Nicole's Restaurant — Restaurant in City of Albany

A quick visit to Nicole's Restaurant in Albany last week. Located in an old building on Albany's "original main street" Delaware Avenue, it looks like it could have been lifted right off Mulberry Street. The interior didn't disappoint either; dark and cozy.

The service was excellent as we were greeted warmly and quickly at both the table and the door. Our waitress was very attentive and never overbearing.

We started with the fried calamari ($14). I haven't mastered the correct pronunciation of calamari to suit our new home, but it sure ain't "galamar" like it is in Sheepshead Bay.

The fried calamari was served with fried jalapeño slices and a very tasty marinara sauce. The fried calamari was fresh and tender, but the portion a bit skimpy. Rings were rare and tentacles the majority of the portion.

For our mains, we opted for the substitute house side salads. They were beautiful salads, dressed perfectly and nicely balanced. Well done. The plain house salad added $3 and an additional $5 for the salad with Bleu cheese.

For dinner my lovely wife ordered the chicken saltimboca ($26) which included excellent sides of sautéed spinach with garlic and oil and roasted potatoes.

The chicken however was a mixed bag, one cutlet was overly salty with over cooked prosciutto. The other was more succesful, but hardly memorable.

My meal was a house specialty of "hazelnut chicken" ($28) This is the dish I heard most about when researching the restaurant. This is two boneless chicken breasts, breaded and fried, topped with a sickly sweet hazelnut cream sauce crowned by some canned mandarin orange slices. This is served with a side of pasta coated in the same sauce.

This dish screamed for some relief from the sweetness. It's pure sugar with the cream sauce burying what's left of your palette. Ugh.

But that wasn't the worst of it. My chicken was raw. The flour coating was raw. This is the first time in my life that I've ever sent back a dish.

The waitress was apologetic and quickly returned the dish to the kitchen. When it came back to my plate, it was obviously the same dish, as my sliced chicken breasts were in the exact same position on the plate as I left them. I assume that the chef just placed the plate in the salamander for a few minutes to finish the chicken. Then, the chef dumped more of the sickly sweet sauce over the plate.

While the meat was now cooked, this did nothing for the flour on the underside of the cutlets. This quick fix, left the upper cutlet steaming hot, with the cutlet on the bottom of the pile still barely warm.

As I mentioned, the waitress was apologetic and quickly worked to remedy the situation, but there was no mention of any accommodation for our trouble; no offer to buy us a drink, dessert or reduce the bill. Not even an apology from the host or manager.

We...

So, my family and I ate here based on the Hudson Valley Magazine.com review. Wrong. Wrong. It was a price fix for Mother's Day. The food was horrible let me start off by saying that. We traveled 1 hour and 20 minutes from Ulster County. Our reservation was for 2pm. We got there early and they took us right in. The waitress finally came, Emily. The kid's wanted drinks. Had I known we should have given her our brunch/dinner selection at that time we would have. When Emily finally came back with the drinks 15 minutes later, we gave our order. Of course, she had to stop by several times to tell us our first course is on the way. In the meantime time is steady ticking away. The gravy and biscuits were tasty according to the kid's. My deviled eggs were horrible. You can tell it sat for awhile before serving it. So, about an hour later we still did not receive our main course. Even though people who were seated after us did. The manager gave the excuse that it was coming right up. I would have left the resturant then but thought " It's Mother's Day" where could we eat now. WE SHOULD HAVE LEFT!! My husband got dried noodles with a dried piece of breaded chicken cutlet on top. The two girls and I ordered the French toast casserole. It was cold and not tasty at all. I took one bite and pushed it to the side. My daughter tried picking out the middle hoping she could salvage something. Nope. Hopeless. The manager gave us the pancake with lemon tart and blueberry dish to appease us. That was cold as well. Not at all tasty. My son order the prime ribs with eggs. That had to be the best dish out of them all. He asked for medium rare. He got well done. I tried a piece and wasn't bad. Needless to say, my Mother's Day was ruined due to the slow service and horrible food. We paid $191. I want my $ back. I feel I was robbed. For dessert, they ran out of the Tiramisu. What!! The one thing that might have made me smile since sitting down. The waitress Emily couldn't make up for this day. She "absolutely" us to death. Tried giving us beverages mind you that we had to pay for. The bartender was rude when I asked where could I find the nearest bank. His words "What!" "Banks are closed on Sunday". SMH. I heard upon leaving that the kitchen was a mess and the staff was arguing amongst themselves. Is it any wonder our food took forever and was cold upon arriving? Out of 5 people, 4 was left hungry and unsatisfied....

We made our first visit to Nicole's on Sat 1/06/2024 5:15pm. After visiting the Schuyler Mansion's Twelfth Night celebration we decide to go to nearby Nicole's on Delaware Ave in Albany, NY. It was quiet when we first arrived but quickly filled up with many diners & the big party upstairs. Nicole's is larger than it appears. A 10 seat bar with about a dozen table in the adjoining dining room. There is also a cosy dining area with a fireplace through a doorway on the first floor. The reserved party room upstairs holds 25-35 people. Plenty of wait staff on deck. We sat at the bar where we were greeted by Katie V. We ordered a Glenlivet neat ($13) & a house pinot grigio ($10) while we looked over the menu. Katie told us the specials. She was very busy as the restaurant was filling up quickly. Reservations are a must on Fri & Sat. She was quickly & deftly making many fancy cocktails & pouring wines for the bar, both dining rooms, & the party upstairs. A true professional and kept up an entertaining banter with patrons & staff. We shared three appetizers from the specials menu. The unique crispy artichokes hearts w/ an aioli dip ($10) was a perfectly prepared & served. My bride had the Italian onion soup ($10) - Fontina | Mozzarella | Short Rib | Italian Bread | Thyme Rosemary- deep rich flavor & piping hot. I had the Gnudi & veal ($18) - Gnudi are gnocchi made w/ ricotta cheese, not pasta, served w/ the braised short ribs. Another unique, & excellent dish. Check out their inspired menu. No room for desserts but they all looked sized for sharing. A friendly neighborhood restaurant with flair and a loyal clientele. Thank you to Katie V. for excellent & entertaining service. Nice trick with the cocktail shaker. LOL. Dinners range from $19 for pappardelle & meatballs to $38 for Zuppa di Pesce. Monday: 5pm-9pm, Tue: closed, Wed-Thu 5-9pm, Fri-Sat 5-10pm, Sun 4-9pm. Plenty of parking in their side lot & some on the street parking. A great first experience. Highly recommended. Thank you again to Katie V & a big thanks to the kitchen staff - a great job tonight. We certainly will be back frequently in the future. Nicola & Liz,...