I am convinced that any restaurant connected to a market has got to have great food. Case in point: Parivar Spice and Market and La Mexicana Grocery and Restaurant. Now we can add Off Shore Pier Restaurant and Fish Market to that list. I've been shopping at the Target store in East Greenbush for years and never really bothered to stop by any of the restaurants along Route 4. On a whim, we stopped by Off Shore Pier and have been hooked ever since. It's a gem of place amongst a sea of fast food chains.
The seafood market right next door is small but purveyor to some of the freshest seafood around. The quality ingredients translates to some amazing flavors when fried to order next door. There's the classic fish fry sandwiched on a hot dog bun and the seafood platter with succulent pieces of fried scallops and shrimp. But what you really want is the fried clam bellies. Each briny bite brings back great memories of our honeymoon in Maine.
Not everything is encased in a golden cornmeal crust. Sure you can get your seafood broiled but we all know everything is better fried, including your vegetables. Little nuggets of cauliflower are not only fried but enrobed in a layer of cheese for good measure. For a true taste of the oceanside, it doesn't get any better than fresh clams on the half shell. You can usually find us slurping back dollar oysters at The Beer Belly but these puppies are just as addicting. Just because the Capital Region is landlocked doesn't mean you can't find great seafood. Until we can get out those little New England clam shacks, you can find us at Off Shore Pier.
It's no surprise that J and I are pho-natics. While Kim's Vietnamese is usually our go to for pho noodle soup, Saigon Spring excels at other classic Vietnamese dishes. My parents weren't able to come down for Tet, the Vietnamese Lunar New Year, so I wasn't able to get my share of homemade traditional foods. I had a hankering for bun thit nuong (grilled pork with rice noodles) and they make the best version of this dish up in Clifton Park. The pork is a great balance of sweet and savory with fragrant flavors of lemongrass, fish sauce, and garlic and grillled til there's a nice fatty char. Nothing is more disappointing than dry, overcooked pork but here it is juicy and mouth-watering good. But at the last minute, I had a change of heart and decided to celebrate New Year's with something more decadent.
Another favorite dish that I use to get as a kid but haven't had in ages was mi xao don aka crispy noodles. While this dish is mostly Chinese influenced, it is a popular dish at Vietnamese restaurants and would be a special occasion dish to order. What better way to celebrate a holiday that is shared among Vietnamese and Chinese cultures alike. Saigon Spring's version is a seafood medley called do bien xao xa made with a lemongrass sauce. A bed of crispy noodles is covered in an array of giant plump shrimp, scallops, and mussels sauteed in sweet and spicy sauce with hunks of peppers and onions. It's a messy dish as you try to maneuver getting shards of crispy noodles into your mouth but the sauce softens some of the noodles creating a fun mix of textures.
My first Korean food experience was over shots of soju (a potent rice liquor) and diy grilled bulgogi shortribs in the heart of New York City's K-Town. My soju drinking days were short-lived but once in awhile I'll long for the fiery kick of gochujang chili paste and all the fun little side dishes. For as long as I've lived in Albany, I never really sought out Korean restaurants until I came across a few Korean dishes at Kinnaree on Lark Street. Kinnaree is better known for its Thai specialities but once I tried a bibimbap bowl, I knew I had to seek out more Korean specialities. That's when J and I came across Seoul Korean Restaurant in Latham. We spotted Seoul while exploring Indian food at Shalimar's next door. We were dead set on satisfying a craving for Indian food on that particular night and knew we had to come back and visit their Korean neighbor.
This time, our trip to SKR was J's first Korean food experience. The menu is a modest combination of rice, stir-fry, and soup dishes. A friend once made homemade veggie pancakes and we were compelled to try the restaurant's seafood version (hae mool pah juhl) for an appetizer. This huge pancake was loaded with veggies like scallions, zucchini, and carrots and an assortment of seafood. The textural contrast of all the elements was delightful: crisp exterior, soft and moist inside, crunchy veggies, and chewy pieces of octopus. The pancake comes with soy sauce but I enjoyed it the most with bites of kimchi.
Before our appetizers even came out we were treated to a typical spread of small side dishes known as banchan. These side dishes vary and on our recent trip we got a mix of pickled veggies ranging from the classic fermented spicy cabbage known as kimchi and pickled spicy radishes, a potato and onion stir fry, sauteed mushrooms, and wedges of a veggie egg omelet. They were all simple bites to nosh on but the star of the quintet was most definitely the homemade kimchi. Contrary to my own previous prejudices, Korean food isn't all about blow your head off spicy food. This signature Korean condiment is the perfect balance of sour and spicy and the cabbage still had a lovely crisp and crunch to it. Think of kimchi as Korean sauerkraut that pairs well with just about everything. Bonus: you can even get refills of your favorite banchan if you ask nicely. I recommend loading up on more kimchi.
Our Maine vacation was plagued with grey skies, rain clouds, and freezing cold temperatures. While it was a nice hot 80 something degrees down here in Albany, were were covered up in at least three layers to keep warm in the 55 degree tundra of Bar Harbor. I suppose it was a trade-off for how well we had been eating. Besides lobster, we needed food with sustenance to keep us going through the days and nothing was better than a hot comforting brunch. Lucky for us, Bar Harbor has a couple of two great brunch staples.
If there's one thing we've learned from this Maine vacation, is to take chances. One thing about going to Bar Harbor the weekend before Memorial Day Weekend is that most places aren't open yet! Plus while it was 80 degrees in Albany, it was about 55 degrees and rainy all week in Maine. We were pretty disappointed to see so many places still boarded up, including the winery and lobster pound that was next to our cottage. Bummer. At least we got a good rate out of our stay and places weren't clogged with tourists! By the time dinner time rolled around, we were determined to get our fill of more lobsters. An ad in our handy dandy cottage visitors guide led us astray to a restaurant that wasn't open for the season yet. Clearly this was becoming trend on our Maine trip (i.e. Duckfat to Eventide experience), because on a whim we decided to visit a lobster pound that was Diners, Drive Ins, and Dives worthy. Talk about not judging a book by its cover...
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.
I cannot begin to tell you how well we ate in Maine. Our vacation culinary adventures began in Portland, Maine. This coastal city is foodie bliss. We've written about our weekly sushi cravings and being right by the sea coast, we couldn't resist taking advantage of some of the best and freshest seafood in town. What I really wanted to try was Miyake, mainly because Alex Guarnashelli declared their mushroom miso soup The Best Thing I Ever Ate and I remember seeing Andrew Zimmern making a Bizzare Foods stop, but being on a limited budget and because J hates mushrooms (one of these days he'll be a convert), we decided to go on a Yelp sushi search.
Our findings led us to the best sushi meal we've ever had at Benkay Japanese Restaurant and Sushi Bar. We consider this our #1 all-time sushi spot now. Too bad it's now 4hrs away from Albany. We might very well consider a weekend trip just to eat this sushi again.
