As I sit at home, falling
deeper and deeper into a soul food induced coma, I am attempting to conjure up enough words to type up a review of a phenomenal evening spent in Harlem. After our delicious lunch at B&H and a bit of shopping with the roomie earlier this afternoon, I had to run off to the library for a few hours to shhh kids and shelve books. Tuesdays in the library are, for whatever reason, notoriously loud and crowded. It's only gotten nuttier since the track and baseball/softball teams started their preseason practices so my day was spent running around like a librarian with her head cut off or something. So when the roomie came by to pick me up so that we could potentially go to the movies with a darling friend of ours. After some debate however, we decided that our movie passes would be better off saved for a must-see-on-the-big-screen kind of flick. But that didn't mean we were going to waste a perfectly good Tuesday night, hell to the no. And onto the C train we went, all the way up to Harlem for cheap booze and fried chicken.
 |
| today was a foodtastic slam dunk! |
A quick stop into Harlem BBQ for a couple of oversized pina coladas. I had the wild berry while my little Georgia peach had, what else but one with a hint of peach.
 |
| cheers! |
We worked through our brain freeze and were able to finish the crossword puzzle... unlike yesterday when we could barely get through half of it. Will Shortz can be such a jerk sometimes. We actually finished four crossword puzzles today. We must be some kind of crazy geniuses or something... well, maybe just crazy/
 |
| in pen, no less! |
Then it was off to 152n
d Street for the ultimate fried chicken dinner. Now, I know I claim to make some bangin' ass fried chicken, and trust me, it's good. And the reason my chicken is so delicious is because I fry it up in my cast iron skillet. Nothing beats fried chicken cooked in a cast iron skillet - nothing! Imagine how much cracklin' good fried chicken you could make if your cast iron skillet was ginormous and your recipe perfected. Well, Charles Gabriel of Charles' Southern Style Kitchen does just that. But it isn't just chicken; no siree, Mr. Gabriel doesn't stop there. He whips up fried chicken, barbecue chicken, smothered chicken in gravy, super saucy ribs that fall off the bone, collared green, mac & cheese, black eyed peas, limas, green beans, buttery sweet yams, brunswick stew, honey biscuits, corn bread, okra and potato salad. Wash it all down with sweet tea, lemonade or a perfect combination of the two and then top it off with a heaping scoop of banana pudding layered with love and nilla wafers. Now, normally I would be struggling to decide what two or three delicious sides I would want to pair up with my thigh and leg or order of ribs, but not at Charles'. Nope, here you can stay til four in the morning and pay just 13.99 for an all-you-can-eat soul food buffet! Yup, today was all about the most delicious cheap eats in the city. But good luck trying to get through more than three plates of these savory treats - I can barely get through my third plate and y'all know this girl can eat. Tonight I had to tap out a two plates in order to finish up with dessert. But the amount they heap on your plate each time you head up to the counter will not leave you unsatisfied; no, it leaves you knowing that your money has been well spent and that you may need to be rolled home because you've been so gluttonous. But I'm sure the nice folks at the Southern Style Kitchen would be kind enough to help you out the door because, seriously, they are some of the nicest people in the world! But again, same as with B&H - I share this information with you, dear readers, because you are all food lovers like myself and deserve to know about the best of the best. Just don't go crowding into my fave chicken spot on a random Tuesday night when the roomie and I might be headed up there!
 |
round one: fried chicken, mac&cheese, collards, black eyed peas, green beans,
brunswick stew, sweet tea & an arnold palmer |
 |
| round two: bbq chicken, ribs, more fried chicken, yams, honey biscuits |
 |
| top it all off with gooey banana pudding loaded with nilla wafers. mmmm |
Thank you Charles for an amazing supper and for what is sure to be a great night's sleep since I'm near comatose right now. We'll be back soon, but not too soon. Gotta digest and burn off this indulgent feast first. But you're our new best friend... seriously!
 |
| we love Charles' Southern Style Kitchen! we love Charles! |
Then it was off to 152nd Street for the ultimate fried chicken dinner. Now, I know I claim to make some bangin' ass fried chicken, and trust me, it's good. And the reason my chicken is so delicious is because I fry it up in my cast iron skillet. Nothing beats fried chicken cooked in a cast iron skillet - nothing! Imagine how much cracklin' good fried chicken you could make if your cast iron skillet was ginormous and your recipe perfected. Well, Charles Gabriel of Charles' Southern Style Kitchen does just that. But it isn't just chicken; no siree, Mr. Gabriel doesn't stop there. He whips up fried chicken, barbecue chicken, smothered chicken in gravy, super saucy ribs that fall off the bone, collared green, mac & cheese, black eyed peas, limas, green beans, buttery sweet yams, brunswick stew, honey biscuits, corn bread, okra and potato salad. Wash it all down with sweet tea, lemonade or a perfect combination of the two and then top it off with a heaping scoop of banana pudding layered with love and nilla wafers. Now, normally I would be struggling to decide what two or three delicious sides I would want to pair up with my thigh and leg or order of ribs, but not at Charles'. Nope, here you can stay til four in the morning and pay just 13.99 for an all-you-can-eat soul food buffet! Yup, today was all about the most delicious cheap eats in the city. But good luck trying to get through more than three plates of these savory treats - I can barely get through my third plate and y'all know this girl can eat. Tonight I had to tap out a two plates in order to finish up with dessert. But the amount they heap on your plate each time you head up to the counter will not leave you unsatisfied; no, it leaves you knowing that your money has been well spent and that you may need to be rolled home because you've been so gluttonous. But I'm sure the nice folks at the Southern Style Kitchen would be kind enough to help you out the door because, seriously, they are some of the nicest people in the world! But again, same as with B&H - I share this information with you, dear readers, because you are all food lovers like myself and deserve to know about the best of the best. Just don't go crowding into my fave chicken spot on a random Tuesday night when the roomie and I might be headed up there!
No comments:
Post a Comment