Umana Yana

It’s a local eatery that relocated a door or two down the road from a former location. I do like the idea they have… the ethnic foods in this less than ethnic area. However, they run out of food often and that’s annoying. I went a few days ago for brunch and they closed early for a staff meeting. Like ok.. y’all close early on Sunday anyway- you could have waited until after hours to hold that meeting. I found it to be unprofessional to me. I also ordered takeout here and the bags ripped. Luckily I was at my front door or my $35 plate of food would have been on the concrete. Unfortunately they do have roaches roaming around their establishment, so keep that in mind. The drinks are ok. I’m a champagne/wine kinda woman.. I did enjoy their tropical mimosas during lunch. Lunchtime they have drinks half off, however this is only on Saturdays and I’m not sure if this is a limited time deal or not. We went to brunch a few weeks back… my honey said the French toast was undercooked. So he did

Food is pretty good and it was fairly easy to get a last minute reservation on a Sunday morning for brunch. The name of the restaurant has its roots in Guyana, but it’s not a Guyanese restaurant. Instead, the menu draws from the foreign historical connections of its namesake. The art work on the walls are so beautiful, including a creative portrait of the owner’s (Dale) mother. I would definitely recommend trying the food if you’re looking for something different.

We were passing through Albany NY - and stayed downtown. We decided on dinner at Umana Yana since it had several vegetarian dishes on the menu. We had the tofu satay and it was delicious. The tofu was nicely seasoned and lightly fried so that it had a slightly crisp exterior. It was served on kebabs over a bed of rice. Clearly a lot of love went into the making of this dish! Yum.