One thing I always wanted living in this city was a little Jazz bar. A place to go and get a cocktail while listening to live Jazz. Its not a common thing here in Buffalo like it is in other cities. I remember visiting Chicago one year and spending an evening at “Andy’s Jazz Club and Restaurant” eating dinner, listening to the finest local Jazz musicians, and wishing we had a place like this in Buffalo. Although “Canvas@1206” is far from the famous “Andy’s”, it is still a breath of fresh air and another nice option for nightlife here in this city.
We had gone on a Friday night, about two weeks back (I’m late posting this) around 7pm and it was pretty easy to get a table. The bar and restaurant atmosphere is retro/old-school, but not in a way that gives off any impression that it’s trying too hard. Everything is just right. From the gold speckled bar, to the capiz chandelier lights, and jazz artist wall of fame, its an atmosphere I found myself comfortable in.
After a Manhattan, we sat down for some dinner with our friends, Molly and Patrick. The menu was interesting but I immediately noticed more of a “Lunch” menu than dinner. There were not many standard entrees but more a plethora of sandwiches. One thing that looked awesome though, was the giant crab cake. Molly and Patrick ordered that for an appetizer, and Nicole and I ordered the Bacon Swiss dip with chips.
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| The Bacon Swiss dip was one of the more delicious things I’ve eaten in a while. The chips were not standard tortilla chips, but a type of chip that I’ve never had before, more of an air-crisp. |
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| The giant crab cake was pretty tasty as well, but I was glad we got the dip. |
For the main course, Pat and I ordered the Fish fry. I rarely get out to a place on Friday nights to take advantage of any fish fry options so now I had the importunity to. We had the option to add goat cheese mashed potatoes as a side, so i jumped on that also. Nicole ordered the pork chop with the goat mash and a vegetable. Molly had ordered the broiled fish with Cajun seasoning. My fish fry was pretty good. I couldn’t find anything wrong with it. It was cooked perfectly, the breading looked as if it were fried in clean/fresh oil, and it was decent sized. It could have used some more seasonings though. That was the opinion of everyone at the table. Nicole’s pork chop and vegetables tasted like a “pork chop and vegetables”. There wasn’t much flavor. The goat cheese mash just tasted like plain mash potatoes. Everything was cooked to perfection, it was just bland.
Would I go back to Canvas@1206? Most definitely. The quality of the food was very good and everything was cooked nicely. The bar was fun to sit at and a great place to stop in and grab a drink. The crowd consisted of people from all age groups. I’d love to go back when there is music playing on the stage. This is a great addition to the city.
