In June we had lunch at Jean-Georges' ABC Cocina; it was not very good. In our review, we recommended "visiting ABC Cocina for a margarita — and ABC Kitchen for lunch." On this Wednesday, we followed our advice, sans the margarita. ABC Kitchen is located on the ground floor of ABC Carpet & Home. It's a great place for lunch; we'd been there many times. On an otherwise high caloric week, it's also a good place to eat light and still be satisfied. So after ordering a bottle of Sauvignon Blanc, we ordered an appetizer and a pizza to share.
We started with the crab toast with lemon aioli, which we'd had many times before. The fresh meaty crab and the slightly tart aioli combined addictively on the freshly baked brown bread. We may be boring, but at least we're selectively boring.
Crab toast with lemon aioli To finish, we shared the Brussels sprouts pizza. It was as good as it looked, assuming you like green on your pizza. The garlic, jalapenos and lemon blended addictively with the cheese, giving the dish a subtle kick.
Brussels sprouts, garlic, jalapenos and lemon pizza ABC Kitchen offers an irresistible dessert — a salted caramel ice cream sundae, with candied peanuts & popcorn, whipped cream, and chocolate sauce. We'd overdosed on it once before; this time we resisted. That evening we had tickets to "Amateur Night" at the Apollo Theater, the historic Harlem landmark.
Amateur Night has been a fixture at the Apollo for over 75 years. It had been broadcast on radio and then on TV, where I remember watching the flashy showgirls and listening to the catchy opening theme song. The showgirls and the theme song were gone, at least on this night, but host comedian Capone was fantastic. And the amateur performers were pretty good; no one got "the hook" while we were there.
Amateur Night ran from 7:30 until 10:30, but we left at the 9:00 intermission and walked to our dinner reservation at Red Rooster, five minutes away.
Chef Marcus Samuelsson's Red Rooster Harlem is also a Harlem landmark, if not for the food, for the racial and ethnic variety in the vast bar and loft-like dining room. The pulsating three-sided bar occupies the front half of the restaurant, giving way to the crowded dining room behind, decorated with the work of local artists.
Mr. Samuelsson's menu is as diverse as his clientele; it starts in Harlem and meanders through Mexico, the Caribbean and his boyhood home of Sweden. The wine list is uninspiring; we selected a mundane Cabernet Sauvignon. We then ordered the "Caribbean Bacon" and cornbread to share.
Caribbean Bacon - stewed beans, Haitian pikliz, quail egg
Cornbread - honey butter, tomato jam The "Caribbean Bacon" was delicious pork belly, complimented by the tangy Haitian pickled cabbage. The cornbread was the best we'd ever had. A good start. We shared the "Fried Yardbird" and "Helga's Meatballs" as our main courses. The good start faded.
Fried Yardbird - dark meat, white mace gravy, mashed potatoes, bread & butter pickles
Helga's Meatballs - lingonberries, braised green cabbage, buttermilk mashed potatoes The chicken dishes on the Red Rooster menu are all dark meat; the Yardbird came with a leg and a large thigh. The young man at the table next to us volunteered that it was the best fried chicken he'd ever had. We've had better. The crust was over crispy; it fell off the chicken in big chunks and had very little seasoning. The chicken itself was moist and good enough. The mashed potatoes were mashed potatoes. The meatballs might have been better if Helga had served them at the proper temperature. I happened to get one that was piping hot, but the others were room temperature to cold. I thought they were otherwise tasty; Marlene disagreed. The cabbage was limp and unenticing. The mashed potatoes were mashed potatoes. We recommend revisiting Red Rooster Harlem because it's a slice of social history, even though the food, at least on this night, was just so-so. We also recommend the young man at the table next to us visit Popeyes. Copyright © 2014 TwoForTheTable.com |
