Chez Mike

I have eaten at this East Greenbush restaurant on two occasions now. The first time my wife and I dropped in prior to a movie and the second time my daughter and I celebrated with lunch after braces removal. On both occasions I was pleasantly surprised by the honest attempt to bring some good food and a relaxed atmosphere to the eatery deprived area of East Greenbush.

This strip center location used to a be a Chinese Restaurant that I had visited before and it took some time to remove the linoleum and windexed glass table tops image from my mind. But after I finished comparing how it is to how it used to be I was ready for a new experience. Chez Mike now has rich wooden floors, rows of comfortable booths on both sides of the room with free standing 4-tops in the center. Nothing original but it has a warm, cozy appeal.

Wait staff are in matching shirts and jeans. They are informal but knowledgeable about the menu and options. When busy they get a little overwhelmed and we found it tough to get drinks before dinner but once past the challenge of the very small bar things went smoothly.

The food matches the ambiance. My wife and I enjoyed the Homemade Country Pate appetizers with cocktails before dinner in the bar area and really enjoyed the dish. We disagreed as to how cold pate should be served. It was too cold for my taste and gave the sense that it was packaged but we were assured it was made earlier in the day and refrigerated.

The main dinner menu moves from Mac-N-Cheese with Cavatappi pasted tossed in blended cheese sauce, topped with fresh herb-olive oil crust for $13.99 to Grilled NY Strip steak with goat cheese creamed spinach, roasted pepper and garlic compote for $23.99.

I enjoyed the Braised Lamb Shanks. Moist and tender, they were accompanied by olives, capers, tomato, citrus (sounds better on the menu than the little pile of side that it is) and semolina gnocchi.

Overall Chez Mike was a step up from what I expected in a strip mall and a welcome addition to the pitiful East Greenbush restaurant scene.

Congrats to Chef/Owner Mike Cohen and his wife Michele. The couple have established this East Greenbush eatery after graduating from the Culinary Institute in the late 90s and working in a number of reputable restaurants around the country.