DISAPPOINTING!

A few years ago I went to a wedding here at 677 and it was terrific. I was really looking forward to celebrating our wedding anniversary here. The menu is pretty expensive but I knew that going in. And, we had a generous gift card, which made cost a virtual non-factor. But, the value here seemed very low to me.

We had to wait a few minutes to be seated, but not very long. The location we sat at, a booth, was uncomfortably chilly. The booth was great and plenty of room for both of us, but I’m not sure how it would be for four people. I felt cold as soon as we sat down, even with a sweater on. I felt cold throughout the entire meal, as did my wife. The restaurant vibe was a little gaudy, but otherwise generally okay.

We ordered calamari as an app and it definitely was tasty, although not the best I’ve ever had.

The waiter brought over some very uninspiring bread. It had virtually no taste, and seemed less than that of a supermarket’s-brand bread. They poured their ‘homemade’ olive oil on the bread (I didn’t know olives grew in Albany!). The oil wasn’t anything special. Butter wasn’t offered.

I ordered the NY strip with mushrooms and my wife got a filet mignon. We also ordered baked potatoes, a ‘cauliflower steak’, and asparagus as sides. The potatoes were huge, but tasted bland. Tables here do not have salt or pepper on them, and there was no butter provided. The asparagus was actually pretty good. The cauliflower’steak’ was dry and pretty tasteless of flavor. I felt like I didn’t get many mushrooms, and that they were nothing special either.

On to the center of attraction - the steaks. My wife said she liked her filet mignon. I REALLY did NOT like my NY Strip. It was surprisingly difficult to cut with a serrated knife, difficult to chew, and to eat. There was absolutely nothing special about its taste. I honestly have had far better at Texas Roadhouse, the Barnsider, Delmonico’s, and plenty of other restaurants. I only ate about a quarter of my steak because it was that bad. I did bring it home and it’s still in my fridge, but I honestly don’t know if I’ll eat it. I’ll probably give it a try.

Our waiter was okay. Not great. Not horrible. If there were any specials he didn’t mention them. I thought I heard a waitress serving a nearby table mention specials, but I could be wrong. He was otherwise attentive.

We had two sizable gift certificates, so we didn’t care much about the cost. Someone I work with said he had Japanese Wagyu filet and said it was the best steak he’d ever had. I almost ordered it but, despite the gift certificates, I could not justify $195 for a six ounce serving. I’m honestly not sure if I’m happy I didn’t try it or not, given how lacking of flavor most everything else was.

I know there’s a relatively new owner of 677 who specializes in high end restaurants. I’m not sure if he owned it when I was here a few years ago for the wedding but, if not, something definitely seems to be different and not really for the better.

I live around the corner from another restaurant he owns, Toros. I’ve eaten there twice, maybe three, times. My experience at Toros was very similar to 677 - pretty expensive and pretty unimpressive.

If I could rank this in half-stars I would not give 677 a 2 1/2 or a 1 1/2 star rating - 2 really seems accurate.

We have a pretty good balance on our remaining gift card, so we’ll probably try 677 again, but I won’t be looking all that much forward to it.