Ken I axe you sumfin?

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CFAvsMBA

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I’m new to NYC. I’m working deep in mean streets of Manhattan and have a nice pad up in the hood of Harlem. Here are a few items I’ve discovered.
If I want some Peking Duck, I go to Chinatown.
If I want some good meatballs, I go to Little Italy.
If I want some good pizza, I go to Brooklyn.
If I want to throw up, I go to one of the brown folks selling kokolosh and hot dogs.
Where do I go if I want some good fried chicken? Is there a Little Africa partitian of NYC?
 
I have had some good street cart falafel sandwiches. Also there is some kickass chicken and rice at some places (though not all for sure). This doesn’t help with fried chicken though, but I get that when I go down South.
 
(CFA v MBA, be careful with the quasi-race baiting language. It’s one thing to simply ask a question about geography; it’s another to peddle and aggravate politically explosive stereotypes, particularly when the only function appears to be to rile people up about them.)
To answer the serious part of your question:
On Adam Clayton Powell blvd between about 116 and 125 is a part of Harlem that is very African, especially Ghana and Senegal. Africa is a big place, compared to Italy and even China, so there’s no “little Africa” the way there is little Italy and Chinatown.
As a white guy living on 119th and St. Nicholas, it was definitely an interesting experience to live there. You could tell the difference between African Americans and African Africans. For African Americans, the US was the country that enslaved their ancestors and for whom opportunity had been denied for centuries, and we are still trying to figure out how much retribution/recompense is due for the injustices committed mostly long ago but whose aftereffects continue today.
For African Africans, however, America is where they were trying to go to make their lives better. It’s a land that they struggled to get to, many of them. And many feel that to be here is a sign of their success. They’re much happier to be here, and they see a white guy like me as a potential customer rather than as the progeny of former enslavers.
It’s definitely interesting being a white guy living in Harlem. You really get the feeling of what it’s like to be in a racial minority (even if not an exploited one). I’m not there anymore, but I’m glad I was for a time.
 
I’ve experienced the attitude of some African Americans that felt for whatever reason, that I owed them something. It was not pleasant.
I especially stay away from groups of young black people that are being loud and acting like they own the street.
 
Bchad and I were practically neighbors. 127th and St. Nick for four years. Holla!
As far as fried chicken, it depends on what style:
If you want really good like sticky / asian fried food, I highly recommend bon chon. They’re a chain but the location I frequent is after Karaoke in koreatown - I think it’s on Madison and 34th or something?
If you want italian style chicken cutlets - in fact, if you want good italian anything - head up to Arthur avenue in the bronx. It’s near the bronx botanical garden and the bronx zoo, so combine a dinner on Arthur ave with a daytrip to one of those spots if you’re gonna bother hiking up there.
If you want southern style fried chicken, there are places scattered up and down 125th street and Adam Clayton Powell blvd and Lenox / Malcolm X ave that are little, local, and excellent.
 
Supersadface wrote:Bchad and I were practically neighbors. 127th and St. Nick for four years. Holla!
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Wow, we were all neighbors… I used to live at 127th and 8th (Frederick Douglass).
Did you know that the life expectancy of a black male in harlem is 62 years? True fact.
I blame the chicken & waffles, at least partially.
 
The most offensive part of this thread linking fried chicken to Africa. It’s a southern food.
 
Sweep the Leg wrote:The most offensive part of this thread linking fried chicken to Africa. It’s a southern food.
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Yeah, that seemed pretty stupid to me. You either associate US-style fried chicken with the US South (not Africa), OR you accept that chickens are widely eaten around the world and that frying is widely practiced around the world and that fried chicken is something that most settled cultures do pretty much everywhere.
 
I’ll rephrase my question. Does “Big Mama’s Dirty Souf House” exist in the NYC city limits?
 
I accept nothing. NOTHING!
Now, for good southern food, my recommendation would be to get the hell out of NYC. I don’t believe there’s a single cast iron skillet in the five boroughs.
 
Second bon-chon, though it won’t be the same as true fried chicken. I’ve been to the one near Fulton St a few times for $3 beers (decent beers too) and the chicken. They fry it, bake it, then fry it again…awesome.
 
Nothing beats the real south for southern cooking, but there are a few places nearby that will do in a pinch:
Sylvias is good for Soul Food and gospel brunch. Lenox Ave, just above 125th. It’s become a little bit touristy, though, particularly on Sundays. I haven’t been there in years.
A few years back, I went to Mobay, on 125th bet 5th and Lenox/Malcolm X. New Orleans food with some Carribean stuff as well. Yum. Tasty stuff guaranteed to harden arteries.
Birdland has a great New Orleans style menu too. 43rd bet 8th and 9th, IIRC. If you like someone, take them on a date there for dinner on Sunday nights for their Jazz Party. Awesomeness.
Those Dallas BBQ are pretty tasty places. I’m not sure how “authentic” they are, but they are cheap and tasty, and their Texas-sized frozen drinks pack a (fun-filled) punch.
I really don’t know where to go for fried chicken. I’ve always been meaning to step into one of those “Kennedy Fried Chicken” places just to see what it’s like, but I don’t really eat fried chicken much anymore… it’s yummy but just too horrifically bad for one’s health, and I have a hard enough time resisting the other stuff that I like.
 
+ 1 on the Texas BBQ. I’d kill for a good brisket. I also did Cajun/New Orleans food as well. I used to visit a hole in the wall in my old hood ran by a former NO fisherman who left after Katrina. He made some of the best catfish I’ve ever had.
 
As a resident of Kansas City I’m obligated to say we have the best BBQ in the world. Texas is a close second though. Very different style so I don’t mind saying that. Now the Tenn/Carolina BBQ just plain sucks.
 
I <3 Dallas BBQ. Classy place to take a date? Hardly. Delicious and incredibly cheap? Yep.
Also, why the hate on Carolina style bbq, Sweep? I loves me anything with a vinegar base.
 
It’s good food, just hating for hyperbole. Still, it is the bottom rung on the BBQ ladder. KC does sauce better than anywhere else. Texas isn’t sauce-centric so I can still love it. Just not that big of a fan of vinegar based sauces.
 
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