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| - I'm almost always game for an adventure in my mouth, so it was with much anticipation that I attended a UYE at Bantu Bistro. Fifteen of us ended up showing, which is a) a great turn-out and b) potentially disastrous, both for those of us eating and those preparing/serving the food. BB is my Little Engine That Could, because faced with that challenge our servers remained calm and courteous.
Upon reading the menu, I immediately knew I was going to get the goat because I've not had goat before. And since I've also never eaten West African food I threw caution into the wind. While waiting for the rest of our party to arrive, the first wave of us ordered drinks, as we are prone to do. We ended up finishing off some of the choices (beers, mostly, that weren't stocked to accommodate a large drinking crowd*) . By the time our full crew had arrived, I think that 2 or 3 beer choices were off the list. So, on the the eats. Now, keep in mind there were 15 people there, and we pretty much ordered something different off the menu, all of which include the "African spices." Each entree comes with one meat (chicken, goat, ox tail, shrimp...) and two sides (fufu, rice, potatoes and plantains). We were served complementary fried plantains with a lovely dipping sauce. Our entrees came fairly close to one another, however my goat was prepared as curried instead of plain. But that's okay, because it was good. While nothing in the flavor jumped out and smacked me in the throat, I have to admit that I over season and heavily salt everything and a lifetime of this has desensitized my taste buds. Authentic ethnic foods don't always have an explosion of flavors but rather rely on letting more subtle flavors mingle in the palatte.
Sounds like a lot of moaning for achieving four stars, one might say. To which I would call as my justification:
== I was rather full by the time I was half through my entree
== free hot beans were brought to use during our meal. While I cannot recall the name of these, they had a peculiar and interesting flavor. I wanted more salt on them but I want more salt on everything--I have to trim that back in my diet
== Graciousness is never overrated. The staff and the owner all were appreciative of our business and thanked us several times throughout the evening.
== We pretty much took over the dining area and I didn't feel like the staff were concerned about that.
== They broke down our bill without adding a gratuity fee, as is customary at most places for large parties.
I'm looking forward to returning in a while and hopefully the stocking issue will be resolved and I will have educated myself more on the intricacies of truly authentic African food and flavors. Until then, I wish BB the best of luck and keep up the good work.
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* I personally feel that while the libations of an eating establishment are important--sometimes equally to that of the food--it's also understandable that a newer establishment would chose to emphasise its entree delivery. For this, I can look past the alcohol stocking issue.
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