Crepe Heaven or Crepe Purgatory?

Crepe Heaven is another business that has opened up in recent history, but it is yet to show its lasting capabilities. I have eaten there at least 5 times since its opening and have noticed a number of interesting things since Crepe Heavens beginning. The ambiance of the café is decent. It tries to position itself as a sleek modern café but falls slightly short. The interior is very clean and neat but the tables and chairs seem to float awkwardly in the dinning space. Additionally, the artwork on the walls looks like they were purchased from Bed Bath & Beyond. In short, Crepe Heaven desperately needs an interior decorator who can kick up their Fung-Sway (Feng-Shui) to the next level.

The service has always been very awkward and slow at this place. Most of the time, young (high-school looking) kids waited on me who had little to no training. Although, it appears that many of these employees have since left because the last time I was there it seemed to be run strictly by the family. Crepe Heaven is the kind of place where you are not sure if you pay the waitress or the cash register (though, they prefer you pay the register)… For me it just has an awkward feeling. But the owner does give the place some charm, he is always there smiling with his thick beard and jolly physic. He is very polite and always has something nice to say.

The food to price ratio has varied slightly since their beginning. At first opening, I thought their prices were a bit too cheap, (believe it or not) I couldn’t figure out how they were making money. But I think they have figured out a fair pricing policy. All of their coffee drinks are very good and they offer Turkish coffee which is a treat. As for the crepes… I think they vary in quality and creativity. Most of the sweet crepes are pretty good, especially the fruit and eurocrem crepes but the savory crepes fall flat, there is just not much too them. Perhaps along with an interior decorator they should hire a creativity chef. Personally, I would like to see something more along the lines of a goat cheese and pesto crepe or brie and berry crepe. Pizza crepe just doesn’t sound appetizing to me…

Rating: 2.5 out of 5 stars
Website: Crepe Heaven

217-219 Main Street
Binghamton
New York
13905
607-217-7188

HOURS OF OPERATION:
mon - closed
tue-thu 9am - 8pm
friday 9am - 9pm
saturday 9am - 9pm
sunday 9am - 5 pm

P.S. Restaurant: One of the better upscale eateries in Binghamton

I first heard about P.S. about 2 years ago and I haven’t gotten around to eating there until this past Thursday. One reason, that has deterred me from eating at P.S. is its horrific location. It is attached to a Giant supermarket off of vestal avenue. P.S. is an upscale restaurant that competes with Number 5 and the Kilmer in terms of clientele. The major issue that I have with P.S. is that their atmosphere is just too old for my taste. P.S. has a pastel carpet floor, a mirrored wall so you can spy on your neighbors and an awkward bar that is completely segregated from the rest of the restaurant. The windows all have curtains that block any view of the outside world from the customers. This is not surprising since the windows look out onto a parking lot where people are buying groceries and liquor. But P.S. has been owned by the same family for about 20 years and they have made a sustainable business in a location that is less than desirable.

This being said, the staff is excellent and the food is a notch up from anything else in the area. The bartender let us sample numerous wines, the maitre d' was pleasant and our waitress was extremely knowledgeable and personable. The menu is a mixture of French Continental food and Thai cuisine but there are very few fusion dishes. We started our meal with some raw blue point oysters, which were a special that night. They were very fresh and briny tasting as oysters should be. We decided to also have some Fois Gras to start with. From my experience this is the only restaurant that carries the wonderful duck/goose liver in Binghamton. The Fois Gras was made in a ginger, fig, lime and butter sauce that was very delicate and delicious. For dinner we had tuna steaks and roast duck. The Tuna was made with some crispy won-tons a mango pure, cilantro and a ginger cream sauce. They were cooked perfectly (rare) and were very tender. They married well with the mango but I thought the ginger cream sauce had a bit too much mayo for me. The duck was wonderful. Moist dark meat was surrounded by crispy duck skin that played with the berry sauce nicely. Both entrées were served with mashed potatoes and ratatouille. The potatoes were great, strained very finely to create a super smooth texture. But the ratatouille was a bit too acidic. We had a crème brulèe for dessert, the clustered part was nice and rich but the thin crispy layer at the top was soft and disappointing. I initially went to crack it open with my spoon only to have my utensil slide to the bottom of the ramekin. I am pretty sure they didn’t use a cooking torch, they probably just threw the dessert under the broiler…

Overall, the food was very good. You could tell that the chef really cared about what he/she was serving. One major issue that I have to address is the pricing discrepancy between the online menu and the in house menu. I am not one to nitpick on prices but almost everything online is $3-$5 cheaper than the in house menu. Clearly, they need to update their website.

