Bennachin
African restaurant · French Quarter
1212 Royal St, New Orleans, LA 70116
Highlights
Vegetarian-friendly West African fare in art-filled, cozy surrounds
Vegetarian-friendly West African fare in art-filled, cozy surrounds
"Afrobeats music videos on the television, purple and green tie-dyed tablecloths, and African art adorning every wall—welcome to Bennachin. Come for lunch with a few friends and split a bunch of stuff—prioritize the egusi soup, our favorite throat-not-lip-warming spicy spinach soup with thick cuts of beef, and the Jazz Fest combo with chicken skewers, sweet fried plantains, and sautéed spinach. (It’s also consistently the best actual Jazz Fest food choice.) Top things off with a ginger drink that’s the zippier-yet-sweeter cousin of ginger ale." - Megan Braden-Perry
"At the festival this vendor serves Jama jama (sauteed spinach), plantains, and poulet fricassee (chicken on a stick), highlighting West African flavors and a portable, stick-friendly preparation of chicken." - Clair Lorell
"If you’re exploring the French Quarter, Bennachin is a welcoming, casual option for comforting Gambian and Cameroonian specialties, many vegetarian-friendly, served in a cozy, funky space with eclectic furniture and colorful art covering the walls. It’s BYOB, but Sidney’s Wine Cellar is a few blocks away." - Clair Lorell
"Trace gumbo to its West African roots at chef Fanta Tambajang’s Royal Street restaurant Bennachin. The nsouki lappa — a beef sausage and turkey gumbo — boasts smoky notes in its rich roux. Save room for a dessert of shakari (couscous in a yogurt sauce with shredded coconut, raisins, and tart pineapple)." - Beth D’Addono
"At 1212 Royal Street in the French Quarter, I encountered a long-standing West African restaurant that has made an indelible mark on New Orleans cuisine by specializing in dishes that are the culinary ancestors of jambalaya, red beans and rice, and gumbo. The namesake bennachin (jollof rice), cheekily described on the menu as “African jambalaya,” arrives steaming with a buttered roll and jama-jama (spinach sautéed to a deep green), and the rice bursts with ginger, red bell pepper, onion, and garlic — leading Tambajang to say, “It tastes like New Orleans jambalaya, but it tastes better.” Owner Fanta Tambajang opened the original Bennachin in Metairie’s Fat City in 1992 and relocated to the French Quarter in 2003; the restaurant remains family-run with her daughter Salimatou managing operations and cooking alongside her. Signature offerings I observed and that are highlighted on the menu include fufu (pounded cassava), sisay singho (chicken with plantains and coconut rice), domoda (beef and peanut stew with rice), sorso wolengho ni mano (a red-bean dish cooked with ginger, onion, garlic and beef sausage that requires an overnight soak and recalls “olden-day Creole cooking” but contains no pork), and nsouki lappa (an okra-based stew made with turkey legs). Behind the restaurant’s nondescript double doors sits a small, personal space that includes a large art piece depicting a Ghanaian slave castle — a visual reminder of the African diasporic origins the food celebrates — and the business’s hours were reduced after COVID, with the restaurant now closed on Mondays and Tuesdays." - Megan Ulu-Lani Boyanton
