677 Prime in Albany

Angelo's 677 Prime is a relatively new restaurant in downtown Albany. It is part of a great trend in higher quality restaurants in our area. It's also very close to some other outstanding restaurants, including Nicole's Bistro, Yono's & dp (both in the Hampton Inn), and a few other places on and near Pearl Street.

I stopped at Broadway Auto to get an oil change, inspection, etc, and had to go to federal court after lunch. 677 Prime is right on the way, so I stopped there.

I started with a soup. The soup of the day was butternut squash. It was smooth and creamy with a delicate flavor. While it was very good, I have had better. It needed something to give it a little more character. Don't get me wrong though - I ate all of it.

Next I had the Tuna Tartare, which was excellent. The only flaw was that it looked a little like a hockey puck. It was a bunch of chunks of raw tuna, diced or minced and then put together with some other ingredients I can't name -- maybe some scallions. It had a spicy sauce, which worked extremely well with it. Not a fair comparison, but the Cheesecake Factory has a raw tuna dish that isn't bad either. There the tuna comes out in very thin slices, I think with a wasabi mayo. But the last time I had it there the tuna itself was just not as good - almost a little gristly.

Getting back to 677 Prime, the last item was a salad of mixed greens. It came with a couple different kinds of cheeses (thick flakes of parmesan or asiago, and a softer cheese - maybe gorgonzola) and a few other items that I just can't remember - but it all worked well. The dressing was also very nice.

It was not a cheap lunch (just under $40 with tip), but I had three items and probably could have managed any one of them. The tuna tartare was $14 on its own.

677 Prime was impressive, and I can definitely see myself going back. But in a while. I'm still trying to diet and this meal probably didn't help. :-)