Cella Bistro (Schenectady)
Went to Cella Bistro.
It was crowded. We sat in the front so we could have the option of ordering tapas. When it's less busy sometimes they let you order tapas in the main dining room. Same friendly service. Now on to the food:
Fried chick peas with lime - particularly good. One of my favorites.
Grilled baby artichokes on a bed of baby arugula with ? - very good. Simple and delicious.
Small white sardines in olive oil and lemon - very good. Had before, a favorite.
Texas Toothpicks - fried jalapenos and onions with chipotle mayo. Disappointing - no heat! Some of us like it hot . . .Would not order again.
Fried calamari with ? sauce. Cooked properly. By now I had had my fill of fried food . . .
Wine mark up is low here and we appreciate that. Joseph Phelps c. sauvignon for $60 :)
Had a lemon dessert and espresso. The lemon dessert brought back memories of Bloomer's lemon icebox cake. . .
I'm sure there's more on Cella Bistro on this long thread and the General Tristate Archive.:
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We sent to Cella Bistro recently. We didn't have reservations and were seated promptly. It was very crowded and lively. Jersey Boys is playing at Proctor's. After 7:30 pm the noise level calmed down.
We had some of our favorites and new dishes. We appreciate all the fish choices given SO is on his Lenten diet now. They also ran out of several dishes. We like that, everything is fresh :)
We started with small white anchovies in olive oil and lemon. Cold. A favorite we've had many times. We were about to order a bread course when our next plate came.
We had a salmon platter. Presentation on a wood board with chopped egg, onion, capers, finely chopped parsley, bread, etc. Very good.
We had the spicy, garlic shrimp on roasted red peppers. Our server advised this was spicy. Not to us. We added some hot red pepper flakes and salt. Very good. Shrimp was cooked perfectly.
Next we had a favorite, the fried chick peas with lime. They changed the presentation . . .in a bowl now. I liked the old presentation better. Still delicious.
We were still a little hungry. SO ordered the papparadelle with mushrooms, truffle oil and fresh peas. I had a taste, delicious. This is one of our favorites.
They were out of my favorite arugula and mushroom salad. So I had another favorite, the scallops with mushrooms. Scallops were cooked perfectly.
We ended up taking some of both these dishes home.
We finished with espresso and shared some kind of apple cake (consistency of a carrot cake) with very good vanilla ice cream. I'm not a big cake person, so probably wouldn't get this again.
Service was excellent, a little relaxed towards the end of our meal. Friendly, warm, casual dinner place. We will return . . .
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Returned to Cella Bistro recently.
Sat in the front again (they don't serve tapas in the main dining room and we like to order from both menus.)
Had some of our favorites (fried chick peas w/lime, fried calamari and arugula salad with cheese, portabello, mushrooms).
Also tried some new dishes:
*fried oysters with aioli (some of the oysters were sweeter and fresher tasting than others)
*paparadelle with mushrooms and truffle oil
Enjoyed everything we had, missed having the sardines. Same friendly service.
Our go to place for casual dining in Niskayuna. Wish there were more options in Schenectady . . .
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Went to Cella Bistro recently.
Sat in the front (can't order the tapas which we enjoy in the main dining room).
Same friendly service as last time. In addition to a bottle of Joseph Phelps we had:
Bread service with EVOO
Fried chick peas w/lime
Grilled baby artichokes w/aioli
Small white sardines w/olive oil
Fried shrimp dish with a spicy ? sauce
Arugula salad with ? cheese, portabello, mushrooms
We had the dessert special: cherry and chocolate cobbler with an oatmeal crumble. A little too much oatmeal flavor/crumble for me (why get in the way of all that chocolate and cherry?). Otherwise, delicious. And espresso.
A Schenectady favorite for a casual dinner.
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