Friday's LOTD (and restaurant review)

Friday was a busy day for me.  It was payday, so I had to drive out to my job's main office to pick up my paycheck...then it was a bunch of errands and driving all around the Capital District.  Even though it was a very bright and sunny spring day, I opted for a very dark, intense look.  It was probably too dark and intense for 11am and errand running but...I'm a rebel *snort*

Out of all the bajillion pictures I took, only one was worth showing--and even that one wasn't all that great.  I didn't use a lot of products.  Just black from my 120 palette and a dark gray from a Mary Kate and Ashley quad called Smashing. Other than that, I used all my usual stuff. Oh, and I wore my purple glasses since the top I was wearing had some purple accents.  In the picture, I'm wearing Fyrinnae's Acidic Cherry but at the last minute I decided that it was too dark and I changed it to Fyrinnae's Whee! which is such a pretty purple-ish color.

I discovered that I had some extra, rather unexpected money in my paycheck--so I offered to treat Alex and Jeff to lunch.  I wanted to check out this new sushi place I'd spotted during our trip to the Golden Corral with the kids.  Since Mathias was the only kid with us--and he actually likes sushi--it was a go.

In the past, I've expressed  my extreme love of all things taco--and it's true.  I adore anything that can even be loosely considered Mexican food.  But sushi comes in at such a close second that it's almost a tie.

We went to Nikko Sushi and Seafood Buffet, 1893 Central Avenue, Colonie NY.  For anyone that lives in my area, it's right next to the Golden Corral in the building that used to be Colorado Mining Company Steakhouse.

The restaurant itself was very nice.  There is a large dining space with the buffet area in the middle of the room.  The tables and chairs are black and shiny--not very cheap looking.   The decor isn't over the top like you find in a lot of Chinese buffets (we have a bunch of those around here).  Towards the back of the restaurant there is another room where they do Hibachi meals.  You can add the sushi buffet to your Hibachi meal for five bucks--we just stuck to the buffet.

If you're in a mixed party of sushi fans/non sushi fans, I do not recommend eating here.  There are very few choices that aren't in fact sushi or seafood.  But the food is really good.  The sushi tasted fresh and delicious and there was a great deal of variety.  They also offered tempura items, miso soup, and some straightforward seafood dishes.  They offered a tomato salad and some marinated tofu slices as well.  The only one that had me stumped was tempura fried crab legs.  Why would you bother to dip a food in batter and fry it if you have to break that food open to eat it?  Unless you're going to eat all the tempura off the shell before you crack it open....seemed kind of silly to me.  Beverages were soda (Pepsi products which is a plus for me) and I'm sure they probably sold coffee and tea but I didn't ask.  They also had orange juice and cranberry juice which was a disappointment to my Babbers as he favors apple juice with his restaurant meals. Cookies, cream puffs and a tiramisu-style cake were dessert options as well as what was called a 'tapioca dessert soup'--which I tried and was just all kinds of nasty!

I was really impressed with the food.  My experience with sushi in the Albany area has been limited to what was offered at the local Chinese buffets (in fact the sushi is the only reason I even go to a Chinese buffet) and I have to say that Nikko has all the local buffets beat in terms of quality.

However.....

I found the price to be very unsatisfactory.  The lunch time price is $10.99 for adults and $6.99 for kids under 10.  Beverages are a separate charge and they cost roughly $2.00 apiece--even for children.  Even though I think $11 is a bit steep for any lunch buffet, I'm willing to bend a little because it IS seafood and seafood IS expensive.  But I think they should institute a kids 3 and under eat for free policy.  Mathias ate 3 rolls and a cookie and he barely touched his sierra mist.  He didn't eat ten bucks worth of food (what 3 year old does, really?) and I felt kind of robbed that the restaurant charged me that much for how little he ate.  Fifty bucks for lunch for 3 adults and a kid is pretty pricey.  I'm not made of money and buffets are supposed to be an economical option.

Their dinner price is $21.99 per person for the buffet.  Seriously, I don't know what they are serving at dinner time but it better be something really special for that price.  And dancing faeries better come and clear the table too.

As tasty as the food was, I doubt if I'll become a regular just based on the price alone.  This restaurant is better suited to special occasions or a date with your special someone.

Atmosphere: 4/5 tacos
Service:  4/5 tacos (the table was cleared very quickly and efficiently, refills were offered to us on a regular basis)
Food:  4/5 tacos (only because I've had better sushi--just not here in my hometown...yet)
Price:  2/5 tacos