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| - Smell, No Taste is a Liberian-owned restaurant that has been serving up traditional West African fare in NoDa for over two years, and has built quite a reputation among Charlotte's African community.
Smell, No Taste offers goat soup: rich, garlicky, with an ethereal heat that you can literally feel moving down your esophagus, burning the impurities out of your body. Chunks of meat, some with untrimmed fat, float in the liquid. Don't discriminate; put the entire piece in your mouth and chew, and wonder at the tenderness of even the gristle.
Don't be alarmed if, like my companion, your eyes start to run or sweat beads up on your forehead while sampling the soup. That's supposed to happen. Smell, No Taste is typical of West Africa in that the food is hot, but it's not the top note furnace blast you'd expect from, say, Mexican or Indian food. There is the initial sear, but the real magic is in the slow burn. The heat builds and builds the longer you eat, leaving some tasters feeling rather like the lobster who doesn't notice until too late that, hey, isn't the water getting a little warm?
If things get too heated, for God's sake don't drink water--your head may explode. Instead, opt for something sweet, like soda, to gently counteract the crackling flame.
Smell, No Taste serves their goat soup with the traditional ball of fufu, a 2-pound (I jest, but you're not gonna be hungry for a while) wad of cassava yam that has been pounded into a dough-like consistency. Pinch off a bit with your fingers and dip it into the soup, sucking the sticky substance off with relish.
There are other traditional offerings such as egusi soup and okra stew (delicious!!), and the cook, Musu, is a beautifully kind lady who will come out to the table, explain things (her English is limited but the man at the cash register is fluent) and try to tone the spices down or up to your preferences.
Prices are right in the $10 range, so feel free to range away from the goat in search of more flavors.
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