204099 Wed Oct 01 08:28:16 -0700 2003 10 18 Manhattan 0 1088628 Hi. I love soul food and travel to NY at least 3x a year...all of my trips are centered around eating different stuff...and some repeats of favorites (pomme frites for example). I wanted to know if you'd recommend Sylvia's in Harlem as a must-visit... I'll be in the city in a few weeks and am contemplating dinner between Blue Smoke and Slyvia's...both places I've yet to visit. THANKS! Wed Oct 01 08:28:16 -0700 2003 0 smalley 1 1088636 try Charles SOuthern Kitchen on Fredrick Douglas Blvd instead - one of the best southern fried chickens (if not the best) in NYC - a real NY bargain too - about $12 for all you can eat buffet with a varied selection of other tasty soul food as well... Wed Oct 01 10:00:29 -0700 2003 1088628 0 tigerwoman 2 1088646 I went to Charles Southern and was not really impressed.. The place is small, the neighborhood is depressed, and the food isnt all that good.. The mac and cheese was bland and cheeseless, the collard greens didnt have that strong vinegar taste, and the chicken was just alright. I hate that just because Sylvia recieves the praise it deserves, people are all of a sudden turned off by it.. I think sylvia's is great and the atmosphere is cleaner, safer, and more homey. Try Miss Mami's Spoonbread too, thats not have bad either.. I would go to Sylvias over charles southern any day of the week.. Wed Oct 01 11:17:59 -0700 2003 1088636 0 Daniel 1 1088640 Sylvia's is kind of a tourist attraction these days, the food is still good, but not worth it. Charles' is good. There is another place on 125th west of 8th that is good, but I can't remember the name. If I think of it, I'll post here. Wed Oct 01 10:17:33 -0700 2003 1088628 0 CKOne 1 1088829 I'm afraid Sylvia's is today a sad reflection of what it was 20-25 years ago. Growing up in Manhattan, there were few more exciting treats then heading up to Lenox Ave. for Sylvia's smothered pork chops or chitterlings, collard greens and black-eyed peas. While some of the sides still hold up, the entrees are uniformly heavy, gloopy, overdone. A much more satisfying soul food dinner in a perfectly pleasant ambience can be found in the neighborhood at Amy Ruth's: 116th, just west of Lenox (BYOB). If you're willing to "suffer" a diner setting and one of the city's best jukeboxes, head straight to M&G: 383 W. 125th St. If you can make it up for lunch or an early (pre-7:00) dinner and are happy with a cafeteria ambience, the best soul food meal you can find in lower Harlem is served at the United House of Prayer: west side of Frederick Douglas Blvd., just south of 125th, up the giant flight of stairs. Do get the mac-and-cheese. Thu Oct 02 16:06:03 -0700 2003 1088628 0 Dan Geist 2 1088835 Hey.. Please tell me more about the prayer house.. I am very interested in this. Daniel Thu Oct 02 16:32:00 -0700 2003 1088829 0 Daniel 3 1088859 I wrote a little something on UHOP a few months ago--here's an updated version: The United House of Prayer is an enormous unadorned building on the southeast corner of 125th St. and Frederick Douglas Blvd. The entrance is an unmarked door about midway between 125th and 124th--there's a couple unmarked glass doors there; the one you want opens immediately onto a giant staircase. Up that (or up the elevators to the right), turn left at the top, and you're at the cafeteria. As a total experience,UHOP serves up one of the best soul food meals I've had north of the Mason-Dixon line. Among the entrees, I've had the pig's feet (perfectly prepared), the smothered pork chops (flavorful and not too heavy, like so many preparations) and meat loaf (I've had so much mediocre meat loaf over the years I'd just about given up on it--but this was excellent). I've tried three different sides--mac and cheese (again, excellent--in fact, the ONLY excellent soul food mac and cheese I've had in New York--real cheese, real texture), collard greens (in a chopped-up style I don't really prefer, but savory and cooked just the right amount of time), and candied yams (hard to go wrong with these, and they don't). The cornbread is undistinguished; the cake I've had--a version of pound cake with a coconut-and-pineapple vanilla icing--on the other hand was superb, intensely buttery and yet somehow light. The setting is spartan--it IS a cafeteria--but lovely people. A wonderful place. Open 'til 7 weekdays; I'm not sure of the weekend hours. Thu Oct 02 21:01:33 -0700 2003 1088835 0 Dan Geist 4 1088950 Have you been to justins? Fri Oct 03 12:46:21 -0700 2003 1088859 0 Daniel 5 1089100 No, I haven't been to Justin's--what little I've heard hasn't been too great, at least in terms of food (apparently it is a good bar scene). Do you have a report? Sun Oct 05 16:52:59 -0700 2003 1088950 0 Dan Geist 2 1088891 M&G is the place I was thinking. Fri Oct 03 09:15:40 -0700 2003 1088829 0 CKOne 2 1088944 Oh yeah, the jukebox and M&G is out of this world. Also fond of the corn muffins. Fri Oct 03 12:23:15 -0700 2003 1088829 0 JessicaKlonsky