Going out in Albany

Provence (2.8/5 Albany Stars)

The Restaurant Provence (Albany, Stuyvesant Plaza Western Ave) claims serving the finest traditional and contemporary southern French and Mediterranean cuisine. Well, I have been in France in many different places and even though some of the dishes look authentic on the menu, their taste does not come close to what you would find on your plate in a good French restaurant. The prices are rather high and the nice interior of the Provence cannot compensate for the price/value relation. A banquette sandwich where the bred tastes as if it was bought a few days before being served, with a strange combination of ham and some other type of sausages together with some cold pasta salad (not very tasteful) for $10.50 is just a bid too much. I have eaten other menus there as well and was not very exited about this restaurant. However, the wine selection is nice and one can have many good quality wines by the class. In a nutshell; go to France when you really want to experience good food, or take the train to Manhattan.

Sitar (3/5 Albany Stars)

Sitar Indian Restaurant, 1929 Central Ave. (http://www.sitarindianrestaurant.com/): A place we go regularly for the last six years. The quality of the food is consistently good and authentic. However, the menu has not changed since we went there for the first time (in 1999) but it is better to have consistency then fancy menus. One can chose the level of spiciness on a scale from 1 – 10 and I can tell, if you go for a “10” it is REALY hot but still tasteful. I would recommend the Chicken Tikka Palak Tandoori, a boneless chicken cooked with spinach.