Midtown Moussaka

Breakfast and more at Harry's

A A A Comments (0) By Katharine Shilcutt Wednesday, Aug 11 2010

Chicken-fried steak on a subsequent visit was odd and difficult to describe. It was pounded thin like milanesa, perhaps a quarter of an inch thick at the most, and breaded with a lightly seasoned batter that clung to each bite, never once slipping off. But the meat itself had a strangely familiar taste: liver. I like liver and onions even more than I like chicken-fried steak (I can hear the sound of my Texas birth certificate being revoked somewhere), so I inhaled every bite, sopping up the cream gravy with extra bits of biscuit. But would a chicken-fried steak aficionado like Harry's CFS? Probably not. I still have no idea why it tasted like liver, but I'm actually eager to repeat the peculiar experience.

Despite the reliable steam-table lunches, breakfast is still my favorite time to enjoy Harry's. Sitting at one of the simple wooden tables and eating a plate of Cajun catfish and eggs, you can watch longtime waitress MiLena darting from table to table and greeting patrons as if they were her own family, Patricia ringing up customers with a smile at the register, and Johnny Platsas pacing the room with shrewd eyes and sharing tales about life back home in Greece as you enjoy the sparkling hustle and bustle of the morning. If Midtown were a sprawling mansion, Harry's would be its sunny, laid-back breakfast room.