Fantastic African restaurant in a town that is dominated by African restaurants.
A word of advice, don't try to order take away over the phone, it never ends well. Just go in, be served by the lovely student who does her homework in between taking orders and enjoy the food. The take away menu is much more limited anyway so you will be missing out if you don't eat in.
The dishes are very filling. Senor Gringo and I order a salad, entree and meat dish of some sort and always walk out stuffed. Our favourites are Special Tibs (cubed lamb with onion, rosemary, garlic, and jalapeno peppers on a hotplate) and the spicy lamb curry (without the butter.
We also highly rate the vegetarian platter (veganised) and the Sega Firfir (spicy lamb stew with tomato, garlic and onion tossed with injera). Plus, sometimes they have live music, which adds to the experience.
Three ticks. We are regulars (sorry about the lack of pictures, my stomach gets the better of me sometimes).
Not fussy eater friendly.
The pork dumplings have egg in them (why?!), so do the vegetable dumplings though they made me some specially without egg. They were a greasy bland let down. So were the other two dishes we ordered, so much so that it was not even worth remembering what they were.
The restaurant also had a grubby feel, which as I've mentioned I'll ignore if the food is good.
One tick/thumbs down. Don't waste your time or calories.
Nothing to see here, move along.
I could eat nothing but the fries. Major disappointment. Major! Especially since so many people rave about this place.
The burger buns have egg, so do most of the sauces, what doesn't have egg has dairy. Senor Gringo told me I wasn't missing out, *cough* OMG this is fantastic, sucks to be you *cough.* I walked away disappointed. The staff were really apologetic about it but I wanted to have a tantrum like a five year old who has just been told they can't have dessert before dinner.
Celiacs are equally excluded. Life is hard. The food world sucks. I may be sulking.
One tick. Don't tell me it's good, I don't want to hear it.
Not much to look at from the outside, this place serves fabulous hearty food that is geared towards carnivores but still offers something for everyone.
I brought a friend here from out of town who loves seafood and red meat, favours pub food that will raise his cholesterol levels but also is a bit of a food snob who doesn't want to slum it with the average working man. Said friend ordered from the specials board - scallops with black pudding (eew), fennel, radish and watercress, followed by a t-bone steak with salad and some sort of baked vegetable and cheese dish. Senor Gringo ravished a steak with creamy mash and I felt very healthy and content having the ancient grain salad with a side of green beans (both veganised).
The food tasted very rich and indulgent but as the portions were not stomach stretching we felt deserving (we like to kid ourselves sometimes).
The drinks menu is equally high quality, well priced and the source of my new favourite whiskey - Laphraoig, a ten year old single malt scotch from the Isle of Islay, $12 a shot here, up to $18 elsewhere.
We all enjoyed our night out and Senor Gringo and I will likely be back for his birthday. Hats off to the owners for a job well done.
Two ticks (although Senor Gringo voted three stars on behalf of all the steak lovers out there)
