The Chatterbox restaurant, with its not-quite-Downtown location and tacky flag identifying it as a restaurant, is easy to miss as a choice for Restaurant Week. Billed as a tapas bar and cafe, The Chatterbox doesn’t quite fit its label, but still offers a solid mid-priced meal for those tired of their usual go-to eateries.
Right next to Binghamton High School, The Chatterbox is located on Main Street. Visiting on Wednesday night, we found close parking right away, though the location also allows for an easy bus ride from campus. We walked into the restaurant around 8:45 p.m. and were seated immediately. The dining room provides an open and airy atmosphere, with white embossed ceilings and an eclectic art collection adorning the walls.
We ordered the crispy shrimp and chorizo cakes for an appetizer. Though we were expecting two explicitly cake-shaped objects, what arrived appeared to be one perfect cake and another that had fallen apart. And, while difficult to eat because of their form, neither cake lacked anything in taste. The small pieces of shrimp were overpowered in both size and spice by the chorizo, but that did not really break the dish as they were both only a vehicle for the sweet and perfectly seasoned garlic mayonnaise served with the cakes.
Soon after, we received our main course, the creamy lemon butter chicken. This course was, by far, the most disappointing. Served on a huge portion of cheesy mashed potatoes, the chicken and kale were lost in the sea of starch. Though cooked perfectly and served in a delicious sauce, the chicken itself was unevenly seasoned and the flavors of the lemon and butter were nowhere to be found. The kale was crunchy, but not in a good way; it was more like a failed attempt to cook it.
For dessert, though we wanted to order the chocolate hazelnut cheesecake, they were out by the time we arrived. We ordered a Guinness cake with Irish cream and whiskey as a substitute, at the suggestion of our waiter. Served warm in a small ramekin, it was a satisfactory dessert, with a well-intentioned attempt at mixing textures and flavors that ultimately fell flat. The final product resembled indiscernible alcohol and boxed chocolate cake, but we didn’t hate it.
While the appetizer and dessert we tasted are worth a try, we recommend choosing one of the other options on the menu for your entree. The service throughout the meal was quick and friendly with plenty of options for each course — allowing for 48 Restaurant Week combinations — there is no lack of variety. Overall, The Chatterbox provided a fine meal for its $25 Restaurant Week price.