This past Saturday, I had a few stops to hit, so I turned it into a derryX Dines extravaganza. The first stop was the Manville live taping at The Cask and Rasher in Coxackie, NY. I got a chance to meet Dan Schiller, whom I never had met before, as well as see my buddies Johnny Hustle and Kevin Marshall. When I got there, I ordered a beer, Dogfish Head Chateau Jiahu, which was on tap for just $6. I enjoyed it, but they served it a little on the cold side.

I ordered some hot wings and a side of onion rings while the dudes recorded their podcast. I was sitting two tables away, but I really couldn’t hear anything. My wings arrived (they were f*cking hot) and then the onion rings arrived (they were f*cking thick and not great).

The guy who owns the place started flashing his snake around, and that’s not vernacular for his penis, a real snake. Even Kevin Marshall cringed into a corner and climbed on top of a table when he saw it. That’s when I decided it was time for derryX to take the tour elsewhere, hopefully somewhere that doesn’t need to show me their snake.

So we headed to Mexican Radio in Hudson, NY, a quick 22 minute drive from where we were. They have a wide selection of hot sauces that they sell and offer, and even had the brand (Walkerswood) whose Jerk Seasoning I’ve been looking for locally for a while!

We ordered margaritas, I had one that was a swirl of their two frozen margaritas, raspberry/black cherry and lime; I forget the name. It was three kinds of delicious: one for each type, and then the one for the mixture between the two. Seriously, yum.

We started with a plate of guacamole and chips, and I ordered Carne Asada Fries. Here’s the description: Chunks of grilled steak, marinated in a tomato-garlic chili sauce, served on a hefty bed of crispy fries, then topped with melted cheese, tomato salsa, guac and crèma. Served with a side salad.

The guacamole was very good. Everything was there for the carne asada fries to be amazing, they just fell a little short. The portion was small for the price, but I had already had wings and onion rings and chips and guacamole moments earlier, so I’m not complaining. If I were hungry, I’d be complaining. All of the ingredients aside from the fries were insane. Cheese, crema, tender carne asada. The fries were really soggy; it really was a shame. I still enjoyed it and my time there.

We hopped in the car and had my GPS take us through the scenic route up route 9. It was lots of fun. There’s a Hot Dog Charlie that’s disguised as a “Hot Dog and Beverage” somewhere in Hudson. Lots of other things to make fun of. You had to be there.

We then stopped on Lark Street in downtown Albany for a quick coffee at Caffe Vero, at the recommendation by Daniel B. of FUSSYlittleBLOG. Well, he’ll argue that he recommended the macchiatto, but one does not achieve a good macchiatto without a good espresso. I quizzed the kid behind the bar. I liked what he told me about how they make espresso, so I had high hopes. This too fell short, as the espresso I was served was overly bitter and didn’t pack the crema that makes a good espresso great. (In all fairness, it appeared they were having issues with the machine, since they had to make my beverage twice – I will be back to try it again) We will soon have a post deconstructing a good espresso, but I need the time to set it to words.

We then decided we had to cap the night off with a dessert, so we took the short walk to Crisan for some pastries. I couldn’t decide on what i wanted, but one thing I knew I was getting was Boston Creme Brioche, which I later called General Tso Brioche for no other reason other than that I laughed. I also got some other thing that said it was made with cayenne pepper, and I adored the cute little marzipan sculptures they make there. Fun Place.

I’d call that a pretty good adventure. Deadly animals, hot wings, hot sauce, Hudson, malfunctioning high pressure pumps. Well at least more adventure than the average day.

MORE derryX Dines!!!!!