A Flavourful, Even Communal, Experience
If you are looking for a meal that is a distinct departure from the hegemony of North American style Italian cuisine, grill house or pub food, AM Africa Restaurant has got it Here we found traditional dishes and traditional presentation at reasonable prices. The range of the menu is not vast, there are no appetizers or soups or salads as such, but each of the dishes offered are a sumptuous treat.
Large photographs and African crafts adorn the inside of AM Africa, whose decor is pleasantly utilitarian. Irrepressibly happy world beat issued from the sound system as we looked out from the second story vantage point on King Street. Everyone must have been out drinking green beer during our early evening St Patrick's day visit because we had the place to ourselves for the duration of our meal.
This dining solitude made our visit that much more personal. The hostess even offered to show me how to make injera, the traditional African bread served with the stew-like entrees. Injera is flat, serving the same purpose as the tortilla shells do with fajitas. Made with quick rise and yellow corn flour, it has the consistency of a thin, more pliable pancake. It lines the platter on which the dishes like tibsy, kitfo and zil zil are served. You have only to tear off pieces of injera and dip it in the rich sauces and pick up the pieces of meat and vegetables that are the entrees. Forks are provided, but are not necessary. Show your date how comfortable you are with him or her and eat with your hands. It does the soul good.
We were impressed with the Tsebhi Dorho, which included a chicken leg and thigh stewed fork tender in a red pepper sauce that may remind you of an Indian curry. Onions, garlic, ginger, cardamom and nutmeg made this a fragrant and tasty dish, the only poultry dish on the menu. The zil zil (tender morsels of beef simmered in red wine and spices) was delicious and cooked to order.
The big surprise was the vegetarian alicha. Carrots, beans, chopped potatoes, onions and peppers were sauteed in a silky garlic, ginger and scallion sauce. The vegetables were cooked to perfection with a flavour that could convert even a confirmed carnivore. Four other vegetarian options were offered, including the intriguing timtimo with roasted lentils in a red pepper sauce.
The side salad that comes with each entree is a bit less than impressive, being a small pile of iceberg lettuce and tomatoes on the side of the platter, but this seems to be par for the course in African restaurants.
In addition to eating with your hands, AM Africa was fun because everyone ate from the same round, injera covered platter. The best strategy, as the menu suggests, is for each member of your party to order a different dish so that everyone can try a variety of things from the menu. Eating together this way lends a whole different communal tone to the eating experience.
The uninitiated should not be afraid of the exotic names or the possibility of unfamiliar flavours because, with the possible exception of the kitfo or Gordgored, which are mainly raw beef, the flavours and textures aren't such a radical departure from your standard stew. The staff at AM Africa seem to be used to neophytes like us coming in and having no idea what to expect or how to eat it; our hostess was very helpful. If you go, you can try one of the very reasonable wines on the list or the Kenyan beer, Tusker. This crisp, fruity lager went really well with the savoury tsebhi dorho.
Two can enjoy this exotic taste experience for about $25-30 including drinks. AM Africa is a continent away from anything you've ever tried.
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