Hokkaido

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Category: Restaurant Reviews

Written by Brian

Hokkaido recently opened up on Central Ave in place of an old Friendlys.  I went with a friend that was visiting.

I ordered the American Dream roll - Rock shrimp tempura topped with spicy lobster and spicy kani, served with a spicy creamy sauce ($14) and a spicy yellowtail roll ($5.50).  I found the American roll to be a bit disappointing.  The cream sauce on top was strange, almost like they poured a sweet and sour sauce on top of a spicy mayo, it just didn't' work.  The lobster flavor was missing, and all you could taste was shrimp tempura and the strange sauce.  This one was a miss for me.  The yellow tail on the other hand was good.  The fish tasted fresh, and it was a good size.  I also felt the price was reasonable for this roll compared to the American roll which was overpriced at $14 (I would have been ok with $12, but $14 with no actual lobster taste is too high)

My friend ordered the Volcano roll - Shrimp tempura, avocado, spicy tuna, crunchy on top with eel sauce ($12) and a mango with avocado roll ($4.50).  The volcano roll was good, the tempura added a nice crunch.  Overall, it was a nicely balanced roll.  I didn't try the mango and avocado roll, but it was described as a good roll that was creamy but could have used a bit more flavor.

The hamachi side dish was described as quite fresh with a good flavor.

The plates were presented beautifully.  It is uncommon to see a sushi chef take the time to make nice artwork with sauces, and they did a great job.  As you can see in the pictures, the plates are really neat.  Service was fine, although there was the typical language barrier that you see often in a Japanese restaurant.  I wouldn't say Hokkaido is in my top 5 sushi places in the area, but I would probably try it again in the future

American Dream and Spicy Yellowtail rolls	Volcano and mango / avocado rolls

Hamachi (Yellowtail)

Portelli's Joe N' Dough Cafe

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Category: Restaurant Reviews

Written by Josie

Portelli's Joe N' Dough Cafe is located at 66 Central Avenue, the former location of Johny's Diner. They've kept much of the original inside, including the seating.

Brian and I first visited on their opening day, for breakfast. After some discussion, we decided to postpone a review until a second visit. Typically, first days can be nerve racking with a lot of staff on hand and the process not in motion yet. So we waited a few weeks, before returning again for breakfast.

When we walked in, at 10AM, we were the very first customers. The place was empty. The two people on staff were very courteous, which is always a plus. However, the friendly service was the only plus about this experience.

Brian and I ordered a dozen of the Pigs in a Blanket; which were mini hot dogs, wrapped in phyllo dough, and deep fried. We also ordered 6 of their specialty doughnuts: The Bailey's; The Stiglmonkey, topped with Nutella & banana; R. G.'s Craving, which is cookie butter frosted; The Tropical Splendor, which is topped with a mango buttercream and diced banana; The Sundae Donut, topped with hot fudge, a cherry dressing, and whipped cream; and a spcialty for today which was the R.G. also topped with Reeses' Pieces.

To start with, after taking our food order, it took the staff an additional 10 minutes or so to ask us if we wanted something to drink. Brian ordered a regular Coke, I ordered a Diet Coke. If you're familiar with the layout of the old Johny's the soda machine is in open view, which made it easy enough to see that our sever filled both cups with Diet.

Following that, the overall theme of the meal was grease. The Pigs in a Blanket lacked any type of flavor. The hot dogs were just too small to be expected to carry flavor on their own. When you bit into it all you could taste was grease. Plus, almost half of the phyllo wrapping unraveled from the mini dogs. We were offered ketchup and mustard. When Brian went to put ketchup on on one of the dogs, the ketchup bottle basically exploded. It turned out, the top was not securely placed on the bottle.

Next, our donuts arrived. Four out of the six had been pre-made earlier that morning. The rest were made fresh. That said, they were all cold by the time we were served, and had clearly not been drained of their grease first. The donuts were crunchy, tough, overcooked, and laden with oil. They did not have the consistency one would expect a fresh donut to be (soft, warm, etc). I'm not sure if it was the recipe, the cook time, or both, but everything about the donut, save for the toppings, was off putting and unpleasant. Then there was the matter of one of our donuts not being what we ordered. The best we can tell is that what was supposed to be the Tropical Splendor donut, was replaced by the toppings of the Erika.

The experience was disappointing, and not worth a return. The donuts were actually fresher and tastier on opening day than they were on our second visit. It was so bad that it actually took hours for our stomachs to settle.

R. G.'s Craving (top), Erika (middle), Sundae (bottom)	Pigs in a Blanket
Menu	Bailey's (top), Reeses' (bottom)

Yoshi Sushi

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Category: Restaurant Reviews

Written by Brian

Yoshi Sushi is your traditional sushi restaurant in the Capital Region.  It is one of the oldest and best known in the area.  It is a small place, with only 4 tables, and about 8 seats at the sushi bar.

We ordered two appetizers, the gyoza and one of the specials for the night, spicy tuna.  The gyoza had a thicker shell than I am used to, so it was a bit chewy and lacked a bit of flavor, but it was cooked well.  The spicy tuna was amazing.  The fish was incredibly fresh and had a nice lightly spicy flavor.  There was also a lot of tuna in the dish, so it was well worth the $7 price tag.  The one aspect of the dish that I didn't love was that they mixed in masago with the sauce, so it made the dish have a slightly gritty consistency.

For rolls, we ordered three:  a Linda roll (salmon, avacado, masago, and wasabi mayo), an Adrial roll (salmon skin, with salmon on top), and a Tracy roll (shrimp, salmon, avacado, masago, and mayo).  The fish in every roll was incredibly fresh and flavorful.  I thought the Adrial roll was a bit strange, but the salmon skin had a nice crunch that was kind of interesting.  The wasabi mayo in the Linda roll was very mild, it tasted like a plain mayo and I would have preferred it if the mayo in the Tracy roll was spicy, but that is just me.  We didn't have anything that I wouldn't order again.

Yoshi's is run by an older couple.  The husband is the sushi chef, while the wife does the serving as well as hot dishes.  Because of this, service is usually quite slow.  Our meal came with complementary tea, miso soup, and fruit for dessert.  I'm not sure if that is always the case.

Spicy Tuna appetizer	Sushi rolls

Pearl St Diner

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Category: Restaurant Reviews

Written by Brian

We ventured into the empty abyss that is downtown Albany on a Sunday morning to go to The Pearl St Diner.  Normally busy during a typical work day and full of downtown workers, it was relatively quiet when we walked in.

They have a limited menu on weekends, but still has all the classics and a few specialties.  We both went with the strawberry and banana french toast ($7.25) with a side of bacon.  The french toast had a good flavor, but was slightly undercooked in the middle.  The bananas worked great with the french toast (probably the best part of the breakfast).  Since strawberries aren't in season, they were a little bitter and were better off eaten separately from the rest of the dish.

The waitress was very friendly, and quick to bring refills or take away plates.

There are very few diners or breakfast places downtown (especially if you count out the chains like Dunkin Donuts or Bruggers).  Pearl St Diner is a good place to go if you find yourself downtown and hungry on a weekend.

Strawberry and Banana French Toast	Bacon