John D.
Yelp
Safari so Good
Fun fact: 90% of what we watch these days is cooking and/or food related, and we're especially hooked on cooking competitions. From Chopped to Beat Bobby Flay to Wildcard Kitchen--we've seen them all.
What we love most is how they always seem to find new foods and cuisines that have somehow eluded us over our great many years. Take for instance, Chef Eric Adjepong; his Ghanaian background, flavors, and devilish good-looks (oh, my...) had intrigued us over the years, but it wasn't until recently watching a West African Chef on The Great American Recipe that really drew us in. Her amazing cooking and recipes made us crave for some legit African food.
That's where the handy-dandy Yelp app comes into play, because did you know you can just type in a dish and it'll spit back results based off reviews mentions? Well that's what happened when I put in "Egusi" in the search bar and Golden Safari was the top choice, which led us here on one fateful Sat afternoon.
The Good:
*Large shared lot with plenty of parking, as well as street parking
*Great décor
*Service was fine. They had one young man doing it all, but he was friendly trying hard, so big ups.
*The food was everything we'd imagined it and wanted it to be. Definitely highly underrated cuisine, and also extremely underserved.
*Egusi Stew was where it was at for me, as the earthy and slightly sweet soup of Egusi (ground seeds of a melon), greens, and meat of one's choice. I, ofc, chose Goat and it was fantastic. The concomitant FuFu was very, um, interesting as the texture was like mashed potatoes but not the flavor you'd expect. I mean, it's not Poi bad, but it definitely leaves a lot to be desired. It was, however, really good mixed in with the Egusi, which I suspect is how it's meant to be eaten.
*Naked Fried Chicken is where it's at. The crispiness you desire but without all the added carbs of breading.
*The Jollof Rice was also outstanding as the grains had a great texture and deep earthy flavor from all the peppers and tomatoes cooked down to nothingness.
The Meh:
*No outdoor dining
*Need a code for the restroom
*We arrived shortly after opening and *none* of the apps were "ready" to be ordered. ¯\_(ツ)_/¯
*I'm not sure if this was because we arrived after opening, but it took a loooong time to get our food. Fortunately, we both had a decent breakfast so we weren't starving. Otherwise, the hangries would've kicked in... 0_o
*Despite them being open almost eight years (2017), the restaurant felt like it was being run by someone who's never owned a restaurant before (see above). I mean, they're not deal killers but just don't expect a smooth experience from soup to nuts.
The Ugly:
*It's kind of in a strange part of town, as there was definitely some character in the lot on a good one, if you catch my drift. Basically what I'm saying is lock your doors. :)
Conclusion: SNAFUs aside, I would definitely love to come back and try more dishes at some point. Because as the Great Communicator once said, "It's all about the food, stupid."