Hugo "Harlem Moto" O.'s Profile

Update 01/26/2012

Tasted the take-out the weekend. This place still brings the goods like no other place! Just take a look inside at that chicken and you'll see nothing but fresh white meat! I cannot be more pleased that they brought back such a standard of excellence after all these years.The rice is finger-licking good! The wings are to die for! The lo-mein is slamming! I got a hug from the owner who asked me about my mom and brother (that's some history). My order took a bit longer than usual but that's because the place was literally swarming with old customers and new ones. I still have not tried the sushi. Still stuck on the take-out for now!
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New Home Sing closed down two years ago because of a fire. I am surprised this place has not been reviewed in the past. In fact I am pretty sure I did and Yelp probably removed it. As far as chinese take-out spots are concerned It is by the far the cleanest, tastiest, freshest chicken-frying chinese restaurant in all of Harlem and Washington Heights. And it has been that way forever. This place has been around for over 30 years with folks coming in from the Bronx and across the George Washington Bridge. When it shuttered its doors it literally devastated this West Harlem neighborhood and left all of us scurrying to find a decent substitute coming in at a distant second place.

I am soooo happy to announce that they will be re-opening tomorrow January 18th, 2012. They have completely remodeled the location and added square to their space. They will now feature a sushi-bar as well! I hope to sample their Chinese food and sushi tomorrow and get back to everyone. Yay!

I know it seems implausible or perhaps even "fixed" to see Andres & Kim get so many 5-star ratings and flawless reviews but I assure this is no gimmick. My wife knew of Andres's work and knew a long time before the wedding planning even began that he was the right man for the job. Andres works with his wife, Kim and the both of them are the "dream team" of photography. This is no exaggeration. Well before any of the shoots were decided upon Andres and Kim invited my wife out to lunch and just got to know about us and how we met, etc. That was truly impressive to me. This team is not made of some people you hire to do the job and they split. They take their time to know the couple and get a feel for their style which carefully informs the way they plan to shoot the event. It almost feels like you're interviewing for them. We had Andres and Kim do our engagement shots in Brooklyn and then had them to come with us on our wedding cruise to the Bahamas. It was a 3-day cruise with the wedding taking place on Sunday. It was like having old family friends with us. The entire time it would slip my mind that he and Kim were actually here for work. We shared dinner moments and some great conversations leading up to wedding day. Our wedding took place in Nassau, Bahamas by the beach. Rather than utilizing a Gipetto style method (pulling all the strings) commanding us where to stand or twist our head at every moment, Andres would give very simple suggestions and only relied on momentary flashes of genius to ask us to take a certain pose or walk in a certain direction. They know exactly how to shoot in any environment are masters at reading how much natural light is available. It's truly amazing just to see them in motion. Upon receiving my prints for both photo-shoots my wife and I literally sat silent in awe of what the final product was. Every shot is imbued with purpose and precise timing. It was like I was looking at a photo shoot for GQ or Elle magazine. These guys are that good! The truth is you can gauge the quality of their work by just looking at their portfolio and whatever you pay will seem to pale in comparison to what you are getting in return. What will not be so obvious until you meet them is that in them you are gaining new friends and an extension to your family. They are amazing people apart from their great work. You will want to make them the official chroniclers of your family photos for years to come. I know I do. It makes you want to find excuses or any event to have them take pictures of you just for the heck of it.

Let's see if the old writing muscles still work....

So what used to be a swanky but little known lounge (Revival) in Harlem has become a populated BBQ joint. From the outside it looks like a Dallas BBQ. Even its menu seems to have been copied and pasted from Dallas BBQ right down to the big goblet they serve frozen drinks in. How this place is not getting sued is a surprise to me. The place still had the exposed brick from the last patrons which made it looks nice. I wanted to try somewhere new and I payed the price for it.  Now I know the place has only been open for a week at best so for me to start nit-picking at the service hardly seems just. The staff was courteous and the wait time was tolerable. The food however missed a couple marks.

