We rocked up with no booking and the place (which is quite tiny) was almost completely packed on a Sunday night. The layout meant when the restaurant was packed, you will most likley be squished into tables that are packed closely together. Our Groupon deal allowed us two side dishes, two mains, bread, rice and cous cous and two drinks.
My wife chose Batansey - fried eggplant served with a mildly spiced tomato and onion sauce. The sauce and warm eggplant just melted in your mouth and was fantastic as a dip for the bread.
I chose Lat Dior's Delight - green beans served with a blended celery sauce. This was our favourite of the night. So simple but such an explosion of freshness (just as their menu described). The beans are dull and bland but the celery sauce is sharp, fresh and tangy.. and when combined.. it was just fantastic.
My wife loved the side dish of bread. It was slightly warm and worked well with the sides.
The main my wife chose was the Sossou Gorgiguan which is fresh boneless fish, steamed with some mild African spices like netetou and some tamarind. The word gorgiguan in Wolof literally means homosexual... which markets as an interesting dish name. The fish was slightly dry to my liking and the serving size is quite small.
I ended up choosing Varenga which is a mouth watering dish from Madagascar consisting of cubed beef marinated overnight with African spices, slightly fried and then steamed in the marinated sauce. The texture of the beef was the downfall of the dish for me. It's quite dry and jerky textured in a way...
Two small sides of cous cous and white rice....
The drink choices consisted of coke or ginger beer. We both opted for the ginger drink just out of curiosity. The ginger flavour was quite potent but worked well with the meal.
My biggest gripe with this place is the service. Don't get me wrong, they are friendly but very understaffed. If the night is busy (like when I was there) be prepared to wait as they can't stay organised and keep up with the turnover and bringing food out in a timely manner. From the time I sat down to the time I got my first side dish was approximately 40-50 minutes. I was ready to order in less than 5 minutes but they were too busy to serve everyone...
Despite their service.. or lack of.. the food is interesting enough for me to buy another voucher and come back for a revisit...at full price it feels overpriced (mainly because of their prime location). Just judging from the amount of coupon-less diners in this place... the food speaks for itself.
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