I find lots of inspiration from fellow local food bloggers to try new and exciting places, mostly because I am salivating as I browse through their posts and pictures. My most recent adventure was inspired by Masticating Monkey's visit to Casa Dominicana for mofongo de chicharron on All Over Albany.
One of my best friends was in town and we both have a love for all things culinary and food related. D is half Puerto Rican and knows her Latin food. Her Grandma makes a mean alcapurria and I can vouch for it. For the longest time we've been talking about getting mofongo but never knew where to find a good place for it in Albany. Lucky for us, AOA pointed us in the right direction for a lunch feast.
Central Avenue never fails when it comes to getting authentic ethnic eats. No frills, no fusion-- just simple, good regional native food and that's what we found at Casa Dominicana. D, accompanied by her fiance J, were so excited to be greeted by a menu full of her childhood favorites. Casa Dominicana is a Dominican establishment but carries an array of Latin foods with Puerto Rican and Cuban favorites. I also have to mention how nice and accommodating the owner was. We were initially awestruck by the menu but he was very friendly, introducing each item in the hot trays and highlighting the specialties of the house.
Since R and I met, poor service has kind of become our thing. The first time I ever saw her was at a friend's birthday party at Brown's in Troy, where I ordered a soda three or four times and somehow never got it. Since then, almost every place we've gone has featured long wait times, being completely ignored by waitstaff, kitchen errors, and stale/unseasoned food. It isn't consistent, but it is unusually regular. I suspect this is the reason we like to search out the little known, uncharted places in the area. For one we both have pretty adventurous tastes, but also with this curse hanging over us, if we have a good experience then we know it's a genuinely great place.
Unfortunately, Carmen's Cafe fell completely flat on all the above issues. It started well enough, we sat and were seen immediately for food and drink orders (although, oddly, by different waitresses). The decor and floor were also nice, though my chair was set at the corner of the fireplace, forcing me to sit at a slight angle to the table. Just enough to be annoyed but not enough to say anything or move once we had sat.
The wait for our food was a good half hour for eggs. EGGS! It was probably worse for R because it was her first meal that day (I take early classes on weekends), but regardless it's kind of long for breakfast in a dining room that's only half full. Service fell down a bit here, as we finally had to ask what was going on with our food at the half hour mark (nobody had let us know the kitchen was backed up or checked on us in that time, though our water glasses were kept full which I appreciate). Fortunately, at that point it was in the window anyway.
