PHOTO: B.A. Nilsson

This Old Steakhouse

The Butcher Block Grill

1632A Central Ave., Colonie, 456-1653. Serving Mon-Thu 11:30-9:30, Fri 11:30-10, Sat 4-10, Sun 4-9. AE, D, DC, MC, V.

Cuisine: steaks and seafood

Entrée price range: $18 (chicken teriyaki) to $37 (broiled lobster tail)

Ambiance: rustic

By B.A. Nilsson

As a heartsick 16-year-old, I complained to my father about the fickle young woman who continued to spurn my proffered love. He nodded sagely throughout my recitation, offering nothing in the way of advice, until I volunteered a piece of information that he could, so to speak, sink his teeth into.

“She’s a vegetarian,” I said.

His normally impassive face grew florid as he worked his jaw in what either was indignation or phantom chewing. Then he sadly shook his head, opining, “You’ll come up against a lot of problems in life. Disappointments, anger, jealousy, despair. And women will always break your heart. But there’s no problem on earth that can’t be solved at least temporarily by a big juicy steak.”

Thus have I inherited a fondness for the chops-and-salad-bar establishment, and that hobbledehoy heartsickness has been supplanted by annoyance: specifically, annoyance at my beef-boycotting wife, who has prompted the deaths of countless hens.

Our recent visit to the Butcher Block, a stalwart not far from Central Avenue’s Northway intersection, resulted in a predictably simple order: chicken, salmon, beef.

And salad bar, of course. I confess to terribly mixed feelings about the evanescence of those things. It seemed like the end when Wendy’s packed it in, but at least a couple of other chains persist with them, and they persevere in steakhouses like this one.

Grazing along the salad bar seems like a dietarily virtuous pursuit, but clumps of cheese and shredded bacon and thick, oily dressings—not to mention mayonnaise-based compotes—can quickly negate that value. Still, a fat guy like me can feel at least a little unselfconscious on that second or third trip through.

But what an unwieldy passage it can be! The Butcher Block provides a cooler of oval plates made of chill-holding pewter, but the outer rim of one of them can act like a racecourse for cherry tomatoes, one of which launched itself into the macaroni salad as I went by.

That’s also because I’d heaped the middle of the plate with lettuce, which forces you to assemble other comestibles in the margins. I’m learning to go first for that far end of the bar, where the more complicated salads live, and lay on the lettuce later.

For 25 years, the Butcher Block has been offering its simple menu of meat-and- potatoes fare. It’s a restaurant of moments: generally good, but not consistent. My steak-ordering strategy has been shaped over the years by places like this. A thick slab of sirloin should be rare but not actually bloody, but ordering it rare almost always nets me a medium-rare result. And that’s fine, though it’s not what I ordered.

Can you blame the chef? Not always. Meat continues to cook after it leaves the grill, and time under heat lamps also darkens it.

My latest problem is that I’m eating grass-feed beef at home, sourcing my meat from local farms. There’s a pronounced (and better) flavor and texture difference when compared to commercially sold corn-fed beef—but market forces keep that a philosophical rather than a culinary problem at this point.

Familiarity is comfort’s most important component, and the Butcher Block keeps it familiar. The menu takes no bold turns, offering a long-familiar mix of steaks, chicken and seafood. The rooms are hunting-lodge rustic, and you’re seated at a solid wooden table with what amounts to a face towel for your napkin.

With so much bounty at the salad bar (including soup and Bountiful Bread-sourced loaves), you’re probably nuts to get an appetizer; to ensure leftovers, I ordered a crock of French onion soup ($5), which proved a perfectly acceptable compote, and my table shared the crab cakes ($10), which gets you two good-sized towers of the meat-and-bread mixture, with swirls of spicy tartar sauce alongside.

Other apps include baby back ribs ($9), steamed littlenecks ($9), crab-stuffed mushrooms ($8) and escargot ($8).

There’s a duck breast with orange and lingonberry sauce ($22) among the non-beef entrées, as well as grilled pork chops ($20) and chicken teriyaki ($18). We sampled the chicken New Orleans ($18), which gives you four breast strips served over pasta with a Cajun sauce; it seemed a little bland nevertheless, so my wife enhanced it by adding some veggies from the salad bar.

Maple Dijon salmon ($22) gives you a good-sized piece of fish where the flavors of maple syrup and Dijon mustard come through an apple-pecan crust, and this was the opposite of the chicken dish, with lots of flavors swirling through.

A fresh catch is offered among the seafood items, along with shrimp scampi ($23), broiled scallops ($22), crab-stuffed haddock ($20) and more.

But it’s the steaks that draw people back, and my sirloin (12-ounce cut, $26) was an impressive chunk of beef despite the above-noted cavils. (There’s an 8-ounce cut for $21). Prime rib is carved daily until the day’s supply is exhausted; filet mignon is available in 8-ounce ($24) and 12-ounce ($30) cuts. Top sirloin ($22) and porterhouse ($30) also are available.

The Butcher Block has enjoyed its longtime popularity because of the comfort it offers; with a sharper focus on service, which could be more responsive, and food consistency, it should enjoy a continued long run.

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