Went to Albany this month and ate some food. Here’s the lowdown.
Best Meals
#5. Suwun Thai Home Cooking
One of the best Thai joints I’ve ever been to. Cozy atmosphere, authentic food and (this must be an Albany thing) reasonable prices.
#4. Weisswurst from Rolf’s Pork Store
If a place makes their own sausage you know it’s gonna be good. We grilled these and served them with mustard, mashed potatoes and sauerkraut spiced with cloves and cooked with sliced apples.
#3. Mini Hot Dogs at Famous Lunch
A trip to Albany is not complete without a journey to her sister city up the river - Troy, where Famous Lunch has been churning out mini-wienies since 1932. The standard order is to get three with onions and zippy sauce. I’m not a huge hot dog eater so I had just one. We got fries with zippy sauce too. Zippy sauce seems to be crispy meat with tomato paste and there’s a slight Greek taste to it. Perhaps there’s some oregano in there and maybe some cinnamon too.
#2. Pork Tamales at Jack’s Diner
Jack’s serves diner food but their second menu is all about Salvadoran fare. Tamales in El Salvador and Guatemala are typically larger than the ones you find in Mexico and that was definitely the case here. Served with salsa and a slaw of pickled cabbage and jalapeño.
#1. Braised Stuffed Beef Rolls
”Rouladen” is a dish that the American branch of our family has enjoyed for more than a century. Thin cut eye of round pounded out with bacon, onions, carrots, pickles and dijon mustard wrapped inside. Cooked for hours in red wine and served with spätzle.
Worst Meals
#5. McDonald’s Filet-O-Fish® at the Airport
I’ll eat one of these every six months. It was familiar.
#4. AI-Generated Tacos
Restaurants all over the place are making signage featuring AI-generated images of their “food.” I imagine these tacos taste like plastic, silly putty and glue. Did not order.
#3. Hot Dog at Jim’s Tastee Freez
A once memorable hot dog tasted like a chicken beak and pork offal condiment vehicle on a bun. Where’s the beef, Jim? Had one small bite and fed the rest to a crow.
#2. Delta Airlines “Chicken”
Rubber wedding chicken that was not cut against the grain, served with a tablespoon of coconut curry, two red peppers, two mushroom heads and a piece of bok choy. Ate everything but the rice.
#1. United Airlines “Cobb Salad”
Imagine my horror when the meal I selected for my red-eye flight was unavailable and I ended up stuck with a desiccated, repulsive Cobb salad. Not even the rubbery hard boiled egg or the rancid bacon was salvageable.
—Alex
See also: Albany & The Capital Region’s Specialty Dish: Mini Hot Dogs
I eat a Filet-O-Fish once a week. The bycatch issue is weighing on me. Ar.