Harlem Sizzle
When you think of Harlem what comes to mind? For me, the 1st thing that comes to mind is family. The birth place of my grandmother, the place where my grandparents met and started a family. The place where I've spent many of days and nights. I think of the old man who sold crabs and clams out of a huge barrel on 125th street & Morningside Heights. I think of Mart 125 and sidewalks lined with people selling various goods. I think of home.
Although the look of Harlem has changed throughout the years it still has that vibe from back in the days. Harlem is Harlem and there is no place like it. One of things I love about Harlem is the variety of food found in the area. From the traditional soul food to the non traditional Ethiopian, French and African cuisine Harlem has it.
As you should know by now I love food and I'm always game for trying different things, so there should be no surprise that after hearing about the Summer Sizzles on Lenox Restaurant crawl on NY1 I had already planned in my mind to be there. I pulled up the website NY1 provided Summersizzles and found out more about this event.
I read that during the Summer Sizzles on Lenox event eight restaurants on Harlem's Lenox Avenue would be serving up local cuisine for visitors at a discounted price. Proceeds were going to the Sylvia and Herbert Woods Scholarship Endowment Foundation, which is named after the founder of Sylvia's and her husband. I was sold. I sent out the word to a few friends and purchased my entry ticket online. Being that I purchased the tickets ahead of time I qualified for the 2 for 1 deal. I only paid $10. Tickets purchased the day of the event were $10 each.
The evening of the event I stopped by Carver bank on 125th & Lenox to pick up my 2 wrist bracelets and a restaurant map. Carver bank was having a party. They had some of their upbeat workers stationed outside the bank welcoming those going to the event (potential Carver bankers) with bright smiles. They had a raffle going on and a DJ playing some tunes. Once Tamara got there we were on our way.
Outside the bank were rickshaws. Never seen one in Harlem before. All basis were covered for this event. Free rickshaw rides were offered to participants going from restaurant to restaurant. We didn't need the lift since we stayed within a three block radius.
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| Carver bank DJ and Rickshaws |
First stop was Cove Lounge. I've been there before for birthday celebrations and their food was pretty tasty, so I wanted to see what new items they were offering (if any) for the event. Their menu consisted of crispy crab wontons, turkey sliders, sesame wings, small spicy fries and a few drink selections.
Making sure not to overdue it and to leave room for the other dishes we planned on trying Mara and I decided to order one serving of the crab wontons. After 20 minutes of waiting and still no food we got up and left. We had no time to waste. It was already close to 7pm and we had eight more restaurants to try out by 10pm.
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| Cove Lounge: This is the only picture I took since the food never came |
Next stop was Corner Social (a new Harlem hot spot that offers dishes from every corner of the globe). Although it was a little crowded the wait time was less than five minutes. Immediately Mara and I browsed their event menu and ordered the shrimp and avocado bruschetta and the bacon, date and scallops skewers with rocchetta cheese. The food came out pretty quickly.
The bruschetta was cool and refreshing although I tasted more of the avocado then the shrimp. As for the skewers they had a unique taste. I liked it.
We payed the paid bill and made our way to the next stop, but not before getting stopped by the concerned hostess and being asked if everything was okay with the service and food. She asked because Mara and I were only there for about 20 minutes. She must of thought something went wrong. I smiled and said "everything was fine, but now its off to the next location". She giggled.
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| Corner Socials event menu |
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| Corner Social: Shrimp and Avocado Bruschetta and the Bacon, Date and Scallops skewers with Rocchetta cheese |
We met up with our friend Berry and headed to Sylvia's restaurant across the street. After being seated pretty quickly we placed our order of collard green spring rolls, mac -n-cheese bites, Angus sliders and sassy wings. The day I heard about the event on NY1 Sylvia's granddaughter (now owner of the restaurant) was being interviewed on location and showed some of the items she would be presenting for the event. The springs rolls and mac-n-cheese bites stood out so I couldn't wait to try them out.
It didn't take long before the food was on the table. Now here is my honest opinion, the mac-n-cheese bites were delicious. They were fried perfectly and very well seasoned. The collard green spring rolls were right on the money. They were crispy and packed with flavor. The Angus sliders I didn't care for. It was way more bun then burger and the meat wasn't cooked to my liking. As for the sassy wings, I really didn't see what was so sassy about them.
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| Sylvia's |
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| Mac -n-Cheese bites, Collard Green Spring Rolls, Angus sliders and Sassy Wings |
The girls and I looked over the menu and ordered our final dishes of the evening. My friend Latanya and I ordered the Fataya (Senegalese fish patties) and Mara ordered the Yassa chicken (grilled chicken). The Fataya was delicious but very very spicy so beware. The Yassa chicken was more so a stew with one piece of grilled chicken in it and rice on the side. It had an interesting taste to it. It's a little hard to explain, but it was okay.
Overall, the Summer Sizzle on Lenox experience was cool. Having the opportunity to try the different foods at these Harlem restaurants at discounted prices was definitely a plus. Next time, I'll begin my tasting at one of the restaurants I didn't get a chance to try this time around.
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| Les Ambassades Bar & Restaurant |
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| Me and my lovely friends. |
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| Yassa Chicken, Fataya and some cocktails |
Looking for events in your area?
Check out eventbrite.com
Summer Sizzles eventbrite page:
https://summersizzles-esm.eventbrite.com/?rank=1
NY1's story on the event:
Sizzle on Lenox by NY1 News
For more information on the restaurants I went to just click on the following links below and enjoy:
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