Harlem Soul Food Restaurant Amsterdam

A lovely outside patio beckons for you to sit down and enjoy a cappuccino while giving you optimum “people watching”. The menu is an assortment of sandwiches and salads named after famous Motown musicians, such as Tina Turner and Wilson Pickett. As I was in the mood for some “soul food” I ordered the Chili Dog ,expecting the traditional sloppy chili piled on top a soft bun, and Drew ordered the Atlantic salad and a sandwich aptly named the Marvelett. When the waiter served our lunch, I was pleasantly surprised to see that my chili dog was in a crusty Dutch roll, piled high with moist and tasty hamburger mixed with a sweet corn relish. The Atlantic salad was large enough for two and garnished with many perfectly cooked shrimp, topped with onions,tomato,cucumber and guacamole. The Marvelett consisted of thick cut smoked bacon,crisp lettuce , tomato and avacado on a wonderful sesame seed foccacia bread. Although the service was a little slow, we enjoyed our lunch and shared our table with another tourist, a very common practice due to the limited number of tables. Our total bill with coffee came to 20.05 Euros. I would recommend Harlem and plan on returning to try their dinner menu, which featured slow cooked ribs, and jerk chicken.

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As promised I returned to Harlem Soul Food on a warm Friday evening to partake of their dinner menu. We managed to get the last available table on the very crowded patio. It seemed to be a mainly local crowd, with the exception of ourselves and another young couple. Drew was in the mood for a steak and ordered the Rib-eye and a cold Heiniken.I couldn’t resist the jerk chicken special for $13.00 EU. As we waited patiently for our food, we observed a few of the customers , go inside to the bar and return with a full tray of drinks…self service at it’s finest!
Finally our waiter re-appeared with two huge plates of food, and a glass with some forks and steak-knives tucked inside. I will say that Harlem is one of the few places I have been that put some thought into their presentation. Drew’s steak was draped over a large portion of crispy au gratin potatoes, with a side of coleslaw, carrots and peas, and a signature slice of watermelon. Although it was not the best cut of steak it was cooked to order. My jerk chicken was accompanied by a spicy okra and bean medley, coleslaw, and a bed of rice. The chicken was moist, but sweet in flavour not the heat that I was anticipating. I was starving so polished off my plate, leaving little behind.
Although it wasn’t quite what I had expected ,it was still very tasty and I will be back for more. It’s a great location to have a bite to eat and do a little people watching at the same time.
Our total for the two meals plus two beers was $32.00 EU.