Miyako (Japanese Restaurant)

I went to have a dinner at "Miyako(http://miyakosteakhouse.com/)" with my friends. This restaurant is the one I ate Japanese food for the first time in Albany. I was surprised not to write review of this restaurant. There are 3 tatami-rooms(Japanese style rooms) for 8 people. I like this type of room. In the menu, there are many appetizer like Japanese bar and we ate some of them (Yakitori, Agedashi-toufu and Kushiyaki). Also, I ate "vegetable & Chicken Tempura($12.95)". These tempura were really crispy and it looked very unusual for me. They looked Tempura but they were not real Tempura. I did not try Sushi today but last time I tried, the raw fish were so-so and taste was not good and not bad. Overall, this restaurant is average of Japanese restaurants in Albany, I think.

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Miyako
2027 Western Avenue, Albany,
NY 12203
TEL (518)452-1445
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SAKURA (Japanese Restaurant)

I went to have a dinner with　JLCC members at SAKURA(http://sakuralatham.com/index2.html)". Our members were Japanese, Korean and American who are interested in Japan. We ate "Chirashi($15.95)","Tempura($15.95)", "Chicken Teriyaki($12.95)", "Sukiyaki" and so on. Most of Japanese meals are same as other Japanese restaurants but prices are little bit cheaper. I ate "Chirashi", a kind of Sushi. The raw fish on the rice were nice and especially salmon was really tasty. The amount of rice was too much for me and I could not eat all of them.
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SAKURA
468 Troy Schenectady Road,
Latham, NY 12110
TEL (518)783-8188
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Art the Lark

I went to see "Art on Lark(http://www.larkstreet.org/)" at the Lark Street. Part of the street was temporarily closed to traffic. There were many stands, such as paintings, pictures, T-shirts, accessory and so on. I was so interested in them and walked around all stands.
Before watching many stands, I went to "Crisan" and bought an ice cream. There were about 8 kinds of flavers and I chose coconuts. It was only 1$/1 scoop and taste was so good. I want to try all of these flavers!
During watching the stands, I dropped to "The Good Leaf(http://goodleaftea.blogspot.com/)". This shop is in "At the warehouse" but they opened new shop at Lark Street. New shop is not so big but looks very cozy. We can buy and eat snacks and tea there. I bought "Bubble tea ($3.49)". Today's bubble tea was based on almond milk tea and this was not sweet but very tasty. I do not like sweet tea, so I love it very much.

Finally, I went to "Crisan" again and bought some bakery. I bought "Croissant", "Fruit Tarte" and "Peach Tarte". In the "Fruit Tarte", full of custard cream and fruits were so fascinated to me and the tarte was crispy. I love this texture. As for the "Peach Tarte", I wanted to eat peach filling more because this filling was so delicious and I really like it! I am so satisfied with today's eating!

Crisan (Bakery)

I heard new bakery was opened at lark Street, so I went there. The shop's name is "Crisan". This shop is not so big but the interior of this shop is so stylish. They sell Bread, cakes and ice cream. I could not decide which bread and cake I would buy because there were some kinds of them which were so fascinated me. Finally, I bought plain croissant, cheese danish and peach pie. Croissant is not crispy but moist one (I do not care but someone care about the texture of bread). Cheese in the cheese danish was little bit salty but peach filling in the peach pie was so tasty. I love peach pie!! I could not try ice cream and cake today but I really want to try ice cream because there are about 8 kinds of ice creams and many customer tried them.

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Crisan
197 Lark Street, Albany,
NY 12210
TEL (518)445-2727
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Girls' Talk

I met my friends and had a lunch together at "The Cheesecake Factory(http://www.thecheesecakefactory.com/)" in Colonie Center (http://www.shopatcoloniecenter.com/) . We have not met for long time because we went to school and did not any time to meet. We have a lot of topic about our classes, shop in Albany, own life and so on. After eating lunch. we moved to Starbucks coffee and continued talking. Finally, we finished our talking and went to own house at 8:00PM. Too long!!!

Meeting tonight

Today I had a meeting of "The Capital District Gourmet Meetup(http://cooking.meetup.com/534/) at COOP(http://www.hwfc.com/). Today's theme was "Cooking Creative 'No Refrigeration Needed' Summer Meals" and we were introduced several food which are good for picnic and hiking in summer time. We tried some cheese, olive, cracker, salad with quinoa and so on. I do not like some cereal which I tried, I really like the black olive spread.
After meeting, I wander in the COOP and bought some food. I found "Broccoli almond sesame noodles ($4.50/1 lb)" in deli. Also, I bought "Natural black olive spread ($8.49)" and "Macadamia Butter ($6.29)". "Broccoli almond sesame noodles" is a Soba(Japanese noodle) with broccoli, nut and sesame paste and it is not bad, but I put soy sauce in it and it became much better. As for the "Macadamia Butter", I found it for the first time. I always see peanut butter but I do not like it because it taste too rich for me. "Macadamia Butter" is little simply taste and I like it. I will try tomorrow morning.

BFS Again!

I went to BFS restaurant (http://www.bfsrestaurant.com/)" to eat lunch with my friends. This time, I tried special food of this restaurant for lunch. I ate "Egyptian Falafel Platter ($10.95)" and my friends ate "Turkish Dolmas Platter ($10.95)" and "Syrian Shawarma Platter ($10.95). Falafel in my dish is a kind of croquette made of dried beans and they were little spicy but it tasted good for me. Dolmas in my friend's is grape leaves filled with rice and spices. Shawarma in my other friend's is a blend of ground tender lamb and beef broiled. They looks like meatloaf. Most of the food are so interesting to me. I want to try others, too. Lunch plates which we ate today was not so big, but it made me full. So, I could not eat dessert and I bought 2 Baklava ($2.89 each).

BFS Restaurant (Mediterranean Food)

My friend and I went to have a lunch at "BFS Restaurant(http://www.bfsrestaurant.com/)". This restaurant says Mediterranean Food (Turkish, Lebanese, Syrian and so on)but there are any other food, such as sandwiches and panini. In the entrance, there is a deli counter and we can take various food out. Inside the restaurant, there were many tables and chairs. I ate "Lentil soup($3.95)" and "Mediterranean sandwich($8.75)". My friend ate "Fish of the day(Fried Blue Fisk)" . All of these food were good, especially proscuitto in the sandwich was really tasty and I love it!! Oh, I regret not to try some Mediterranean food...

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BFS Restaurant
1736 Western Avenue, Albany, NY 12203
TEL (518)452-6342
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