This past week was Restaurant Week in Downtown Albany. For those not from the area, or the blissfully unaware within the area, this is a week that restaurants advertise a three course meal for a low low price of $20.13. As first-timers, we were afraid restaurants would cheap out on menu items and portion sizes.
I feel like I've been the negative nellie on this blog, which is hopefully not a reflection of my real life attitude. I do tend to be the one to write when we have a bad experience, for whatever reason. Today, however, I want to tell everyone about a fantastic experience we had at The Hollow Bar + Kitchen in Downtown Albany.
The Hollow. Though it failed to live up to its name in that we saw no headless horsemen--this is more disappointing to me than you'd think--the food, service, and hospitality managed to overcome this deficit. Walking in the interior is fairly nondescript, with simple brick walls and white linen tablecloths. The lighting is a little low, though I didn't have an issue reading anything (possibly because we sat near the window), and the music and atmosphere generally comes across as rock-indyish to me, but I may just be a cultural gorilla.
After what was the best sushi meals we've ever eaten, it was hard to imagine what other delectable grubs Portland could enlighten us with. We're such fans of Chopped on the Food Network (Ted Allen is one of J's man crushes) that we made it an absolute point to stop by Duckfat after seeing owner Chef Rob Evans compete. The man is after all, a James Beard Award recipient and makes duck fat fried french fries. My cholesterol level jumped just typing about it. But a little misfortune led us to one of the best lobster rolls we've ever consumed.
Before gorging ourselves at lunch, we made pit stops by Shipyard Brewing Company (J wrote about our Maine brewery experiences here) and Two Fat Cats Bakery of Best Thing I Ever Ate fame of course for their drool-worthy whoopie pies. Unbeknownst to us, whoopie pies are a beloved Maine regional food. Whoopie pies for breakfast are perfectly acceptable in our books. Go with the original but a side of the raspberry whoopie pie (when available) is equally satisfying. The magic is in the frosting and it is airy and magical. We made a pitstop here last year and couldn't miss out on them again. We figured a long walk along the beautiful riverfront would burn off some of the morning's calories, enough to stuff our faces again.
Lucky for us, all the best eateries including Benkay Sushi, Two Fat Cats, and Duckfat are located within one delicious radius along Commercial Street by the coastal riverfront. As we approached Duckfat, a little sign in front of the storefront delivered devastating news. The restaurant was still closed for renovations and we were leaving to visit J's brother that afternoon. Cue sad music.
We must have looked really sad because a lovely young Portlander who was outside dining at the spot next to Duckfat chimed in and recommended Eventide Oyster Co. right down the street for some of the best oysters in town. Still off the high of the previous night's Bluepoint Oysters from Benkay, we decided to why not give it a shot.