Even though I go for ribs anytime I order Dallas BBQ I was having lunch and I would've ended up taking a nap at my office. I went for the pulled pork sandwich. It was tasty! And it was served on a soft potato bread bun. Delicious! The fries were a bit soggy. I guess they were left in the fryer for a bit too much. The coconut shrimp was adequate but nothing to write home about. My gf and brother ended up getting a good ol' cheeseburger and somehow in between the time it took to get some mayo my gf lost her appetite. So we eventually ordered her some macaroni n' cheese. I tried a little. Personally it tasted like the mac n' cheese I'd get at Crown Fried Chicken. Quite underwhelming.

My brother and I eventually flagged down one of the owners and as politely as we could let him know the fries and the mac n cheese had issues. He didn't seemed too surprised but was apologetic. He mentioned they were still tweaking the menu items. He was gracious enough to remove the burger and mac n' cheese from the bill.

Overall the experience was pleasant. I have not tasted the ribs or chicken yet but I do want to try them. For now, stay away from the mac n'cheese and check your fries. But do stop by.

This place is the brother (or sister) companion to Baton Rouge up on Sugar Hill, Harlem. I had never been to this place so I used the excuse of a "business meeting" to crash this joint! One of the first innovations of this place is that "coupling" bar which caught me by surprise. It's a table that extends from the bar itself but you can sit on both sides of it. I'm a sucker for gimmicks and that one worked.

To begin we were served these little corn muffins with pineapple which just kick-started my appetite into hyper drive. I was yearning for my appetizers. We ordered a sampler that comes with jerked Wings, BBQ Wings, Cod Fish Cakes, Catfish Strips for about 22 bucks. It's a bit expensive I'll admit but after our group of 3 were done with those appetizers there was very little room left for our actual en trees. No lie! My sister had the snapper and I couldn't help but taste it. Melted in my mouth it was so good! I doggy-bagged it with the quickness. Only thing that sucks is that I wasn't drinking that night and there was no live music scheduled. Oh well! Guess now I GOTTA come back!

The service was average. The place was a little small, but cozy although they did accommodate a group of 8 somehow. I was impressed. I honestly couldn't fathom where they stick the band. By looking at some of the pics on their website it looks like the musicians play right up against the bar. But other than that the place is a cool, fancy place to take a date or go out with your friends for a dinner date. Don't come here if you're on a budget though.

Que chuleria! Cuidao con el Cojito, loco!

There's a reason that with 79 reviews this place maintains over 4 stars. It's the shizzits! Came here for restaurant week. Everything was on point. Even walked away with a $25 off coupon for next time!  And don't miss out on their mojitos which are deceivingly sweet but will sneak up on you! I reached my happy zone quick!

I have to say that because I've been eating latin food all my life I've felt uptight about paying top dollar for food I can basically get on the block. But these types of fusions and reinventions of classic cuisines make it worth it! I'm def comin back!

"...and in walk the biggest f@ckin Dominicans you have ever seen!"

These words describe the facial expressions on my Mexican friends when my brother and I walked into this little hole in the wall restaurant a couple blocks from City College. It was a cold night. We were on our way to get some cuban sandwiches when he says "what the hell is in here?". I didn't know other than what the sign said.

This place used to be home to our second favorite pizzeria (Vicky's) until it closed and rebirthed as a Mexican eatery. Not that i don't like mexican food. It's just we felt betrayed by Vicky leaving us and all so we never broke bread here since then. The thing is that this place is oddly wedged in between a bodega and a residential building entrance. Then to make matters trickier, the door is tinted. Shady-ville! You feel me!

So we agreed to go in for a beer. Who knows, it might be a secret strip joint in our backyard and we never knew! So we walk in and...cue in the first line of this review. Everyone stops and turns around. We cool y make ourselves to a table in the back and order a couple Negra Modelo beers. The place felt like the last stop one makes before dying. Quite depressing! but the cute waitresses kept us from sheding tears as the in-house DJ/Karaoke master sang mexican tunes that he cued up on his laptop. Think of the movie "El Mariachi" where the dude has the one-man-band setup with the casio keyboard....only here it's a laptop.

