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Chicken katsu at Bloom Boutique Bar & Eatery in Albany is topped with a salad of cilantro, cabbage, onion, carrot and peanuts.<\/p>\n
Stephanie Gravalese\/For the Times Union<\/p>\n
Bloom Boutique Bar & Eatery, open in Albany since January, is a restaurant that is playful, irreverent and unafraid to have fun. The dining room delivers on that promise immediately. The food is working to keep pace.<\/p>\n
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When a restaurant leads with its personality, the food has to at least match the pace. The bang bang shrimp does. Each piece held its crunch under a sweet chile sauce that brings heat only at the edges. Between the shrimp, the unexpected addition of tempura sweet potato is the kitchen sneaking in vegetables in the best way. Peanuts and pickled red onion bring a tart, crunchy combo against the sauce.<\/p>\n
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If a menu has crab rangoon, chances are high that I am ordering it. Here it comes as a dip, a riff on the Chinese American takeout staple. Fried wonton chips have a light-as-air quality, sturdy enough to dip through a three-cheese blend with Maryland crab that is creamy and comforting. Scallions are scattered across the top but failed to cut through the glaze. After a few scoops, the sweetness was all I could taste.<\/p>\n
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Two crabby dishes at Bloom Eatery in Albany fell short for reviewer Stephanie Gravelese. A crab rangoon dip, left, with wonton chips sounded promising but a sweet glaze took over the taste. The BALT sandwich fell to mush between crab, avocado and the ciabatta roll giving way.<\/p>\n
Stephanie Gravalese\/For the Times Union<\/p>\n
Two crabby dishes at Bloom Eatery in Albany fell short for reviewer Stephanie Gravelese. A crab rangoon dip, top, with wonton chips sounded promising but a sweet glaze took over the taste. The BALT sandwich fell to mush between crab, avocado and the ciabatta roll giving way.<\/p>\n
Stephanie Gravalese\/For the Times Union<\/p>\n
The crab in the BALT sandwich\u00a0\u2014 bacon, avocado, romaine lettuce and tomato\u00a0\u2014 was mushy all the way through, and the avocado only doubled down on that texture. The bacon should have been the contrast, but it disappeared into the same mouthfeel. So did the garlic aioli. The ciabatta gave way under all of it rather than holding the sandwich together. The Caesar side salad did better, with a sharp dressing and good Parmesan, though house-made croutons were so big that each one turned into a commitment.<\/p>\n
Part of the secret to a good katsu, much like a chicken Parm, comes down to pounding the cutlet to an even thickness. Here it came out uneven, and my dining companion and I found different results from opposite ends of the dish: His pieces were dry toward the edges while mine stayed juicy. The coarse, craggy texture of panko was absent, the jasmine rice underneath was overcooked and soggy, and spicy mayo and a soy glaze were swapped in for traditional katsu sauce. The cilantro peanut salad on top, with its Thai-inspired flavors, proved to be a bright spot.<\/p>\n
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One of Bloom\u2019s salads includes compressed watermelon, arugula and Gorgonzola.<\/p>\n
Stephanie Gravalese\/For the Times Union<\/p>\n
Arriving with a crown of arugula, the watermelon-Gorgonzola salad buried its namesake elements underneath. Compressed watermelon, vacuum sealed with lime juice, came out dense and translucent, and the technique made it taste and feel closer to the roasted beets beside it than to fruit. Shaved apple and jicama were sliced too thin for any crunch, radish did little beyond decoration, and the Gorgonzola crumbles disappeared against the larger chunks of melon.<\/p>\n
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Small plaques beneath the floral wall at Bloom use a playful verse to acknowledge likely temptation to pluck: \u201cRoses are red, violets are blue. We\u2019re not allowed to touch the flowers, neither are you!\u201d<\/p>\n
Stephanie Gravalese\/For the Times Union<\/p>\n
The bang bang shrimp appetizer sneaks in vegetables in the best way with the inclusion of tempura sweet potato.<\/p>\n
Stephanie Gravalese\/For the Times Union<\/p>\n
Crab rangoon is served as a dip.<\/p>\n
Stephanie Gravalese\/For the Times Union<\/p>\n
A BLT sandwich becomes BALT with the addition of avocado.<\/p>\n
Stephanie Gravalese\/For the Times Union<\/p>\n
A private-event space that doubles as an overflow dining room is even more florally bedecked than the rest of the restaurant.<\/p>\n
Stephanie Gravalese\/For the Times Union<\/p>\n
The banana split sprawls busily across the plate.<\/p>\n
Stephanie Gravalese\/For the Times Union<\/p>\n
The menu at Bloom calls its Snap, Crackle, Pop dish \u201cbreakfast for dessert\u201d and features dulce de leche creme brulee at the center, with crispy rice pieces.<\/p>\n
Stephanie Gravalese\/For the Times Union<\/p>\n
Under development for 20 months before opening in January, Bloom was created with mission: \u201cWe wanted to make something that was beautiful, \u201d said co-owner and managing partner Rob Malkus.<\/p>\n
Stephanie Gravalese\/For the Times Union<\/p>\n
Bloom\u2019s decor balances lush, statement-making flower displays with a calming dark color palette and rich textures. A massive installation covers one wall of the dining room from the pink upholstered booths nearly to the top, while exposed ductwork and black overhead keep the maximalism grounded. On the bar side, brick walls and purple accent lighting behind the bottles set a moodier tone. A private dining room in the back pushes the theme further, with ceiling flowers trailing over burgundy wallpaper. This is the second review where a bathroom deserves a mention, as it did for Standard Fare in Saratoga Springs<\/a>, and while I will not spoil it, I will say that if you go, press the red button.<\/p>\n Article continues below this ad<\/p>\n The maximalist floral decor at Bloom in Albany is grounded by darker palettes on the walls and ceilings.<\/p>\n Stephanie Gravalese\/For the Times Union<\/p>\n Our need to make\u00a0it an early evening meant sticking with sparkling water, but the beverage menu keeps the same energy. Cocktail names like Street Corn Named Desire and Banana Bread Old Fashioned set the tone. The wine list covers ground from Italian pinot grigio to Napa cabernet sauvignon, the draft beer list is mostly Northeast breweries, and four mocktails and three zero-proof wines fill out the list.<\/p>\n Bloom Boutique Bar & Eatery\u00a0<\/p>\n Address: 563 New Scotland Ave., Albany The manager who sat us mentioned that it was the first day of their spring menu. He turned out to be a social acquaintance of my dining companion, and from the look on his face, he was not aware we were there for a review. We were the first seated for an early dinner, and as the dining room filled, everything continued to come out without gaps. At the end, he\u00a0comped our espressos, a gesture unconnected to my being there as a critic.<\/p>\n Article continues below this ad<\/p>\n Make the Times Union a Preferred Source on Google to see more of our journalism when you search.<\/p>\n
Hours: 11:30 a.m. to 9 p.m. Tuesday through Thursday, 11:30 a.m. to 10 p.m. Friday, 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. and 3 to 10 p.m. Saturday, 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. Sunday, closed Monday
Price: Starters, $8 to $19; handhelds, $16 to $23; mains, $22 to $39; desserts, $12 to $13; cocktails, $14 to $18
Info: 518-507-4706 and bloomalbany.com<\/a>
Etc.: Street parking. ADA-accessible.
Dietary considerations: The menu flags gluten-free, vegetarian, vegan and dairy-free options throughout.\u00a0<\/p>\n