Jae's at the Hilton Garden Inn — Restaurant in Pittsfield

So Jae's has been our fallback on Monday nights when we want to go out, because very few restaurants in the Pittsfield area are open on Mondays. But honestly, we would probably eat elsewhere if we had other options.

Why? Well...the food isn't bad; it's solidly mediocre. The menu is diverse and even interesting, and preparation and presentation are pretty consistent, but it's just not "wow" food you would write home about. Even the more exotic Korean and Thai dishes are unfailingly pedestrian, and lack any real ethnic flare (no heat, no interesting spices, no fun sauces, etc.). Somehow even the sushi is surprisingly bland. But, for the high prices (a serving of nigiri yellowtail costs $10, for example), it's about what we've come to expect in Berkshire County for Asian food.

However, what makes the twenty-minute trip (for us) a bit less desirable is the service and atmosphere. Even with a reservation, we often find ourselves crammed around one of the tiny round metal tables on those surprisingly hard-and-flat chairs -- an experience that reminds us of the really uncomfortable chair-desk combos we had to sit at in elementary school which were also too small. There rarely is even space enough on the tiny table for our food, and we now know enough to ask for a couple of cushions to ease the discomfort of sitting.

Because, well, we usually have to wait around...a lot. For our server to show up, for our order to be taken, for our order to be corrected because the server got it wrong, for our server to check in (they almost never do...they usually have to be flagged down instead for more water, napkins, a side of peanut sauce, etc.), for our plates to be cleared, for our bill to arrive, and so on. Maybe those cold, hard chairs wouldn't be so uncomfortable if we didn't have to sit around waiting so much.

In any case, on a quiet "non-tourist season" night the ambience is pretty sterile, and is reminiscent of a high school cafeteria -- except for the giant Buddha statue of course. But at least it's quiet. During the busy tourist season we can barely hear each other speak in Jae's, as it's far too loud. So not a great place to socialize.

Lastly, the alcoholic drinks are hum-drum in terms of flavor, and very weak, so they won't be a haven from the drab and uninteresting food offerings, uncomfortable seating, and...

I have mixed feelings about Jae's. We were there for a late lunch on a holiday and although they didn't seem terribly busy our waiter seemed to be frantic to have the shortest possible conversations with us. He didn't seem to know the menu very well. There is all this exotic food on the menu and when I asked him for a suggestion for a seafood entree he told me to order the plain broiled salmon.

The food came out somewhat slowly. My wife ordered some fried dumplings with Kobe beef in them. Perhaps we just don't know what Kobe beef is, but whatever was inside the dumplings didn't seem like beef. He assured her they were beef and then offered to replace them with something else. So that remained a mystery.

I inquired about some kind of a clay pot dish They have on the menu and he didn't encourage me or tell me anything about it. There was another dish I inquired about that listed a variety of different curried sauces, but when I asked about it he said they only had one of the five options. He couldn't tell me for certain but I think that was a relatively hot sauce so I didn't order it.

I know a lot of people like this restaurant and if I'm back in Pittsfield I will try it again. There's not a lot of good dining in Pittsfield and I want to give them another chance on a day that is...

No one who works at Jae's understands how Hilton's dining credit works. The front desk at the hotel tells you that you can use it there, but Jae's staff says you can't. Turns out you just charge it to your room and the dining credit will be deducted. But, the waitress at Jae's said the Hilton was separate from Jae's.... Except for that they are the only restaurant inside the Hilton, and they've used all available indoor meeting space for their restaurant leaving hotel guests with nowhere to gather. Aside from that....I ordered a burger, medium. When I went to pick it up, a gush of blood burst out of it and the patty split apart. It was raw in the center. The bun was soaked in blood. I was tempted to go up to my room and cook it in the microwave, but the waitress finally came back, after I scouted the pantry area for a microwave to fix it myself. The kitchen made me a new burger, overcooked this time, but better than so bloody it bordered on rare. All the locals rave about this place. Maybe there is something they know how to cook, but it's not burgers (which should be...