And the winner is… Bier International (IMHO).
After bombing out trying to get into Harlem Tavern last week, we tried again early this afternoon and had no problem getting a table. Unfortunately it was sorta what I expected (based on the pics I saw on Harlem Bespoke) – very middle America – sorta dull actually.
The beer that comes with brunch is Bud Light (yawn). And they have every other standard beer you can think of. Other than a selection of IPAs (which my niece likes), I didn’t really see anything beer-wise that came anywhere close to Bier’s beer selection.
As far as food, it’s pretty to look at (I should have taken a picture), but pretty bland too. I had the turkey burger with fries, Dan had the beef burger with a salad. Despite putting some interesting cheese on it, the turkey burger just didn’t stand out. Dan noted that the lettuce for his salad had been chopped with a knife – that promotes oxidation and just makes for a less interesting salad. He also thought the food was less fresh than it is at Bier. In comparison, everything I’ve had at Bier has met or exceeded expectations. In fact at Bier things are unexpectedly good – there’s always a slight flavor kick to the food at Bier that makes it interesting.
Harlem Tavern’s decor is the biggest turn off for me… It’s like you’re at Applebee’s or something… Like the food and the beer selection – it’s incredibly bland.
So if you want bland decor with bland food and bland beer – go to Harlem Tavern. If you want a well-designed space with an unusual selection of interesting beers and surprisingly good food – go 2 1/2 block south to Bier International.
After dropping by the house today we decided to check out Harlem Tavern – it opened a couple weeks ago while we were away in Toronto. It’s still crazy busy – there was a pretty big line to get in and the bouncer manning the entrance couldn’t tell us how long the wait would be. He guessed it would be 45 minutes (!).
I guess it’s a good thing that people are patronizing places on FDB. In the end that will encourage more businesses to open up and make the neighborhood a better place to live. But I gotta say the love for this one particular place sorta mystifies me.
We wound up going to Bad Horse Pizza instead. It was about half full and the kids that were there were very well behaved (unlike the first time we went there).
Dan and I went to New Leaf Cafe for drinks on the 4th of July. New Leaf is one of just a handful of restaurants we have in Hudson Heights – it’s in a great old building in the middle of Fort Tryon Park, near the heather gardens.
When we first moved into the neighborhood in 1997 the cafe was usually closed, or had businesses in it that almost always failed since the kitchen didn’t support much more than making sandwiches. Then Bette Midler came along and gave a grant through New York Restoration Project (which she founded) to upgrade the cafe with a proper kitchen and New Leaf Cafe was born.
On July 4 we arrived around 3 or 4pm wanting drinks and appetizers only to find they weren’t serving any food – not even chips or beer nuts… Nothing… We got a couple of drinks ($9/each), and sat on the walk in front of the cafe and watched people go by. When our hunger got the best of us Dan ran and got crappy hot dogs from the hot dog vendor at Margaret Corbin Plaza (at the entrance to Fort Tryon Park).