Simply Crepes: Rochester, NY

Restaurant Review by Jennifer Kumar.

We ate a late breakfast at Simply Crepes in the Rochester Public Library today. We have ate at the Pittsford location for dinner on two occasions, where we had 'dinner' and 'desert' crepes. This is the first time we have gone for breakfast, though.

I had an item called Raspberry Gulle. The simply crepes menu describes it as:
Fresh raspberries folded inside a sweetened egg batter dipped crêpe, lightly sautéed and topped with our house-made fresh raspberry sauce and powdered sugar.

My husband had the Crêpe Épinards. The simply crepes menu describes it as:
Fresh spinach and tomatoes sautéed with scrambled eggs and feta cheese.

We also had a side of fried potatoes with coffee.

The food was tasty and overall wonderful. The coffee, on the other hand, was not so much so.

Price is a little higher than other restaurants, but paying more for the presentation is justifiable, I suppose. The service was also commendable.

To Find/ Contact this location:
Simply Crepes site Rochester Public Library
114 South Avenue
Rochester, NY 14604(585) 383-8310

Follow up:
May 3, 2008. I visited Simply Crepes in Shoen Place in Pittsford with a friend for breakfast.

At this location, we sat outside on a verandah over looking the street. On the opposite side of the street is the Erie Canal. The downtown location doesn't have facility to eat outside.

I had the Raspberry Gulle (again!) and was very pleased. The portion size was perfect, not too big and not too small.
My friend had the Crespalla Florentine which is described in the menu as:"A blend of 3 cheeses (Ricotta, Parmesan, Swiss) rolled in a crêpe with fresh spinach, topped with our house-made marinara sauce and drizzled with a white cheese sauce and fresh parmesan." The portion size on this is large. It is meant for one who is ravenous with hunger. My friend finished about 1/2- 3/4 and boxed the rest to take it home.
We shared the fried crepes with creamy dipping sauce. I don't remember the name of this, and I can't seem to find it on the online menu. The chips did leave more to the senses, but the creme dip sauce was very tasty.

We each had a nice bottomless coffee with our meal. The total bill was roughly $30 with tip.


To find/contact this location:
Simply Crepes Cafe
7 Schoen Place
Pittsford, NY 14534
(585) 383-8310

Follow up: July 5, 2008
I read in the newspaper today that Simply Crepes has opened up a third location in Canandaigua. I have yet to go. I am sure the service and food is just as impeccable as the other two locations. Here is the contact information for that location:
101 S Main St
Canandaigua, NY 14424
(585) 394-9090
Get directions

Hicks & McCarthy- Pittsford, New York

Restaurant Review by Jennifer Kumar.

We ate Sunday brunch here. It was very nice. I'd describe the atmosphere as an upscale diner. Apparently they also do an afternoon tea on weekends. We want to try that. The caveat to that is you need reservations, and we've heard it is costly.

For vegetarians that eat eggs, this place has a wide variety of tempting vegetable fillings in their omelets. We each had an omelet - I had a daily special with artichokes, brie cheese, spinach and tomatoes and he had an omelet with mushrooms, spinach and Swiss- the 'Florentine.' Each omelet had a side of herbed potatoes (real and not frozen) and toast. We had the Ghirardelli hot chocolate to drink.

The omelets were tasty as the added ingredients are not added into the egg batter but folded into the plain, cooked egg and flipped in half. The egg was a nice yellow color and evenly cooked on both sides. The ingredients complemented each other and were very fresh. They do not add extra salt or butter the toast, which I quite prefer. So, if they regularly do not butter toasts, remember to ask for butter on the side when you visit.

We think the service was quite good and we look forward to going there again to try some more omelets.

To find Hicks & Mc Carthy Restaurant
http://www.hicksandmccarthy.com/
23 S Main St., Pittsford, NY 14534
(585) 586-0938

Schoen Place Prime Rib & Grill, Pittsford, NY

Restaurant Review by Jennifer Kumar.

Well you'd be surprised to know a vegetarian is reviewing this restaurant.

