Sugar and Spice, Cortland, NY

Vegetarian Restaurant Review by Jennifer Kumar.

Meet and Greet
We were not met or greeted at the door. It appeared to be a sit yourself establishment. It was crowded when we entered around 12:30pm on a Sunday. Only one corner table was free and shiny clean, so we took that. Though in my opinion the Feng Shui of this sitting area is not suitable for any position one could sit in at this table. It’s difficult to face anyone you sit with at the table, and at most angles it feels as the traffic of the establishment is coming toward you or that all others can watch you eat. It’s not a comfortable seating arrangement. But as we were not approached by any waitress to discuss other seating arrangements, we took this table.


Mise en Scène
Part of this has been discussed under ‘meet and greet.’ There are other aspects of the environment besides the physical surroundings that must be noted. Maybe it’s because I am more of a city dweller and am used to seeing well dressed, clean and friendly waitresses that I will say what I have to say next, or maybe it’s because we were out of towners too. Firstly, after sitting down, we were not offered menus for about 10-15 minutes. We were waited on by a well-trained waitress, but approaching us with a casual dress and an uninterested attitude in serving us. To elaborate, her outfit consisted of an untucked, oversized t-shirt with large pictures and words not relevant to the establishment and pants that to me seemed like pajama pants- with patterns all up and down the legs. In comparison to the other waitresses, there was not much difference. Another waitress had a very similar outfit, looking more like a pajama set than a waitressing uniform. Another waitress had more of waitress-looking outfit on- white pants and white shirt, but with stains all and down the front of her dress. Of course, being a waitress one may spill on themselves, but at other establishments this is overcome by wearing some type of apron.

**We did not have to use restrooms, so no comment on that ambiance!


Choosing a Veggie Treat
We stuck to the breakfast menu, with egg options as there were very few interesting vegetarian options on the menu, including lunch options. Lunch options for vegetarians who also eat eggs included a short list of: grilled cheese ($1.95), egg salad sandwich ($3.20), and of course sides such as French fries, onion rings, cheese sticks, jalapeño poppers, and fried mushrooms and zucchini. If a vegetarian would come here during a dinner hour, there are no vegetarian meal options unless breakfast options are available at this time. Within breakfast options, many egg options exist, including pancakes also.

I ordered two hotcakes with over easy eggs ($3.25). It’s good that this is not easy to mess up, though the eggs were closer to over hard than over easy. The hotcakes tasted like any other pancakes I have had, so no issues with that.

Krishna ordered the fried egg sandwich. He said the egg tasted ok, but there was something about it he would have improved. Not sure what that was.

Checking In
Our waitress bought our drinks, then our food. She did not check in between to refill coffee or ask us if we wanted anything else.

See you later
We waited a long time for the bill, longer than should be expected. We approached the register to pay. They accepted all forms of credit card as payment.

Pay Scale
$1-5 per person
Tips
10% is standard. We gave 10% though I would have preferred to give much less.
Star System 1.5/5
The only aspect of this visit that accorded a good score was value for money. The food is really cheap, but as they say ‘you get what you pay for.’ I actually wonder if the locals feel the same treatment when they enter as we did. They did not seem to mind the atmosphere as it was fully crowded throughout our stay.


To find/Contact
Sugar and Spice Restaurant
3901 Route 281 #6
Cortland, NY 13045
Directions to Sugar and Spice
Phone (607)756-4606

Hours: Daily 6a-9pm
Delivery Mon-Sat. 8a-2p and 5p-8p

Review based on October 2008 visit.

Have you eaten at Sugar and Spice, Cortland, NY? If so, please share your thoughts below.

Thank you for reading!

Note #1: This Sugar and Spice is not affiliated with the Sugar and Spice in Horseheads, NY that I reviewed earlier (here).
Note #2: I had hesitated to post this review as this is the first one I have done that overall is not favorable. This is indeed one establishment I would not reenter. This blog is here to explore the good and not-so-good in terms of not only cuisine, but service, ambiance and overall experience.