We didn't get to try the food, but it didn't seem like the compadres were there to eat...simply drink away their sorrows. If you ever lose a loved one to cancer, break up with your sweetheart, or end up missing your favorite shows to death because the WGA strike...come here! Have a beer on me!

All hail the Return of the King...of Cuban Sandwiches that is!

Disclaimer:
So I am cheating a bit. I actually reviewed this place. But in all fairness it closed and opened up at a different location and if I just update the business info part of it, you won't know! I mean how many of you actually go down the list of my past reviews looking for updates! Ok, maybe the two anonymous "fans" I have. But that's it!

I used to eat at this restaurant while I was still duck high. In its past incarnation the cuban sandwiches were THE BARGAIN OF THE CENTURY at $2.50. After they were asked to leave because of some new luxury apartment going up in their building (bleh!!!) they took refuge in a Dominican Bakery called La Rosa. I don't know what happened, but the Department oh Health shut down La Rosa (indefinitely it seems) and its "cuban connection" along with it. Needless to say I had to cold turkey with out my ceremonial Cuban sandwich on Sunday afternoons. It went like this for more than six months.

About 3 months ago, it reopened...this time the Cuban spot taking the steering wheel. They completely remodeled the place and it looks AMAZING. Don't be mislead...they didn't go all trendy and chic-like. The place looks like a page cut out of a Cuban photo album in the 60's..lively, colorful...Havana in all its glory! Hard to put my finger on it.  

The sandwiches are now $3 which is still more than fair and still taste out of this world! I am not joking. You will not find better tasting Cuban sandwiches in all New York. They paint the outsides of the bread with garlic which gives it an extra kick! The place is also serving the whole spectrum of Spanish food (rice & beans, plantains) as well some tasty pastries. The only thing missing are some pub tables with high seats to take advantage of the middle space. Otherwise, it's perfect.

Why has no one approached me about this place?! It's borderline criminal that in all my years I had never walked into B.A.J. From the outside the place looks more like a jazz shop than anything... somewhere to get some cool jazz memorabilia.

The way it works is that this place is a true jazz shrine but at the same it's a cafe/lunch/dinner spot where you can hear live jazz throughout the day for free! Seriously! They have a set that comes in at 2PM, another at 5:30PM, and then the last one at 8PM. When walking in, the place feels like the gift shop you would find at a jazz museum. There are posters, hard to find jazz CD's and DVD's, tiles with imprinted photos of different Harlem streets, jewel boxes, books, etc.

When you go further back into the place you find what I call the "jazz annex". This is the backroom where beautiful jazz paintings flushed with vibrant colors adorn the walls. I cannot explain in words the emotions expressed by these portraits (part of an exhibit by Kazuo "Kaz" Ooka). I could almost hear the music coming off the paint. The back room also had little tables & stools set up much like a coffee shop. Towards the back wall was the setup for the musicians. By the time I got there the afternoon "shitft" had left. Gordon, the fellow who runs the place, told me stick around for the 5:30 trio. He passed me a menu and told me to have a bite until they arrive. And here is the beauty of it all: the menu was for Taste of Harlem Seafood.

Gordon, who had stepped out after I placed my food order, came back in with a bag of take out food.  While he was pulling out the food I didn't make the connection at first. As he started to bring out the different food items and set them up on disposable plates I had the "AHA!" moment. The guy had gone to pick up the order from the fried fish joint! Not that it took anything away from the experience. The half an hour or so I spent there already told me this was a very casual place. As I was downing my fish sandwich & fries the trio had finished tuning their instruments and began to jam.

