2 Harlem Restaurants Named Among Best Cheap Eats In NYC

HARLEM, NY — A Caribbean eatery and a fast-casual West African restaurant are the two Harlem spots recently ranked among the best affordable eateries in New York City.

The top-40 list by Eater NY was put together by dining critic Robert Sietsema. The latest list was published earlier this month, refreshing the food outlet's previous ranking on the same subject.

Among the new additions to the list this year: Teranga on Fifth Avenue and 110th Street, at the northeast corner of Central Park.

Launched in 2019 by Senegalese chef Pierre Thiam and situated inside the Africa Center, Teranga captures the "spirit of West African cooking" despite its fairly short menu, according to Sietsema.

The critic highlights Teranga's Senegalese grilled chicken yassa, with its mustard-and-sauteed-onion relish; other offerings include sweet potato and black-eyed peas stew, spicy plantains, jollof rice and roasted salmon.

Since its Harlem opening two years ago, Teranga has expanded to The Hugh, a Midtown East food hall that opened in 2021.

Meanwhile, another Harlem spot was carried over from Eater's previous cheap-eats list: Jerk House, on Adam Clayton Powell, Jr. Boulevard and West 127th Street.

Sietsema raves that Harlem has "rarely seen a Jamaican steam-table restaurant with such a broad, pristine selection of island dishes" — not just the jerk chicken, but also jerk pork, ribs and fried chicken. Other standout dishes include curry chicken, escovitch fish and curry goat, according to the review.

It is run by Sideon Stewart, who opened Jerk House's first location in the Bron before expanding to Harlem.

Read Eater's full list of "40 Inexpensive Dining Destinations in NYC."

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• Harlem Ramen Restaurant Named One Of Best In NYC
• Harlem Spot Named One Of America's Best New Restaurants