Chat-a-Whyle Family Restaurant, Bath, NY

Vegetarian Restaurant Review by Jennifer Kumar.

Meet and Greet
We came to Bath to visit Mossey Bank Park, but before we travelled up the hill to the park, we wanted to get something to eat. We attempted the two Mexican eateries, but both were closed on Sundays, and then attempted to find other open eateries. This location, Chat-a-Whyle, seemed to be the only eatery open in Bath at this time (beside maybe pizzerias). Because of that, this place was fully crowded. Though it was fully crowded, we were immediately greeted and sat in a prime location, near the window.

Mise en Scène
This is set up like most other diners. When you enter, there is a bar patrons can sit at bar stools, and tables lined up along the window. We were not sat in this area. When entering, we were led around the entry to the right to a larger seating area. They had many tables to sit us at, all covered with their restaurant logo and local business advertisements. A nice way to keep us occupied, no doubt!

**We did not have to use restrooms, so no comment on that ambiance!

Choosing a Veggie Treat
Upon reviewing the menu, the only ‘vegetarian’ options we located were breakfast items, all egg based. This is a good place for non-vegetarians to visit, especially on Sundays. They have a grand listing of dinners on the back of the menu titled “Complete Sunday Dinners” that are amazing amounts of food for a relatively low price.

I wish to have seen a pasta dish or eggplant parmesan (as there was veal parmesan) listed on the menu, but since we were not so lucky, we finally opted for a breakfast option.

Appetizer: Loaded potato skins and thick cut fresh potato chips. We both agreed these were very tasty. Though I have made the fresh cut potato chips at home, this is the first restaurant I have seen them on the menu. It is a welcome change from the regular run-of-the-mill French fries. The cheese on the potato skins was nice as it did not loose heat or become hard after sitting for sometime. Not sure what that means about the kind of cheese it is, but it was a good thing for us in relation to taking photos for this blog. We often realize the food is cold by the time we start eating if we take photos for this blog! So, this was not the case for this dish. (Note: Loaded potato skins usually come with bacon, which we declined.)

What I ordered: Scrambled eggs with mushrooms, toast and home fries. Overall, it was good, but I have to remember to ask for the eggs well done, as in browned.

What Krishna ordered: Spanish omelet, toast, home fries. He liked the omelet, but was a little surprised to see black olives in the Spanish omelet, as this was a first. We both agreed we also need to remember to ask at every location to have the home fries well done. Though they were fully cooked, they come to us with a white look, they are not crispy and crunchy as we prefer. This is only a personal preference.

Checking In
Everything was absolutely perfect in this aspect. Though it was a full house, we were not neglected. We were checked on in regular intervals and even at the end of our meal when I asked to see the menu again (mostly so I could take the photo in this post); our wish was quickly fulfilled and immediately followed up on. There were no problems with our orders; everything was given as we ordered.

See you later
The bill was left on our table and we went up to the register to pay.
Pay Scale
$6-10 per person
Tips
10-15% is sufficient
Star System 3/5
I am sure most locals would scoff at my rating. This rating is based on the following factors- value for money 4/5, ambiance 4/5, service 4/5 and range of veggie options 1/5. Since this blog review focuses on vegetarian restaurant reviews, it is only in this category there is a request for improvements. There were vegetarian options for egg eaters within breakfast items, which are available after regular business hours. However, far as special dinners and other vegetarian options on the menu, I did not see anything of much interest. If I was in Bath again on a Sunday, I would not mind coming here, but if I was on the way to Corning, I may go the extra distance for a Bob Evan’s Breakfast or any other options in Corning.

Notes: If you are local, this restaurant seems to make deliveries. Call to inquire further details.

To find/Contact
Chat-A-Whyle Restaurant
www.chatawhyle.com
28 Liberty St
Bath, NY 14810
(607) 776-8040
Get directions

Review based on October 2008 visit.

Have you eaten at Chat-a-Whyle, Bath, NY? If so, please share your thoughts below.

Thank you for reading!

Photos in this post by Jennifer Kumar. More photos of Chat-a-Whyle on flickr.

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