Nabe Harlem
“During happy hour, they offer a complimentary glass of wine with the order of the noodle dishes!”
“Harlem please welcome and show lots of love because they need to stay for years and years to come.”
“The insightful convo with the owner and his attentive mother on the story behind Nabe Harlem and Nabe Harlem Underground was an added bonus.”
Nabe Harlem
Takes Reservations: Yes
Take-out: Yes
Accepts Credit Cards: Yes
Good for Groups: Yes
Happy Hour: Yes
Coat Check: Yes
Has TV: Yes
Waiter Service: Yes
Caters: Yes
Price range.
$$ Price range $11-30
5 reviews
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This new Japanese Udon and Soba restaurant has a tight, distinct menu and simple decor.
With two people working a 15-seat space, at times, service was a bit slow.
I found the curry udon broth very tasty, though my added pork was super fatty. Prices are comparable to what you'll find in the East and West Village for similar options ($14/bowl).
$7 for a bottle of Sapporo.
I'd be excited to try this place again when it has another few weeks under its belt.
I really, really wish I loved this spot a little more. I'm always craving a bowl of piping hot udon, especially when it's cold out. However, this place was really such a disappointment. My friend and I both ordered beef udon and shared a bottle of sake. The udon itself costs $12-$15 depending on size and you have the option to add on toppings for $2 each. My friend added a few toppings but I stuck with just the udon itself. When I say udon itself, I literally mean… JUST UDON. Besides a few bits of beef, scallion, and broth… there really wasn't much to my bowl of noodles. Maybe I'm just used to udon back home in California that's packed with toppings and I guess my udon here could have been if I had opted to pay for more toppings. I just couldn't justify spending $20 on a bowl of noodles that I could easily make at home though. I finished my entire bowl feeling quite dissatisfied and my friend seemed like he was still hungry when we left.
I'll probably give this place another try, since it's still a relatively new establishment. The ambience is nice and intimate, so it makes a pretty great date spot. Only downside, your date may not be impressed by the food.
The noodles were underwhelming. The plus is the $20 table minimum when they had live music was that it counted toward your food and drink and the live music was really good and lasted a good amount of time. I will return but the food was just average.
I've been here twice, once for takeout and once for dinner.
Atmosphere: Place is small but nicely decorated. Don't recommend coming in large groups.
Service: Waitress was helpful in helping us decide toppings.
Food: I've had the beef soba noodles and it was pretty good. I also had the vegetable Udon with thick noodles with kimchi and it was delish.
I hear they have live music in the lounge downstairs; I would love to check it out.
Great addition to the area!
"Real love I'm searching for the real love Someone to set my heart free/ Real love
I'm searching for a real love." – Mary J. Blige
I think most of the high reviews of this place is for their bar/lounge or by friends of the Owners. I had high hopes for this few month's old business, with a promising front entrance, that seemed to offer a little diversity for the neighborhood. But just like the Cover Song muzak station playing, Mary J. Blige "tribute" band performing downstairs (with a packed house for a Wednesday night), everything about Nabe Harlem is just that- an Imitation for the real thing.
One star for the newish nice waitress. She tried hard, but seemed to still get yelled at by the host for packing the wrong take-out order and to sweep the floors. We got there at 7pm on a Wednesday, as one couple was leaving. We were the only people in the restaurant. The waitress also had to serve the customers downstairs in the lounge- bringing bowls of hot soup outside, down the stairs, into the bar.
The boy got the Veggie Udon Noodles $11, which came in a Giant bowl (impressive, til you look closer). The broth was flavorless and tasted like water with a splash of soy sauce, the udon was soggy and fell apart, and the "vegetables" consisted of tempura carrot and a many slices of RAW onions. The tempura dough fell apart within contact of the water and the soup became a big bowl of batter water. His side of Tempura Tofu $2.75 tasted like freezer-burned sliced tofu, mildly warmed up.
My Maitake Mushroom Tempura $3 sounded promising (PS. the Staff didn't know what most of the dishes consisted of- I ordered this anyway), what came were two large greasy pieces of oyster mushrooms. The mushrooms turned out to be raw on the inside (is that poisonous?) and the batter was also kind of raw. I got a plain Cold Soba $10. It was NOT Soba, barely tasted of buckwheat flour. It was basically thin whole wheat spaghetti. I'm trying to stay Gluten-free and can tolerate a little, but for someone with major Gluten issues, can't this cause major legal issues for their business?!! The wakame seaweed was alright, weirdly salted, tasted like it wasn't soaked for very long. The fish cake was flavorless and seemed recently defrosted, the scallion garnish were in huge chunks and shredded haphazardly. It was like kids putting this food together. Even if they bought a pack of Udon with bullion mix from the Asian Grocery Store and made it, it would taste better than this. Soba takes 2 Minutes to boil!
It was Just. All. Wrong.
To finish, their computer system when down and they were only accepting Cash. The Boy had to run to the the Duane Reade to get cash. Disappointed for a business that wants to try to be different, but should stick to what they know as a bar/lounge. They seem to be doing well with different nights for jazz, r&b, and karaoke. They also seem to have a steady stream of take-out orders- so sad for those customers awaiting food in their cozy homes. Such a shame for the Young Professionals in the neighborhood or Residents who grew up in the area- creating their perception of how Japanese noodles should be. If the Owner supposedly lived in Japan, it's disappointing, because he's taking shortcuts to represent a culture that has such high respect for food and ingredients. I really hope they get a new Cook and re-examine their food and techniques. Soba is NOT wheat spaghetti!!
Better yet, just take the train to Udon West or Soba-ya (FRESH handmade noodles).