Rochester Food Blog

Stopped into this joint on Ridge Road for a quick dog after work.

Avoid like the plague.

Where: Jeremiah’s Tavern, 1104 Monroe Ave, Rochester, NY 14620 (two blocks West of Culver Road)

When: Saturday, December 27th, around 1:30 PM

Cuisine: American, Bar Food

What: Went as a party of two around 1 PM on a Saturday, and the place was packed. Took a couple minutes for us to be seated, but the place was energetic, college football games were playing on the multiple TVs, and the atmosphere was fun. It wasn’t so loud to make conversation difficult, which was appreciated.

Jeremiah’s has approximately 20 beers on tap and is a great place to grab a pint (or two, or thirteen). Selections run the gamut of local brews, your expected macros (American and Canadian), and I believe at least one higher-hopped IPA selection. Nothing to write home about, but Jeremiah’s has no air of pretentiousness - so they should have something for everyone.

Our server was friendly and efficient, although we had to flag her down once because she forgot the coffee my dining companion ordered. Perhaps one more stop by our table between dropping the food and dropping the check would have been appreciated, but it is understandable due to the crowd in the restaurant at the time.

Food came out quickly, considering the volume. I ordered a cup of the “corn and lobster bisque”, which was the soup du jour (pictured below), while my companion ordered a bowl of a rather forgettable, unbalanced chili slathered in cheese.

The soup was above average for what one normally expects from a bar — they are handmade on premesis, and it showed. Chunks of lobster and corn floated in a slightly sweet, creamy base - I’m not sure “bisque” is appropriate, as it seemed more like a cream soup, but in any case, it was a pleasant surprise and very enjoyable.

For the main course — what else? A cheeseburger.

I ordered it medium, but it came out slightly overcooked at a medium-well, but the burger retained its juicyness and was still very good. Might have liked a little bit more seasoning in the meat itself, but the lack of it wasn’t a big detractor. It was topped with onion, bacon and cheese — again, as a personal preference, I would have preferred if they had backed off the the cheese a bit, as it was somewhat overwhelming. The bacon was pleasantly crisp — if it were a bit smokier, it would have really stood out as it was cooked perfectly. The bun was a good combination of crusty and soft, and the onion rings were crispy and cooked through. All in all, a very pleasant dining experience.

Rating:
Ambiance: 4 out of 5 stars.
Food: 3 out of 5 stars.
Service: 3.5 out of 5 stars.
Overall: 3.5 out of 5 stars

Where: Chen Garden Chinese Restaurant, 1750 Monroe Ave, Rochester, NY 14616 (near Twelve Corners Area)

When: Saturday, December 13, around 12:30

Cuisine: Chinese

What: Went with three friends for lunch, based on the recommendation of several posters over at eGullet. Generally don’t eat a lot of Chinese in Rochester - having lived in Seattle for a long period, I haven’t found anywhere local that matches up to the food found in the International District there. From a food perspective, Chen Garden didn’t disappoint. Tucked into a strip mall, the interior is plush - round leather booths lining the walls, tables in the center, and a long bar area you walk through to access the dining room. Lighting was a little low, and Chinese music played softly in the background. We ordered four dishes - my companions ordered beef with scallions, kung pao chicken, and happy family. I decided on noodles with spicy brown meat sauce (zhajiang mian). The thick noodles were cooked perfectly, with a slightly chewy texture. The sauce was balanced, with the right salty/sour notes and spicy without being overpowering. My companion declared the kung pao chicken “the best [he’s] ever had”. The egg rolls that we also ordered were acceptable, but decidedly average.

The food alone will bring me back — which is good, because along with the meal came perhaps the worst service I’ve experienced in quite a long time. Our server took around 10 minutes to get to our table after we were seated to take a drink order, told one of our companions “move your menu” as he was looking through it so she could leave our tea, and bumped his arm out of the way when she put his food down. Our food came out in two stages — the noodles and the Happy Family first, while two of us were sitting for about 5 minutes, waiting for their food to arrive as well. Once the food was dropped — the server never came back to our table, despite empty water glasses around.

As this was our first time at this restaurant, the service was disconcerting and holds back the recommendation of this restaurant. I will be giving it another shot, as the food was definitely worth it and previous reviews of this restaurant show no service problems such as I experienced.

Rating:
Ambiance: 3 out of 5 stars.
Food: 4 out of 5 stars.
Service: 0 out of 5 stars.
Overall: 2.5 out of 5 stars

I have decided to resurrect the concept of RochesterFoodBlog.com, mainly because I feel there is a dearth of information available regarding alot of Rochester’s restaurants. I will have reviews of several Rochester restaurants coming in the next couple days. After these reviews, I am going to start including some pictures of the food I eat.

As a teaser — mixed review of Chen Garden, positive review of Edoya, positive reviews of two Vietnamese places in the city as well.