Ming's Garden of Rensselaer, NY

     I have been at my current location for about 10 months now and I have only done one review for one eatery in the area.  Don't get me wrong I love pizza, wings, and everything that goes along with them.  I have been really wanting Chinese and looked everywhere for one that delivers, but not able to find anything.  I even offered to pay for someone else if they would stop by and pick me up to go to a buffet that is a bit up the road (to far for me to hobble with my cane).  It was sad that they didn't deliver, but oh well.  So the other night I am sitting outside reading and one of my neighbors says he ordered some food and if I was going to be outside, if I could give a tap on his window when they get there, that it would help him out.  I inquired why and he told me that he was unsure that the person delivering got his room number correct.  So I don't pay it to much mind and agree to give a tap on the aforementioned window when his delivery got here.
The long and short of it is they did get his room number correct and when it showed up, it was Chinese delivery...WTF.  Oh man I knew my craving's were over.  So I talk with neighbor and he hands me a delivery menu and I am excited, except for the fact that his delivery was the last one of the night.
So I attack my weekly schedule and find a good time to place my order and meet those long time cravings I have been having.  Last night it was on, it was like setting a date with a loved one who you have not had ample time to spend together alone.  $26 later there was a long anticipated knock on the door and I had the candles lit.  As seen from the pictures you get an ample about of food for the price.  There was a $15 minimum order for delivery but it is really easy to get to that limit with there extremely large menu.  I only ordered my favorites this time and maybe in the future I will try a couple of their items I am not to familiar with to see if I might have a new potential favorite or just expand my various taste pallet.  Ming's Garden is located at 150 Columbia Turnpike in Rensselaer, NY.  To place a order and see if they are within your delivery range just call at (518)436-8440.  I just wanted to write this blog to give a shout out to not only Ming's, but to my neighbor Cody...Thanks to both of you.

 Just in case you are wonder what was ordered.
2 Roast Pork egg rolls
1 Qt. Wonton Soup
1 Lg Chicken Lo-Mein
1 Lg Chicken & Broccoli (they give the white rice with this order)
They also throw in the crunchy chow-mein noodles and assortment of sauces.

Goomba's of Castleton, NY Review

So the short of the matter is that I have been housed in a motel for about 9 months now.  The details don't really matter but here I am none-the-less.  Any time you spend a certain amount of time in a fixed condition you may start to look around for various eating options.  Most of the time I am living off of microwave or pasta cuisine that can be made in a 2 quart stock pot.  There are cold cuts and other assorted deli meats to feast on, but next to home cooking, take out is pretty good and sometimes sought after.

So, in my 9 months here in my weird and unique situation I have tried a couple of local businesses in their delivering capacity.  Tonight I am reviewing a basic order from Goomba's as the title photo above shows.  Goomba's claims to; by there title name, have "wood fired pizza".  I ordered delivery so I didn't watch the food cooking, but upon delivery and opening of bags and boxes was greeted with an amazing and pleasant "wood fire grill" smell.  I like this robust and masculine aroma and they nailed it.

Now don't get me wrong I love pizza, but when I order from places like this I really love to check out my passion....WINGS.  I love a nice sweet and spicy wing myself.  I will admit I was a bit intimidated that this business would not be able to supply what I was looking for in taste and presentation, but they pulled it off nicely.   The wings had a nice ample amount of sauce sticking to each wing, making is messy but not overly so.  You can't eat wings without expecting your hands to get messy.  Just make sure you keep a few napkins handy.  The BBQ sweetness and the hot sauce spices created a wonderful union in my mouth and just when you thought it was all said and done the wood fired taste also kicked in...a complete symphony of flavor played out in my mouth.

As also noted from the pictures I got a cal-zone, not pizza.  Everyone gets pizza and yes I love pizza but cal-zones are a nice change up.  Plus, in my situation I am looking for a certain value and deal in meals over all.  I tried to show accurate size by including a normal 16.9 fl oz water bottle in photos for size comparison.  As seen in photo this is one nice and big cal-zone.  I ordered a standard mozzarella and ricotta cheese cal-zone with a Parmesan dusted top and it also nicely met my expectations for a delicious cheese bakery item.  The cal-zone came with a nice amount of marinara sauce to dip into compared to other businesses in the area.  Personally I am a cheese lover and don't care for the marinara sauce, but it is nice to know that if you do like it you get a good portion.

In this particular order I ordered 36 wings and I got three little tubs of blue cheese dip, looks like you get one tub per 12 wing order.  I didn't get a photo of it but I got a small bag of carrots and celery that were a little sparse, but still yummy.  Overall I would give Goomba's a thumbs up, roughly a 88 out of a 100.  Like most places in this time the only way to make it better would be to make it less costly.  I shelled out a mediocre $38.86 + tip for this 36 wing and one cal-zone meal.  One of the better deals in my area.  Please check back cuz as my funds allow I will do a review for another local delivery business.  Don't hesitate to shoot a comment to this review as it helps me, help you, make this site of mine.