Dustin M. R.
Yelp
My employer gave us an extra PTO day this year as a Cultural Exploration Day. Being a fan of history, travel, and good food, my goal was to combine them all together and celebrate something outside of my normal comfort zone and WASPy upbringing. After researching various African holidays, I settled on Day of the Women from Namibia, which celebrates an important date in that nation's move toward independence, where women protested relocations that had been forced on their community by apartheid-era South African administrators. However, when I searched for a Namibian restaurant, I was disappointed to discover that NYC was my best bet. Undaunted, I turned to Yelp for help in finding a Sub-Saharan African restaurant, and it recommended KG's African-American Grill in Garden City. Sure, others might have been intimidated by the idea of driving 90 minutes one-way for lunch, but I figured that was a heck of a lot better than 9 hours to New York!
Arriving long after the lunch rush was over, on entering the restaurant I walked up the counter and asked if I could still dine-in for lunch (with COVID staff and supply shortages, it is never safe to assume these days). The smiling young woman looked bemused by my question when she replied "of course!" and then invited me to peruse the menu. Excited by all the possibilities I could try, I carefully read over the full menu before settling on Thiebu Djeun, the Senegalese national dish. When she asked what I wanted to drink and I answered a fountain soda, one of the cooks piped up with a beautiful lilt to her voice and a big smile, that I should get one of the exotic juices which they make fresh on-site: ginger, sorrel, and baobab. Loving fresh ginger, I immediately requested the ginger, but the cook insisted that I try all three. As the woman behind the counter poured three sample-sized cups, I asked which one she preferred, and she said the baobab was her favourite. After trying them all, I agreed and requested a bottle.
My order placed, I proceeded to a comfortable booth to take in the restaurant while awaiting my food. The establishment itself appeared to have upper and lower dining areas, with the upper being currently closed. The lower area was made up predominantly of comfortable booths plus a smattering of tables. The walls were decorated with beautiful paintings and pictures from Africa, while exotic music softly wafted out from hidden speakers (I fully expected to hear Georges Collinet narrating between songs!). As others have noted in their reviews, the entire restaurant was immaculately clean down to the finest detail, with not even the corner of a single drinking straw wrapper hiding under a table.
In short order my food was delivered to my table, and it looked fantastic! The Thiebu Djeun was generously sized, and it tasted absolutely amazing! The rice had a rich, umami flavour from the fish stew, while the meat was fall-off-the-bone tender. While I am not entirely sure what all the vegetables were (plantain? yam? carrot?), they were all perfectly cooked and tasted delicious, especially the cabbage (which is saying something, as I am not normally a huge cabbage fan). Throughout the course of my meal, the friendly staff checked in on me several times, always with warm friendly smiles.
PROS: fantastic food, friendly staff, fastidiously clean restaurant
CONS: None, other than I wish I lived about 90 minutes closer!
Overall I rate KG's African-American Grill as being Excellent, and cannot wait to go back!