Company: High School friends get-together of 5
There seems to be some force of nature that decides to make the weather go crazy every time my friends from high school and I decide to get-together for a dinner downtown Toronto. On this occasion, our reservation for 7 dwindled to group of 5 that made it out on the night of a huge Toronto snowfall. We took the GO Train, TTC subway, and street car to make our reservation at 7PM at Harlem Underground at Queen West, go us :)
We entered from the snow and wind to the warm and cozy Harlem Underground. There were sheets insulating the doors and heaters blasting this small, hip restaurant. We were seated in a corner where I believe the heat was right under our seats, which made it scorching the whole time we were there. There was another section beside us in the back which made the restaurant a bit bigger than it looks. The decor is very urban, although hard to appreciate at night with the dim lighting. Definitely something like you would find in the Queen West area, their menus are even plastered on vinyl.
Their drink special of the day was Sangria Pitchers which were $2 off from regular. We ordered the White Wine Fruit Punch with Sprite to share with the table. Each of our glasses came with some berries and we got a medium sized jug filled with our deliciously-looking Sangria. It was a great drink with the perfect amount of alcohol mixed in. I love that they let you customize your Sangria because this way you get exactly what you like!
To start, I choose the Catfish Lafayette which were deep-fried breaded morsels of catfish with a sweet chili sauce and chipotle-type mayo on the side. The pieces were very light and bite-sized for dipping and sharing (although no one else wanted to try them). The catfish was very tender and steaming once you bit in. I really enjoyed this dish, the flavour was nice with the different sauces and wasn't too heavy to start off the meal (despite how it looks).
For my main, I had to get the Southern Fried Chicken and Waffles, it was the reason why we came! They had a lot of great options to try on their Winterlicious menu, but I couldn't pass up the opportunity to finally try the southern combo of chicken and waffles. The plate came with 2 drumsticks, 1 thigh, 4 waffles, a small salad, and 3 sauces on the side (sweet chili, syrup, gravy). It was an overwhelming looking plate filled with lots of colour and appeal. I first smothered my pancakes with the maple syrup then did the same with the gravy and chicken. I don't mind my foods (sweet and savories) mixing at all so that was the only way I found to eat everything! The pancakes were heavy and filling so I had minimal bites of that and focused on the chicken during the meal. The chicken was extremely juicy and cooked perfectly. The skin was crispy but could have had more flavour, I think KFC or Popeye's chicken has more than Harlem's. It didn't seem very southern/Caribbean either. The gravy was a delicious addition to the chicken though and gave it a bit more oomph. In the end, I was actually underwhelmed by the taste of the dish and the maybe the hype? I think the novelty of having chicken and waffles was more big of a deal than actually eating it. I'm not the biggest fan of waffles and syrup to begin with and I thought it was just a filler on the plate. The chicken was good (not great) but it would have been better paired with a different side.
For my dessert, I got the Almond Chocolate Kisses with no idea what to expect with the name. It ended up being a small chocolate cookie decorated with icing sugar. It was crisp and hard on the outside but moist in the center. The almond flavour was very prominent but the chocolate was very rich and I couldn't even finish this small dessert.Food: 2.5/5 - Overall, food was a bit bland for a restaurant known for flavourful soul food. Extremely filling though!
Decor: 3/5 - Liked how it looked but wayyy too hot in there!
Service: 2/5 - Mediocre, a bit slow.
Willingness to go back: 1/5 - Would maybe go to the other location as it's closer but nothing pulling me back here.
Overall: 2/5
Website: http://www.harlemrestaurant.com/#underground
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