Harlem

I was in London a while back and stumbled across this place while taking a walk in the neighborhood the first day we were there. Looked great from the outside and we decided to stop in later that evening. Good food overall. Although I must say I didn’t care for the cornbread that much. It’s good; just not the good old-​fashioned cornbread that my grandmother makes. It tastes like I can make it (with jiffy mix).
The bar is great and the drinks are great. The staff was super friendly. And they had this awesome soup I just can’t remember what it was… If you’re in the area, be sure to make a stop in. I’d definitely go back.

Harlem’s brunch offers me satisfying soul-​food that’s seedy, sexy good in surroundings that are just the right side of shady and sooty. Sure, the bottomless filter coffee and bloody mary buffet aren’t so salubrious. But with saucy sipping this sapid, who wants to be saintly?
Not me.
Especially when said sipping’s accompanied by sweetcorn fritters, home fries and corn bread on the side.
Still, kinda pricey.
(NB, Harlem is actually quite clean. It only affects the sooty sleeze of American dives.)

This place was good for some American food and RnB music. I wasn’t that hungry so I had some Mac n Cheese. It was alright (not the best, not the worst). The best part of the night was the lil club downstairs churning out some sweet RnB music. Only downside was that it is sooo far away from the SE side of London.

This is one of my go to local hangover joints.
They do a mean burger here and was actually the place I came to for my vegetarian ‘leaving’ dinner. I needed my meat in my life and after eating the burger here, I never looked back.
But burgers aren’t all they serve here. At lunch and dinner, they serve some lovely cornbread as a very southern ‘amuse-​bouche’, which you need to be careful not to overeat, as it’s very filling!
Harlem is owned by Arthur Baker, who used to produce the group Chic, amongst other 70s legends, so both floors are covered in fantastic music memorabilia. If you’re a music buff, it’s worth a trip alone to see the many photos, records and other bits and pieces.
I’ve eaten my way through most the menu and the only negative I’d give the food is that it’s sometimes a bit too salty, so you end up over ordering on the drinks. But they’ve got Brooklyn Lager and Anchor, so that’s not necessarily a bad thing!

This was a lovely venue for a post Elite event UYE. They had actually reserved the downstairs bar for us Unilocalers.
There was a lot of comfortable eating to lounge in and chat.
However, the star of the evening was the bartender and cocktail creations. Somehow, he single-​handedly churned out drink after drink to keep the thirsty Unilocal crowd happy. I was royally entertained by various displays of sugar pyrotechnics in making some of the concoctions.
Nice chilled place for a drink, chat and cocktails

Whoa they guys can serve up a killer cocktail. Actually after one I’m slightly staggering home which is totally a good thing if you’re on a budget.
Tasty drinks to sup, a nice mix of music and totally chilled staff you can’t really ask for more of a bar. Its a bit of a show when you come here actually, you perk at the bar and they’ll mix you up a treat talking you though how they make their delicious delights and then set it flaming in front of you. Mouth watering as I guzzle it down, I’m one happy lady.

What a cool bar this is. The cocktails are quality, there is a great selection of beer, the downstairs and upstairs have plenty of seating yet still give the feeling of space, and the darkened lighting gives of an intimate vibe that makes it hard to leave.
I am a fan of Harlem and would certainly recommend.

I came here for the Elite after party. We had the entire downstairs to ourself. The music was very chill, there was plent of comfy couches and the drinks were delicious. I can see how this could be a good date place as the venue is mostly light by candle light and there are quite a few areas to *ahem* get to know each other. I unfortunately didn’t have any of the food but would like to come back and see if its anything like home.

cooolio !!! I like this place. I will have to update to upate this review after I get go back out here again … check it out and be suprised.

I loved Harlem. I was in London several years ago for a Finance trip and still remember our night here. We stumbled upon Harlem when we were strolling the streets to find somewhere to have dinner that night.
Being from the US, this place reminded us of home. It had great food and a great atmosphere. We didn’t stay too long in the bar, but if we had found this earlier in our trip, I’m sure we would have come back.

What a crackin’ little find! There is nothing better than being pleasantly surprised and from the moment I walked in, Harlem just got better and better. Can’t ask for more than that, can ya?
–Hmmm, free wi-​fi? Hotties working on MacBooks along the bar? Noted.
–Why yes, I’d love a stiff classic cocktail.
–Of course I’ll partake in some homemade hushpuppies!
–Wait, you have a downstairs?
–80s music and lycra galore?
–Even the dungeon-​esque wooden bathrooms were impressive.
–Did someone say pancakes?
Yes, yes, yes. I can’t wait for next time when I’ll surely come equipped with my laptop and lycra get-​up.

Found this place by total dumb luck. We were walking around the area looking for a pub and saw this place from across the street. After walking in and checking out the ground floor, we decided to head downstairs to check out the scene there. The scene… was perfect. Several booths and tables, a full bar and a DJ playing some good eclectic tunes.
The bartenders were really cool and we spent some time trading our knowledges of different types of whiskey. He also opened me up to a corn whiskey made by the brewers of Anchor Steam beer in San Francisco. It came in a mason jar and looked/​tasted like moonshine. What a treat! I will definitely be back here soon and often.

After a FAILED attempt at pub hopping in Picadilly Circus, my friends and I decided to return back to our hotel. As we were strolling along, my boyfriend heard faint music coming from a building. Mind you it was 12:30 am on a weekday. The surroundings were completely dead. But that didn’t stop us from peering inside. I knew we’d have a good time in this place because as soon as we stepped in, the DJ was blasting old school Madonna. Everyone in this establishment were so friendly! The £7 piña colada is more than anything I’ve paid in the states (damn the weak dollar!), but it was probably the tastiest I’ve had. The place is a bit snug, the crowd was laid-​back and chill, and the music was cool. We even requested some Tupac music (as we’re from Los Angeles), and the DJ didn’t just play one song, he played a whole set of Tupac! Yay! It was definitely some fun times =)

Harlem is not placed in New York but in Notting Hill. I have been there with a bunch of hungry men on a Sunday morning. We all could not wait to have a substantial brunch. Craving over the delicious menu all of us decided to go for the full American breakfast except one, he had a sweet tooth and ordered the pancakes.
Imagine waiting over 1 hour for your food, starving from hunger and impatience. Well this is what happened to us. We complained 4 times when finally the food arrived. By then our carrot and orange juices were finished. At least the coffee should be on the house but we got nothing more then a big grin of the waiter. Beside that the American breakfast was all-​homemade and carefully arranged the service unfortunately was appalling. Such a shame, as the food is very good!
I never visited the place again, but I was told this is a great club to go dancing when you get kicked out of bars usually around 1am. Maybe I will be positive surprised?

I’ve been to Harlem a number of times, but only when I’m looking for late-​night and simple food in an area where this is hard to come by (the kitchen is usually open until 1am)… The food is sometimes OK, sometimes good and occasionally really good — i.e. just the other night, I had a great burger with an excellent side of collard greens and bacon.
If you’re starving (which I tend to be when coming here), warm up with a plate of the slightly spicy hushpuppies. Perhaps we were lucky at my last, very late-​night visit as they came straight out of the oven and were delicious — the waitress actually told us they were «made from scratch» (presumably this means they were out of the prebaked ones and were therefore having to drop dough balls into oil, but whatever). Their sweet cornbread is also excellent.

Great late night drinking venue although found the drinks to be a bit pricey but guess it is Notting Hill prices! Think that £10 admission price is a bit steep (after 10pm) because downstairs is not particularly big. I was not as impressed with the food– had lunch with my friend and the meal was overpriced for an average burger and the service could have been better.