There was no big audience; a friend of the drummer and another young fellow who was obviously a regular as he went ahead and adjusted the spot lights to set up the ambiance just right. And there I was as the three musicians covered some beautiful jazz numbers. I was in heaven! This is the way jazz should be enjoyed (at least in my mind). A fried fish sandwich and sweet melodies.

I immediately remembered some of the places that I've neglected recently out of sheer laziness like Minton's, St Nick's Pub, Showman's...some of the the last vestiges of classic Harlem music. Whereas at one point Harlem was teeming with jazz spots, now you only have a handful of places to get your fill.  I am glad B.A.J. is there to get the job done.

I loved B.A.J. For me it was nothing short of amazing. Whereas other bigger music venues have their place in traditional night life activities, B.A.J. felt like a comfortable laid back place where you can kick back after work and get a little bit of happiness into you...and some fried fish if you're hungry. Ya' dig!

What the hell is so hard about making some wings!!!!

On my trek home I decided that I didn't want another snackwrap from Mickey D's! I would not fall prey to conventionalism! I walked in W&W and got a 4 waffles/4 wings combo.

So the waffles 11 out of 10!
No joke. These are the softest, freshest waffles I ever had. All buttered up and drowning in syrup. They were not passing frozen Leggo waffles for freesh restaurant grade. Choirs of angels sang with each morsel.

The wings:  Ehh! out of 10.
I'm sorry. Perhaps I should have gone for the flavored variety but these "generic"wings tasted like the greasy wings I get from the chinese restaurant down the block. And I don't mind greasy! But give me an incentive to get my hands dirty here! Batter the wings in some kind of flavored breading. Even if you gotta steal the popeye's batter. They won't care! It was quite a disappointment.

The staff was friendly though and made the time enjoyable. Plus they're black cherry soda was pretty damn tasty. Imma go back to try the other wings (fingers crossed!).

While the soupman has left us, La Perle Noir is looking to make a lasting impression on the neighborhood...

Having left work early I decided to take stroll down the 130's.A quick scan of the location showed this to be a trendy setup, much like TJ Bakery on seventh ave with the obligatory exposed brick wall, hip ikea-esque wood cabinets, and stainless steel counter with spanish tiles along the facade.

I honestly wasn't sure what order as there was no menu ready for public consumption. I did seea sandwich bar behind the counter and a grilling machine which lead me to believe the place was already serving sandwiches. Also, a young lady (who later introduced herself as another partner) had begun to prepare a beautiful leafy salad while I was still trying to decide what to eat. If I could have salads like that made for me everyday I could do a low-carb regimen with no problem. In any event, I had a heavy lunch so I targetted the sweets. My eyes went straight to the fruit tarts. While many people judge bakeries on the overrated velvet cake (please don't hate) I like to take a sample of the fruit tarts. Fruit tarts are often sitting there refrigerating quite lonely in almost every bakery I go to. These that have been left behind are my primary concern! I chose the raspberry fruit tart and ordered a latte as well. Everything was brought over to the table I was sitting at.

The place is nicely spaced. With counter seating by the entrance, table seating along the midsection, and a plush chocolate brown leather couch to top off things in the back section, the place offers just the right ambiance to read your paper, do some blogging, or (the obvious) just have some coffee and pastries. The latte was a beautiful display; served in a swanky coffee mug with cinammon dousted froth on top. A robust cup of joe if I may say so! Well I just did! The fruit tart was heated ever so gently so as not to offend my taste buds. As I had a second stop to make on my little walkthrough I payed my bill and began my exit strategy. Just $6.50 for both items was more than perfect. A couple folks came in-and-out to check out the new digs. They would look around and smile...promising quite sternly that they would return as bonafide customers at a later time.

While the exodus of the Original Soupman might have left a void on the block, La Perle Noir seems to have carved out a beautiful niche for themselves. The staff is quite friendly and the product is top notch (sandwich taste test still pending). This place has a lot of potential. In my own little world I would love to see a little jazz trio playing here from time to time.