Stuyvesant Plaza is a place I thought I knew fairly well—there’s some neat stuff there, but for the most part it’s just another strip mall. So when I took my girlfriend there for dinner at Peaches Café on the recommendation of a staff member, I was expecting to be overcharged a bit for more-or-less average food. Fortunately, I was very much mistaken.
The first thing we noticed when we walked in is that the restaurant looks nice; it’s very clean with lots of wood paneling. Combined with its small size, this gave the establishment a very cozy feel. It also brought to mind a typical upscale suburban coffee shop, which (I thought) confirmed my hunch about being overpriced.
We were seated immediately in a corner booth, though not before I noticed the sign proclaiming "Homemade Ice Cream"—no question we were getting dessert, then, but dinner had higher priority.
Looking over the menu was a pleasant surprise. Peaches has a wide variety of breakfast, lunch, dinner, and dessert options, including some fairly unique dishes. My girlfriend opted for a vegetable quiche, and I went for one of my usual favorites with an interesting twist: a portobello mushroom reuben.
Furthermore, the prices were quite reasonable, comparable to an average diner. Even for drinks—they have the expected large assortment of coffee and tea beverages as well as soft drinks and the like—Peaches has sane prices, a very nice contrast to the gouging one generally receives at Starbucks and similar establishments.
Our food arrived quickly and it was delicious. Mushrooms worked very well in the place of corned beef, and they put just the right amount of sauerkraut and Russian dressing on my sandwich. As for my companion, she got through half of her slice of quiche before realizing that there were no veggies in it—she’d received plain quiche by mistake. Even so, she said it was one of the best she’d ever had, and when our server found out about the error she immediately offered to fix it and took 10 percent off of our bill.
After such an excellent meal, dessert was actually a little bit of a letdown. The homemade ice cream was good but not outstanding, and my companion offered much the same assessment on her chocolate cake.
The only caveat is that the portions were fairly small. My girlfriend and I were both full when we left, but neither of us eats a whole lot, and others might be unsatisfied.
Overall, though, I heartily recommend trying Peaches—the decent prices, variety of the menu, and outstanding quality of the food all contribute to an excellent restaurant.
Peaches Café is located in Stuyvesant Plaza in Guilderland. To get there, take Route 7 west out of Troy to I-87. Take the Northway south to the end—go past Exit 1 (the Thruway) and the ramp to Crossgates Mall. Make a left at the end of the freeway onto Western Ave. Stuyvesant Plaza is less than a mile ahead on the left; Peaches is near the Fuller Road entrance.
