Xin Fu

I recently tried Xin Fu, a new Chinese-Japanese restaurant on Route 7 in Latham. Though the food was excellent, I found the portions to be a little small.

The inside of the restaurant is elegant, comparable to Koto or Hana. The menu is slightly lacking. There are vastly more Japanese options than Chinese options. The service was fast and efficient.

I had wonton soup and chicken with broccoli. The wonton soup was one of the best I have ever had. I loved the softness of the wonton dumplings, and the strong flavor of the soup. The chicken with broccoli was delicious. The sauce was a little greasy but very flavorful. The dish offered an equal portion of both chicken and broccoli, but needed more of it. Though this was a dinner portion, there was less than a pound of chicken breast. Diners looking for a hearty meal may be disappointed.

Overall, this was a very good restaurant. The food was tasty, though the portions were a little bit small. I would put the taste of the food on par with the fine Chinese restaurants of the area, such as Emperor's and Ichiban.

Bob and Ron's Fish Fry

I went to Bob and Ron's Fish Fry with a couple of co-workers and thoroughly enjoyed myself.

I ordered the fish fry which I thought was very good. For $4.00 it was a substantial sandwich with a large portion of fresh fish. The delicately fried fish and tartar sauce combined together beautifully. I sampled the onion rings but found them bland. A co-worker explained it may have to do with the ban on transfats in Albany County. The rest of the food at the restaurant looked excellent though.

I loved the ambiance of the place. It almost feels like Jumping Jack's in Scotia, though it is not outside of course. It was nice being able to look at the fish being breaded and fried while I was ordering. I can understand by Bob and Ron's is an institution in Albany. They offer their customers good food and excellent service at a reasonable price.

Blue Ribbon Diner

I tried the Blue Ribbon Restaurant on Labor Day, and was quite impressed. I ordered one of the Monday specials, Fish and Chips. The special comes with soup and salad.

The fish and chips was a delicious combination of freshly fried haddock and crispy fries. The portion of haddock was about a half a pound, which I found a little stingy. However, the quality was excellent. The chunks of fresh haddock were very flaky and melted in my mouth. The fries were not made from scratch, but they were thick cut and tasty.

What stands out about this restaurant was the excellent service. The waitress made every effort to accomodate our group. She brought out samples of the daily soups to help us decide, and advised us about the menu. The cashier was also very pleasant, asking about our dining experience and urging us to come back.

Overall, this was an excellent experience. The courteous staff made us feel at home. Though the Blue Ribbon isn't a fish restaurant, they make an excellent fish and chips.

Juicy Burger

I tried the Juicy Burger in Ballston Spa with my girlfriend. The food was decent, but a little pricey compared with Five Guys or Fuddruckers.

The menu is structured a little differently than either of those chains. The basic burger is $5.00 and does not even come with lettuce. It is simply a hamburger on a bun, nothing less, nothing more. There are condiments on the side if you wish. If you want lettuce or tomato, you will have to upgrade to the Build a Burger, which is $7.50. The Build a Burger allows you to load perhaps 15 toppings on your burger, from bacon to sauteed onions. Fries and a drink can be ordered a la carte; there are no meal options.

I ordered the Build a Burger with sweet potato fries, and it was excellent. It was either one third or one quarter a pound of beef, on a large roll. I found it to be a little greasy, but very tasty. The sweet potato fries were good, not excellent. They were covered in salt, which I found a little unnecessary. I was excited that they had sweet potato fries; Fuddruckers did not have those until recently and Five Guys does not have them at all.

My meal came out to a little more than $12. Fudds will give you the burger meal deal for under $10; Five Guys is also under $10. $12 seems a little unreasonable for a meal without waiter service. For $12, I would prefer to have a nice meal at Chili's or Quintessence.

Golden Phoenix

The Golden Phoenix in Niskayuna is the best chinese buffer in the area. Like all Chinese buffets, it is very sparse inside. However, there is a great variety of fresh food. If the food was healthier, and less expensive, I could eat there every week.

Not only is the food excellent, there is a large variety of it. Along with the favorites, such as sesame chicken and lo mein, there was also salt and pepper shrimp and pineapple chicken. There was also a nice selection of sushi, from the conventional California rolls to a sushi shrimp tempura roll. The sushi alone would have made a good meal. Add to it Chinese food and a Mongolian bar and I could have eaten well beyond satiety.

One problem I have with this place is that the Mongolian bar asks you to put on your own sauce, rather than putting the sauce on for you. I am not a chef, and I do not know the ingredients in many of the sauces, so I made my dish way too spicy for my tastes. Next time I will ask for the chef's advice before creating my dish.

I give the Golden Phoenix two thumbs up. The variety and quality of their food was superior to any Chinese buffet I have been to in the Capital Region

J Bob Barbecue

J Bob Barbeque is in a very humble building on Route 50 in Ballston Spa. You will recognize it by the bright red color of the building and the huge smoker outside. The parking lot may not be very full, but don't let that dissuade you. Despite the humble exterior, this restaurant serves up some excellent barbecue.

We had the sampler, which included pulled pork, ribs, wings, cole slaw, beans and corn bread. Everything was excellent. Since this is Tennessee style barbecue, it is dry rub and does not have sauce like us Yankees like are used to. However, J Bob does supply the table with three bottles of different barbecue sauces. The sweet one was my favorite. All of the meats were very lean and moist. I particularly liked the wings, which had a strong smoky taste. I was less fond of the pulled pork, which did not have much taste to it.

The cost of our meal was $26, which was a bit pricey for the pound or so of meat that we got. However, I did appeciate the variety of food. If we were looking for value, we could have both ordered pulled pork sandwiches at $7.50 each. Overall, we had a very good experience at J Bob.

The Ripe Tomato

I went to the Ripe Tomato in Malta tonight and I left satisfied as always. The portions are large and the food is fresh and excellent.

I ordered the chicken piccata, which came with bread and soup or salad. The bread is top-notch. It is either fresh-baked on the premises or brought in every day. The olive oil for dipping is a nice touch. I had onion soup, which was also excellent. The chicken piccata came with four medium-sized chicken cutlets which were moist and delicious. I appreciated all of the mushrooms and capers in the delicately-seasoned sauce. The side of pasta is al dente, and the tomato sauce is flavorful.

The atmopshere is cozy with exposed beams, low ceilings and paper tablecloths. The dish was $17.95, which is a bit pricy. However, with chains cutting back on portions, it is nice to get a nice portion. The Ripe Tomato is the way restaurant dining used to be.