Madiba, (Nelson Mandela’s clan name) is “dedicated to the future of South Africa,” and hosts a select array of land-and-sea selections, unique mixed cocktails, a very large wine list (you could get two bottles for every entree), and the country’s “rainbow cuisine” of eggs, land-and-sea, and juicy burgers. Food reflects influences from traditional indigenous Zulu cooking to touches of British India and Dutch. A small percentage of your bill is forwarded to charities in South Africa. (Sources: madibarestaurant.com, insidenewyork.com).
Three locations tucked away in the East Village, Upper West Side, and Brooklyn Heights, offer three different menus of unforgettable Ethiopian culinary experiences. Get a bottle of wine and a combo platter (all veggie or veggie-meat varieties) at the one on East 10th Street., or the azifa appetizer on Amsterdam Avenue, with injera all around. If you haven’t had that porous, cushioned scoop-up traditional bread yet, you haven’t begun living. (source: awashny.com).
This hotspot offers similar cuisine to Awash, but with specific Eritrean influence — especially in the coastal shrimp dishes. There’s a succulent monkfish on the fish list, and for vegans, an entire dedicated portion of the menu. An entire meal of okra is something a plant eater can only imagine. This place is quiet and perfect for intimate conversation. (Sources: massawanyc.com, nytimes.com).
Way out there (depending on where you’re standing) in Jamaica, Queens, you’ll find Maima’s. It’s Liberian cuisine, and may be the only restaurant serving food from that country in New York City. This includes the heartiest stews and meats perfect for indoor winter eating (and there’s a backyard garden for the summer). Try the palava sauce with rice and fufu (West African pounded-out, rolled-up vegetable starches for grabbing and dipping). Reasonable in price, spicy, saucy and sharp, most plates are cooked and conveyed to the table by Maima herself. Swing by this Yelp sensation to or from Kennedy airport. (Sources: yelp.com, eatingintranslation.com).
In the Columbia University area you’ll find Africa Kiné — West African food in West Harlem. Offering a Senegalese-French-African menu, its plates are literally not big enough, or your taste buds prepared to handle the thiebou djen (white fish in a savory veggie stew over rice), or the chicken skewers, or the poisson grille. Do check out their amazing scroll-down photo menu. (www.africakine.com). (Sources: africakine.com, yelp.com).
The awning simply reads, “We serve African and Caribbean Cuisine.” A leap over the Harlem River into the thriving Grand Concourse, and it’s take-away or dine-in Ghanian treasures. The waakye (black-eyed peas with rice) is starch heaven complete with lamb, goat, and spaghetti noodles (called talia in Ghana, a cognate for “Italia”). You could just go for one of the stews, like the emotuo and peanut soup, dipped with pinches of fufu, which your fingers should have already learned how to manage from eating at Maima’s. (Sources: papayeny.com, obrunicookingshow.wordpress.com)
At this North African-Mediterranean space, the website disclaims with modesty that, “when fully occupied, the narrow front room can feel a bit cramped.” We think this sounds just like Morocco — an eternally crowded, sweaty summer with breezes of air from the back garden and your body working on processing a sensual, savory food overload. The menu is sure redolent of Le Maghreb: tagine, various couscous platters, pizzas, dips.(Source: nomadny.com).
On Fulton Street, African flair is the game’s name 24-7. The festivals in the parks, the traditional dresses flowing color light, the tree-embraced side streets with culinary delights abounding. You’ll stumble right into Buka — Nigerian food done real right. The menu is entirely halal, gluten- and dairy-free, and includes igbin (large West African snails in sauce) or red snapper. Scoop with the right hand here — it’s Nigerian tradition. The bar is stacked high and the ambiance promises great nightlife at Buka. Fufu pictured above. (Source: bukanewyork.com)
Fried tripe, meat pies, stews and fufu are among the offerings at Wazobia, started in 2013 by Nigerian-born Lara O. Adesuyi. Wazobia means: “Come, come, come” in three different dialects. It’s the only real African restaurant in New York’s scrapper, underdog borough, and you are required as a human being to eat here. I mean, check out that fried plantain-stuffed tilapia above…the colors! (Sources: chow.com, silive.com).
Its Arab world/Middle Eastern categorization may cause folks to miss this place when googling “Best African Restaurants NYC,” but lest ye forget: Egypt will always be the crown on the head of the African continent! In amazingly multi-cultural Astoria, you’ll find this little delight. Anthony Bourdain featured Kabab on his show, “No Reservations,” in 2007. Chef Ali El Sayed from Alexandria served Anthony with some beef shank, sweet bread with caper sauce, lamb brain and hot hibiscus tea…and he loved it all. Here’s to forever fusing the great city of New York with the delicious cuisine of Africa!
