North Star — Restaurant in Town of Copake

I totally don't take pleasure in writing a negative review, but my wife and I went here for dinner last week and we were thoroughly disappointed.

It would have been one thing if the chef had tried (and failed) to make a dish that was unique, beautiful, or edible, but what we were served was nothing more than a meal we could have made at home at the age of 16.

The THIRTY TWO (32!) dollar bbq chicken was, simply, a chicken breast baked in the oven with no spice (just plain chicken) served with what appeared to be grocery store potato salad and a glob of sugary bbq sauce on the side of the plate that flowed into the potatoes. Probably the worst $32 plate I've ever had in my life. Boring taste, boring idea, boring presentation. My wife had the TWENTY EIGHT ($28) dollar stir fry which was equally bad and poorly prepared and presented. Another meal that appeared to be prepared by my 16 year old self with little to no cooking experience. Overly sauced in soy, boring, ugly, forgettable.

I think this place has potential, but they NEED a new chef immediately. I don't know who's back there, but they shouldn't be near a kitchen.

Even if this meal came to $20, we would have been disappointed. Hell, even $15. But no, it came to over $70 after tax and tip (no...

My husband and I had dinner at North Star on a Saturday evening while staying at The Alander. We started with The Waterslide cocktail, which was refreshing but overly sweet and weak, with a taste that didn’t seem to come from fresh ingredients, especially the watermelon. For our main course, we both ordered the Sweet Corn Agnolotti ($26), which turned out to be a major letdown. The menu described it as "stuffed pasta, blue crab, sweet peppers, corn veloute," but the pasta wasn't stuffed, the crab was nearly nonexistent (we found just a few tiny pieces, and even a couple of shells), and the dish was topped with raw red and green peppers and green onions. The sauce was thick, pasty, and unappealing, and the presentation was unappetizing. For dessert, we took a piece of flourless chocolate cake and two glasses of wine to go. The cake was just okay—nothing special. Overall, the food was disappointing, especially considering the price. We chose to dine here not only because we were staying at the property but also based on positive reviews. Perhaps it was just...

I planned a small getaway for my husband’a birthday and I saw North Star was close to where we would be. I immediately wanted to go because of the pictures, and I couldn’t be more happy with the experience! We made reservations online (big plus already!) for his birthday dinner. Upon arrival, everyone was so nice and polite, they asked us if we were locals, and we told them we were here celebrating his birthday. We ordered drinks that were delicious, some calamari as appetizers, also so good and the branzino for two for dinner. The whole dinner was amazing, the food was so delicious and the atmosphere is incredible. They were busy, but you couldn’t even notice as the staff was always very friendly and fast. In the end, they brought my husband some chocolate cake with ice cream with a candle. That was the best way to end such an amazing experience! I really appreciate the outstanding service they provided us! We will definitely...