Ninja – Someone who is trained in martial arts and hired for espionage or for assassinations.
With this definition in mind and the location of Ninja in Schenectady being on Broadway St right across from Center St Pub, it’s quite the area to have snuck in and infiltrated the Downtown Schenectady Area. This building has been many things; it was a night club, a restaurant, another type of restaurant. Then for a very long time it was just a random place with a sign outside that said “Ninja”with very little information online about the place until one Saturday night as I was celebrating my birthday, I noticed they had an hours sign posted and people inside. I knew it was time to be a ninja myself and do some intel gathering. My spying began after walking home from school where I decided to walk by the place and a waiter from Mr. Wasabi recognized me and invited me, showed me around the place. Such beautiful atmosphere, and very different from when I remember it being an Italian restaurant where they was many draperies.
(5) Customer Service – Meaning How well they assisted me in my needs
The waiter that recognized me from Mr. Wasabi was Jackie, who was there the night of our random adventure. I promised him I would return and this was me making good on my word. Our server was Justin, also the temporary General Manager, who promised us he would break dance for us. – He did not. :)
The overall customer service from Ninja was very spectacular. It’s very silly of other establishments who do not have this way of thinking. From splitting our check for everyone to constantly making sure we were all set, even asking for our overall opinion on the experience made me feel welcome inside of Ninja.
(5) Décor – The atmosphere of the establishment.
Ninja’s décor speaks and says, “I’m a restaurant, I may have a beautiful bar area, but I’m not a club. We’re here about the food.” – Which is the complete opposite of it’s competition around the corner, Zen. This is very good though, because if you want to sit down and enjoy a relaxing dinner then that’s where you go. You go to Ninja. If you’re more into the club scene and want the more fast moving and loud, then you will want to go to Zen.
(5) Food & Drink – How well their food tasted, their drink selection
Because they have just opened their drink selection isn’t fully stocked, but give them time. This wasn’t their grand opening. The night we went, they also didn’t have their dessert yet, so again, give them time. I was told they were receiving their supplies for dessert soon.
My drinks for the night consisted of: Pomegranate Martini, it was my favorite drink of the night. It’s a mix of pomegranate, vodka, and lemonade. Ginger Champagne, this was my second drink of the night and it consisted of pickled ginger, vodka, and champagne. It was very delicious! Finally, my first drink which I asked to be surprised… I was given a Ninja J, which is a very sweet drink. If you like your drinks very sweet, then this will be for you!
All of my guests tried to get something different so we could all taste each other’s food to see how good it was. Appetizer wise: The crab rangoon was delicious and fresh! As were the pork gyoza, which had the perfect crispy bottoms. Bang Bang Shrimp was also delicious and even one of my guests who didn’t know what to get because they’re very new to Asian food got the Thai Chicken Wraps, which he was impressed by. Dinner wise: They have General Tso’s Chicken which uses real chicken and not the mystery breaded meat, the sauce was sweet and just a bit of spiciness. (And I know what you’re going to say, “General Tso’s? But isn’t that Chinese?” Actually it’s more American than you think.) I went with a Beef Yaki Udon, where the beef melted in my mouth and the flavors were both sweet and savory.
A few of us tried some of the speciality rolls they have. We tried; Naruto which is a roll wrapped with cucumber instead of nori, very delicious. I had the Sushi Bombs and Rising Sun, they both tasted so fresh and appealing. The last roll we tried was the Volcano Roll, the person who got this roll felt it should have been spicier to be up to par with its name however I liked it just as it was.
(5) Price - Here I am not grading my cost, but by the quality of the food I get for the money I spent. (Example: I pay $5 for a hamburger that I could make myself.)
I feel the money I spent for the drinks and food were well worth it. I’m not trying to sound erudite, but even with my culinary knowledge of Asian cuisine, I don’t think I could have pulled this off.
(5) Presentation – How things were presented to me; Food, Drink, Staff, etc.
All of the staff wore uniforms to set themselves apart from everyone else. Food presentation was spectacular, which you can’t ask for anything less of an Asian establishment.