Atmosphere: 2.5 out of 5 stars
Service: 5 out of 5 stars
Food: 4.5 out of 5 stars
Overall: 4 out of 5 stars
Price Range: $20-$30
Website: P.S. Restaurant

Address: 100 Rano Blvd # 8
Vestal, NY 13850-2798
(607) 770-0056
Dinner Hours: Tuesday-Saturday 5:00 p.m.-Closing

Tranquil: Improving Steadily

Tranquil Bar and Bistro is another restaurant that is relatively young. I believe they opened about 2 years ago. I have eaten their about 5 or 6 times for dinner and I had lunch there at least 4 times within the last 6 months. In my opinion everything about dinner at tranquil is superior to their lunch. But the décor and space is slightly bohemian and industrial yet feels very cozy. Local art is displayed in front of an exposed brick wall, while naked steel beams hold the interior intact. The lighting is elegant and the bar looks like it could assimilate to a NYC space with ease. It is modern, clean and sharp all elements that I am fond of. Needless to say, I enjoy Tranquil's interior.

Lunch is okay. The menu is decent, although elements of it seem to have been lifted off of menus that I have seen elsewhere. Service during lunch is almost always slow and inconstant (they usually only have one server on the floor). The curried coconut soup is pretty good, it’s mildly spiced (for a curry soup) and the dumplings are textually gooey in a fantastic way. My biggest complaint about the soup is that I wish it had more dumplings! I have had the spinach salad with goat cheese, walnuts and cranberries. It was light and fresh with a real classic flavor combination. The Blackened Tuna sandwich is okay, it was cooked perfectly but kind of bland and I didn’t think the olive tapenade married with the tuna. I would definitely recommend the Lost Dog’s tuna sandwich over this one. The crab cake sandwich is not worth getting, it’s bland and the crab cakes have too much filler… The steak sandwich is decent, I ordered it rare in a wrap and I came out just as I asked. It comes with an ancho chili sauce that gives the steak a nice smoked flavor. I would stick with the salads during lunch and expect to take your time.

Dinner has definitely improved since their opening. They used to carry a tuna steak dish as well as a lamb chop dish, fortunately both have since disappeared. The lamb chops were tiny. Normally, I don’t complain about portion size (unless it is in excess) but I felt like I finished my lamb in 5 bites. Again, the tuna steak was cooked nicely but was simply bland and basic. Tuna steaks can really handle BIG flavors, its sturdy fish and should be treated as such... They need to get a little more aggressive with Tuna as an ingredient. The current menu offers a number of dishes, I have had the gorgonzola cranberry stuffed chicken breast, the flat iron steak au poivre (pepper crust) and the Chilean Salmon with a sweet cider reduction. All three dishes are excellent… the chicken was rich and moist… the steak was cooked perfectly and served with fresh sautéed vegetables and roasted potatoes… the Salmon was not fishy at all and the sweetness of the sauce played nicely with the fish and root vegetables. Lately, I have been really impressed with the quality of their dinner entrees. The service could still use some improvement but for the most part I have enjoyed my recent dinner experiences at Tranquil.

Atmosphere and Service: 4 out of 5 stars
Lunch: 3 out of 5 stars
Dinner: 4.5 out of 5 stars
Overall:4.2 out of 5 stars
Price Range: $10+ for lunch $20+ for dinner
Website: Tranquil Bar & Bistro
Address: 36 Pine St # 1
Binghamton, NY 13901-3052
(607) 723-0495