Xin Fu

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Category: Restaurant Reviews

Written by Josie

Xin Fu is located on Route 7 in Latham, inside a pseudo strip mall, next to a Subway. You won't miss the building though, as it's situated closest to the road.

I stopped by for lunch, and was less than impressed. In times past, for dinner, their good quality sushi was usually showcased by wonderfully artistic designs, hand-drawn using their special sauces. Unfortunately, it seems that technique doesn't carry over for lunch.

On this visit I ordered the kani shumai ($5), and ebi gyoza ($5) appetizers and followed up with a freeman roll ($10.00) and sunset roll ($9). The shumai were not good at all. I've tasted some shumai in my time, even some from this restaurtant during a dinner visit long ago. So there are flavors, and a consistency, I expect. The consistency here was off putting, and I couldn't finish it.

The gyoza were cooked okay, but could have been crispier on the outside. The filling inside lacked flavor, and I don't recall there being the dipping sauce that normally comes with it. The sushi rolls were decent, but they just lacked in extra flavor that I expect sushi rolls to have. The sunset roll was the tastiest of the two, but nothing that would bring be back for a second visit. The freeman roll had asparagus on the inside, which wasn't listed on the menu.

Service was lacking. It took several minutes, after I had finished my meal, for me to get the attention of the wait staff in order to pay. They weren't very attentive at all. From what I observed, it looked like their lunch focus was really on a sub par Chinese buffet station situated towards the front of the restaurant. I'd had high hopes, but they fell flat. The only saving grace here was that the fish was fresh.

Ebi Gyoza	Freeman Roll (top) and Sunset Roll (bottom)

Farmer Boy

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Category: Restaurant Reviews

Written by Brian

Farmer Boy is located on Central Ave, just past 155 headed west.  It has your traditional diner feel to it

Our dining experience got off to a bad start.  When we first walked in, it took a couple of minutes for anyone to greet us, and when the hostess brought us to our table, she seemed stressed, and unwelcoming.  Things took a turn for the better after this.

I ordered a sausage and cheese omelet, it came with hash browns.  The omelet was cooked perfectly, still moist, but not runny.  It had plenty of sausage and cheese that was evenly distributed, a perfect omelet.  Hash browns were cooked fine, slightly crunchy and soft, but lacked any type of seasoning.

Josie ordered the cinnamon raisin french toast.  It was supposed to be on challah bread, but clearly wasn't.  It was cooked fine, and had a good flavor.  Often with french toast, the batter doesn't always soak all the way through the bread, leaving a small area in the center untouched, that wasn't the case at Farmer Boy, it was thoroughly battered.

Our waitress told us that their corned beef hash was made in house, so we had to try it.  It was clearly not from a can.  It had a great ratio of corned beef to potatoes, and they added onions for extra flavor.  It was cooked perfectly.

Service (not counting the hostess) was great, and while it isn't within the scope of what we review, I do want to mention that Farmer Boy is active in the community.

Corned Beef Hash
Sausage and Cheese Omelet	Cinnamon French Toast

Simply Grille

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Category: Restaurant Reviews

Written by Brian

Simply Grille is a Persian restaurant located on Central Ave near Route 155.  It is in place of an old Starbucks.

Their menu is quite simple, you chose a kebob (chicken, beef, ground beef, or lamb) and it comes with basmati rice (a ton of it), and grilled tomatoes.  Prices range from $6.99 for the chicken to $8.99 for the lamb.

I asked the chef for his recommendation, he said his favorite was the lamb, but most customers like chicken or ground beef.  So I went with the chicken.  It comes with a ton of rice but just one or two small pieces of tomato.  The rice was good, there was a seasoning on the table that gave it an even better flavor, and I found that putting butter on it made it creamier and better.  But it is still rice, and kind of boring when you have that much of it.  The chicken was cooked well, still nice and juicy and was seasoned with a citrus flavor.

Josie had his (the chef) favorite, the lamb.  The chicken I had ordered was cooked well, but the lamb was cooked perfectly.  Incredibly moist and seasoned, but still maintaining the lamb flavor.  It was truly amazing.  Again, this dish had tons of rice and a few tomatoes, but the lamb was the clear star of the dish.

The chef greeted us when we walked in and explained the menu, he was quite nice and very friendly.  The server they had was also very nice, explaining anything we had questions about.  She was also wearing a headset, so I believe they have a drive thru, although it wasn't overly apparent to us while we where there.

It was good food, for a good price.  I'd go back, but not the type of place I'd tell a friend they absolutely had to go to.

Chicken Kebob	Lamb Kebob

Ramonas Cafe

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Category: Restaurant Reviews

Written by Brian

Ramonas Cafe is nestled in on Lark Street on the Madison Ave side.  It is a small place with an interior that really epitimizes the Lark Street culture.

They had a unique selection of pancakdes, and a nice selection of specials, so we decided to select one of each.  I went with the butterscotch pancakes ($5.50).  Everyone has seen/had chocolate chip pancakes before, so I'm sure you get the basic idea, pancake batter with butterscotch chips placed on top and then cooked.  It was really good.  Butterscotch chips aren't as sweet as chocolate chips, so while it did add a sweetness, it wasn't overpowering.  The pancakces were cooked perfectly, light and fluffy, and not overdone.  I ordered a side of bacon ($1.75) with it, and they asked how I wanted it, nice touch.

Josie ordered one of their specials, Biscuits and Gravy with two eggs, sausage, and home fries ($7.25).  The gravy made the dish, but the biscuits were high quality too.  Potatos were well seasoned, but the eggs were bland and slightly over cooked.

Service was great, we were greeted and seated immediately, and the server was very friendly.  At one point they opened the door to attract attention, but saw we were getting cold and closed it immediately.  This is the type of place I wouldn't have gone to before I started looking for unique places to write reviews of - it is a little sad to think I could have missed out on quality little places like this.

Butterscotch chip pancakes w/ bacon	Biscuits and Gravy