email protected]. To donate art and items to the auction, e-mail Jasen Von Guiness: [email protected].

Thanks for all the fish

I know that this is a month old, but I am just catching up on some of my RSS reading and found this interesting. Hudson and Saratoga Local Foods visits Local Ocean in Hudson:

As the first commercial recirculating marine fin-fish aquaculture system in the United States, the future of Local Ocean promises a large, local and sustainably focused fish supply on a mind boggling scale. Over the past two years Local Ocean has standardized an aquaculture system at the 40,000 square foot location in Hudson that makes possible a large scale fresh and salt water commercial fish farm that is the first of its kind. Once established there are plans to strategically implement other locations throughout North America and the Western Hemisphere.