677 Prime — Restaurant in City of Albany

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...

Nice place, I just feel like it is INCREDIBLY overpriced. I mean, I've eaten at a lot of nice restaurants over the years, so I have plenty to compare it to. Be prepared - if you want Wagyu steak, you're going to spend $186 JUST FOR A SMALL A LA CARTE STEAK. My friend ordered it, I tried it... sure, it was delicious, but $186 delicious??? Not even close. It better be gold encrusted at that price, IMO. I've had filet mignon that was just as good, and I daresay even better! I just don't get it. The waiter made a grand attempt at justifying the price by comparing it to filet, etc. but my tastebuds don't lie. Places like this exist for people who have nothing better to do with their money than to throw it away... or for people who only care about how others perceive them, so they want to appear wealthier than they really are. It's all about appearances and status, and it honestly makes me ill. But I digress. If I'm going to pay astronomical prices, I'd better be getting astronomical service and food. I should NEVER have to ask for refills on my water for starters. Don't get me wrong, our waiter was very nice, but we waited a ridiculously long time for our food, and had to ask repeatedly for more water. One person in our party was never provided with a napkin or utensils, so we had to ask for them when they brought the bread out. (Not a big deal if you're at a diner.) We also ordered the special bread option that was supposed to have all sorts of breads and different spreads for them, but I just realized we never received that. I should also mention that the waiter claimed that all of the appetizers and side dishes were enough for 2 people (as a way to justify the inflated prices, I'm sure) but that was not true at all. Anyway, I don't like giving bad reviews, but this place was just above mediocre at best. If you're silly enough to throw your money away so frivolously on their exorbitant menu, then you'll certainly be one of the many that rave about this place in an effort to justify spending so much. I mean, how many people would invest that kind of money into their dinner and then complain about it? And if you're wondering, I didn't pay for my meal, and I felt very bad for ordering anything expensive, so I ordered a $19 wedge salad (which was VERY good) and a $26 side of lobster mac and cheese, both of which I split with my sister. (The mac and cheese was just ok - not enough lobster), and I ordered tap water (which is definitely filtered well and very good - no need to splurge on the bottled water). Others at the table offered some of their items for me to try, so I tried the octopus (which I've never had before so I have nothing to compare it to, but I didn't like it at all - it was thick and a bit rubbery without much flavor), the escargot (which was just ok, I've definitely had better - the blue cheese on it was very strong and really all I tasted), and the tempura shrimp sushi (which was EXCELLENT! Highly recommend!) Lastly, we were there to celebrate my best friend's birthday. My sister secretly told the waiter and asked if they did anything special for customer birthdays, and they literally brought her A SMALL BOWL OF WHIPPED CREAM WITH A CANDLE IN THE MIDDLE. This place got $1100 from our party of 7, but God forbid they part with an actual desert for one of us. I'm sorry, but that's...

2nd. THEY are affiliated with your restaurant. They stand on your property at the front door Of your business. They asked us if we would like our car parked and considering the lack of parking we opted . You hired this business who has been as they stated parking guest vehicles for your establishment for many years now. On our wedding night some kid that worked for the company crashed our vehicle and watched us as we drove away, without notifying us. We were stopped by the vehicle that was in front of us. The man who owned that vehicle stated that he was very good friends with you and the owner of the valet service . If it weren’t for him we wouldn’t of noticed the damage till the daylight the following day . $5,000.00 worth of damage that the company eventually covered . I called to speak with you multiple times to let you know . That they ruined our vehicle (was a brand new vehicle and Now the car fax deems it worthless ) and that didn’t even let us know! It was a simple complaint. Instead of picking the phone up or calling us back after 9 months ! We decided to go this route. Not to mention we had a poor experience inside of the restaurant. When I made reservations almost a month in advance telling management it was our wedding night , we weren’t expecting to be sat basically in the kitchen . Your staff were arguing inside the kitchen which you can see right into . Our seats were basically in there . It was so obnoxious that we received free drinks without complaining and free desserts. We didn’t even act like it phased us. The waiter knew it was embarrassing,hence all the free stuff .

1st . ON MY WEDDING NIGHT , the valet crashed my car when we were departing the restaurant . Unbeknown to us . My spouse and I were in the car ready to take off for the evening until the car that was hit in front of us( who were Also uninformed until they noticed a dent in the back of their car ) informed us . The valet company was letting us leave without informing us of the accident . Once we questioned the kids that handed us the keys they confessed slightly and had to get their manager . We should of called the cops on the spot but the manager of the valet company and the other vehicle that was hit ( who happened to be close friends with the owner of the restaurant ,so he claimed ) vouched for the owner of the valet company . Within a day of trying to get ahold of him we found out he was in another country with family for an extended period of time . His time zone did not match to ours so as you can imagine this process took some time and was a little bit of a bumpy road . We were truly devastated considering this was our wedding night , a night to remember . Not to mention the car was a newer Subaru which it’s value has depreciated significantly because of the accident (bad car fax now ) .* THE SECOND ** worst part to this is I called the owner of the restaurant just to inform him of this incident, (which was quite serious considering it pertains to his business ) I left numerous messages with the front of the house manager and my number as well as messages with the owner ( I’ve called multiple times since February 14th!!) . Never once received a call back . It’s...