We were invited there for a party and had a great time at this place that is situated on the corner of Rte. 31 (Monroe Avenue) and Schoen Place (road name) along the Erie Canal. The eatery is situated in Northfield Commons, a shopping center populated with local businesses.

Ok, so what does a vegetarian eat here? There was no pasta dish on the menu, which was surprising. I ended up getting something off the kids menu! I had macaroni and cheese with baked potato and side salad. Other than the grilled cheese, I may have been able to have the 'artichoke french,' though I am not really sure what that is. The stuffed mushrooms had sausage, so that was out.

But, everyone else seemed to like the food and the service was also good.

To Find/Contact:
Schoen Place Prime Rib & Grill
50 State Street, Pittsford, NY 14534
Directions to Shoen Place Prime Rib & Grill.
585 586 5286

Moti Mahal, Buffalo. NY

Restaurant Review by Jennifer Kumar.

Moti Mahal is a long standing Indian restaurant in Buffalo, NY.

The last time I was there was in 1998. But, as we drove by there the other day, I remarked to my husband, who speaks Hindi that I thought Moti Mahal was a funny name for a restaurant. I knew Moti to mean 'fat' and Mahal to mean 'palace' in Hindi. I always found that funny to eat at a place called 'Fat palace'- should be spelled with a PH! (As in Phat Palace!)

Anyhow, I was told that there are two words in Hindi Moti- which means fat, and Mothi which means gem. But when these words are translated from the Devanagri script, the letter is T in both cases, but pronounced differently. Dumb Americans like me would not know, then mistaking Gem for Fat!

Jokes and linguistic lessons aside, I remember it to be a nice place for North Indian food.

To find Moti Mahal
3545 Sheridan Dr Amherst, NY 14226
(716) 837-3038

Alice's Kitchen Buffalo, NY

Restaurant Review by Jennifer Kumar.

In December 2007, we visited Alice's Kitchen in Buffalo, N.Y.

We came here for breakfast. We were impressed with the menu. There were so many choices for all meals. They even had spaghetti with butter and cheese only. Simple, plain and seemed tempting. Since we were there for breakfast, I chose 'cheese blintzes' and he chose 'potato pancakes.'

I liked the cute coffee cups and saucers. All the plates and cutlery were clean and shiny. No problems, until the food actually showed. My blintzes were new to me until I saw them and realized they were what I grew up eating for dinner - palachinta- a Hungarian dish of crepes rolled with cottage cheese in the middle. It came with a huge side of sour cream and apples- like the ones in a pie. I am not sure who can eat so much of sour cream, but the apples- I was not happy with. They seemed to be the pie filling apples from the supermarket can. Those kinds of apples have scared me since being a small kid, and now even more since I know they are full of High Fructose Corn Syrup. So, I skipped that. And, his potato pancakes appeared to be heated hash browns - fresh from the freezer section. I have to say- YUCK.

YUCK in taste and in price. For the heat and eat delights and coffee- that were not even enough to fill us- was $20.00 with tax. I was no longer impressed and decided I would not want to come back for the noodles.

Though, the service was commendable and the place was spacious and clean.

To find Alice's Kitchen-
http://www.aliceskitchen.com/
3122 Sheridan Dr Amherst, NY 14226
(716) 834-4182

The Palace of Dosas, Amherst, NY

Restaurant Review by Jennifer Kumar.

We stopped by this pakka vegetarian place on a Friday night about 9pm. We were surprised to find there were only two other tables occupied. Once they left, we were the only ones left. For a Friday night, and in Buffalo, hope this doesn't say they will be on their way out- the food was great.

If any closer to India, they may put a sign out in front of their door upon open in Tamil namesake of this blog- sappard ready- which means food and meals are ready!

Signage inside reminiscent of Chinese fast food take out with photos of South Indian food labeled in transliterated English - including thayyir vadai.

We had bhajjis (fritters), sambar vadai, masalai dosa, and tasty tomato/onion utthapam, all served on steel plates. Price was also nice.

The waitstaff are very friendly and helpful. The bathrooms are also clean and recommended- a sign of a good restaurant in my opinion!

To find/contact
Palace of Dosas
656 Millersport Hwy
Amherst, NY 14226
(716) 834-1800
Get Directions