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Sunday, February 12, 2006

A Taste of Harlem

November 6, 2005

Good Eating
Harlem: The A Train’s Dining Car

Not long ago, dining in Harlem or East Harlem meant soul food or a neighborhood Latin place. These days, diners can find everything from Mexican-French to healthy Chinese.

BAYOU
(212) 426-3800; 308 Lenox Avenue (125th Street); $; $25 and Under: 5/31/00.
This handsome Creole restaurant would do any New Orleans native proud. Bayou looks like countless other neighborhood bars and grills, but its big picture windows and second-floor setting offer an unusual New York panorama. The short menu includes crawfish étouffée, shrimp Creole and deep-fried catfish.

EARL MONROE’S RESTAURANT
(212) 491-1500; Riverside Drive (145th Street); $$; Article: 10/26/05.
Views of the Hudson distinguish this spacious restaurant with a terrace. Christopher Faulkner, formerly the sous-chef at Town, combines cuisines that are typical of Harlem and are long on seafood in dishes like Charleston crab and lobster cakes with shaved cucumber, red onion and fresh cilantro salad, and guacamole tartar sauce. The dining room becomes the Pearl Club for late-night jazz.

GINGER
(212) 423-1111; 1400 Fifth Avenue (116th Street); $; Article: 9/7/05.
Michelle Jean, who set Butter in NoLIta in motion, just opened this Chinese restaurant, emphasizing healthful recipes by James Marshall, formerly at China Grill. The current menu includes entree selections like grilled marinated spicy tofu; ginger sizzling beef with bok choy; and shrimp with garlic sauce and Chinese eggplant.

HARLEM TEA ROOM
(212) 348-3471; 1793A Madison Avenue (118th Street); $; Article: 12/8/04.
This cozy room is done in warm wood and tile and has a copper bar. Tea and light food are served, including a classic afternoon tea on Saturday with sandwiches and pastries. Wine and beer are also served.

LA FONDA BORICUA
(212) 410-7292; 169 East 106th Street (Lexington Avenue); $; $25 and Under: 11/14/01.
Everything seems to move to a beat at this convivial Puerto Rican restaurant where the food is hearty and satisfying, particularly the beef stew, tender meat teamed with peppers and onions; and arroz con pollo, smoky baked chicken with a mass of yellow rice.

ITZOCAN BISTRO
(212) 423-0255; 1575 Lexington Avenue (101st Street); $; $25 and Under: 4/19/04.
Anselmo Bello’s Mexican-French bistro cooking is quiet and engaging. He takes the bistro repertory and adds Mexican touches that tweak the dishes in unexpected directions but do not overwhelm them. Typical of Mr. Bello’s gentle approach is an appetizer of steamed mussels, subtly different in their spicy broth of tequila, lime juice and serrano chilies.

Compiled by Kris Ensminger
E-mail: eating@nytimes.com

Source: NY Times