Mike R.
Yelp
Alke Restaurant & Coffee Bar (per their website, maybe a.k.a. Alke Cafe) looked like a nice venue to have a bite or cocktail, part of a series of new African-inspired cuisine restaurants opening in Harlem outside of the W. 116th Street corridor.
Given my other positive experiences and excited to try Alke out, discovered that, despite being a "Coffee Bar" that's open (again, per their site) "From Sun Up, to Sun Down," the earliest they open is 3 PM. (From my estimate, 3 PM is approximate sunrise in New Caledonia, about 8700 miles away!) Noted it offers a Monday Stand-up Comedy Night, but decided to go for the Wednesday Trivia Night.
By far, things did not match up to my expectations! (Note - And not because of the Trivia, which was fun.) Since it was the evening, I held off on getting the coffee but ordered the Chicken Yassa, listed on their menu as an entrée with a caramelized onions and lemon sauce on a bed of rice. Although Alke's online menu listed Chicken Yassa as $12, it was corrected on the restaurant's menu to $17. I didn't think too much since I recognize typos happen and/or prices change.
See pic of what I got! While Alke's dish was well-prepared and delicious, it seriously had only 1 (one) drumstick and an ice cream scoop size portion of rice for $17!!! Outrageous! What a RIP-OFF!!! Considering the person in the table next to me ordered the wings for $12 and later received 8 wings, I couldn't believe that they served me an entrée portion.
When the waitress, who is also Alke's owner, came with the check I asked her how long it was opened... apparently 8 months. I mentioned to her, while my food was delicious, how outrageous it was to get only one drumstick for an entrée. She replied something about food costing money and the trivia was for free to participate. (7 teams played, plus they gave away $50 1st prize and $25 2nd prize.) I responded it could have had at least two drumsticks! She was absolutely unapologetic and obviously lost. Did she reduce the portion from the every other day size because the Trivia costs something?! Seriously! There are options if the numbers don't work out: either charge for Trivia or don't give as big prizes, or whatever... but don't skimp on what is presented as a main course portion, especially when the bill for that alone with tax is $18.50! Given her response, I regret also automatically giving any tip!
Of course, I recognize how hard it is to open a restaurant and build a business. Who knows? Perhaps she's strained by the rent. Given Alke's limited hours, perhaps she's running it as a one person show which I understand would be a struggle. (Which is why I give it two stars not one.) Nevertheless, Alke's owner has made a place that's a total lost opportunity! The space is warm and inviting with stone walls, exposed brick, and white ceiling beams that also (1) is a couple blocks from Central Park and (2) has limited competing restaurants in an immediate radius! Plus, the tasty Chicken Yassa she served me was at best (not really) an appetizer portion, yet again her menu lists it as an entrée! $17 for a single drumstick and a tiny portion of rice? Seriously? If the portion was anywhere either close to entrée size or sized/priced proportionally as an appetizer, I'd be going back. I live in the neighborhood and could have been a regular, but not if she's going to try to pass off anything like that small as a meal! There's no excuse - even if Alke's owner informed me (which she didn't) it was Silkie or Golden Chicken she procured downtown at The Tin Building market! (See my review.)
Beyond that Alke's owner by leveraging all the advantages of its location, especially with better weather ahead, could benefit from opening earlier, if not as an actual place to get morning coffee or weekend brunch and with reasonable lunch specials, to get people to try out their food, build their customer base and revenue stream.
Regardless, her response to my feedback killed it for me, even if I noted the wings or sliders might be a better deal - I'm not going back, even to try its $15 cup (unbelievable) of Ethiopian coffee (which is served with some sort of Ethiopian snack). An absolute shame! I go out of my way to support a good local business in my neighborhood, but given the disappointing response from Alke's owner truly unfortunately this won't be one!
