Masala Yangu

Made it to Yangu last night, in the back of the Jeffereson Hill mall in Naperville. http://www.masalayangu.com/.

It is a winner. Aside from the charm of the owners, and the wonderful brazilian trio performing on a Saturday night, the food was darned good, too. The food is East African, mostly Kenyan and Tanzanian coasts, which shares a lot with that of its neighbors across the Indian Ocean,

We started with a couple of appetizers -
Sambusas are a refined variant of samosas, a lighter triangle of meat with fresh, tangy seasoning. Served with two peppery chutneys, a red that reminded me mostly of harissa with good heat, and a minty green, very similar to green Indian chutney, only here with a little extra heat. We also tried the Bajia ya viyazi, nicely done potato cakes, with some mayonaissey sauces on the side, one red, one white. I got stuck on the chutneys, enjoying these sauces more from creaminess/texture, so I really can't comment on the flavor. Lightly breaded, fired well without being greasy.

Sort of got stuck on the specials for the main course - one was a coconut curry, served either with fish or shrimp - really perfect for a birght summer evening with samba rhythms, so two of us went fish, a third shrimp. Our fourth went with the Mchuzi ya keema, stewed lamb in a deep curry. The one taste of lamb I had was good, not as spicy as I would like and the lamb was pretty chewy. Not bad, but the low point of the meal for me. The fish filet in a mound of fresh, cocuntty, curry was excellent. Chapattis made there, and white rice complemented it well.

We also ordered all the sides we could, Sukuma is sauteed kale, Kbej - curried cabbage (no potatos that day), and kidney beans in a creamy cumin sauce.

We finished with a sweet potato dessert, sweet, rich, probably cooked in coconut milk.

The menu differs a bit from the on line menu (fewer choices, somewhat different options), and they have yet to find the promised Middle Eastern and North African wines and beers, settling for South African wine, and some imported beer that was sufficiently unspecial that I can't even remember what it was.

The whole meal ran about $25 each without tip or wine, which seemed a good deal for the quantity and quality. Fresh, good homemade effect, friendly people.

And on their second Friday of business, I was quite pleased to see the place pretty much filled up by 8 or so. Can't help but wish them well, and I will do my best to support the place.

Masala Yangu
43 E. Jefferson Avenue
Naperville, IL
630.922.9999

Thanks for the report, I've been meaning to try this place but I've been too busy to get down there. How kid friendly would you say it is? I'm thinking of bringing mine to have them try something new.

Octarine wrote:Thanks for the report, I've been meaning to try this place but I've been too busy to get down there. How kid friendly would you say it is? I'm thinking of bringing mine to have them try something new.

It is pretty casual and I expect they would be open to kids. The nights that they have music the volume is pretty high so you might not even notice the kids.

Casual, kid-friendly, nice family vibe, IMO.

It is very heartening to see places like this and Cho Dang (which is also very kid friendly) in Naperville.

David,

As well, thanks for the info. Any recall if there was a vegetarian entree or would it be best to cobble a dinner together from the sides?

As for Cho Dang, we went again last weekend to celebrate Cinco De Mayo with tofu soup. Good as ever and also glad to see a room filled to capacity around lunch time. Based on your comments and our previous visits, it appeared this place was not getting much traffic. I'll second the fact that it's kid friendly and go so far to say that the tofu nuggets on the kids menu are pretty darn tasty.

Hey Tony,

Yes, Yangu does have vegie offerings. And I imagine she would make you a vegie entree if asked, too.

While eating my hunk of fish and looking at the other meat and seafood offerings, it did cross my mind that one big difference, or inauthenticity if you will, in this place versus what one might get in Africa was the amount of protein on the plate. Meat and seafood would more likely play a supporting role than the starring role they play here, and there would be more starch.

Just a guess.

I made it out to Masala Yangu a little while back and have been meaning to write it up.

in speaking to kenyan friends of mine, they indicated and I agree that the food really has to be considered more indian than kenyan, though the kenyan influence is most seen in a couple of the veggies sides like sukuma.

that being said, i enjoyed the place, pleasant setting, really nice staff, good music (for those who are interested in that i spotted both "shauri yako" and "pole musa" among the songs being played, in other words zilipendwa)

of the food we tried (and we tried most everything, and ordered for takeout anything we couldn't eat there - I don't get to naperville that often) the clear standouts were the shrimp in coconut curry, very similar to keralan preparations and the eggplant dish (which is offered as a main)

Dosti at 853 Roselle rd. is a relatively new restaurant in Schaumburg which also is said to feature some Indian/east african food (evidently in a pub like setting). A colleague of mine who is married to a Ugandan woman tells me she finds it's very good and quite authentic. Anybody tried this yet?

From the outside, you might not guess there was a red room serving East African cuisine inside:



Calvin Young owns the place with his wife, Rahila (a native Kenyan). He is very excited about the food they’re serving, and this empty room was shot at the end of the evening. For a weekday night, the crowd was moderate.



Here’s an off-menu item: cow hoof soup. The broth was fine, and the hoof gelatinous.



Here’s my plate, note cow hoof at 12:00, followed by kale & collards, charbroiled lamb chop, beef, kale, a fish in cassava, chapatti and banana.



Accompanying the dishes were some stellar sauces, excellent meal enhancements that included a citrus-based hot sauce (killer), as well as some regular hot sauces, one with yogurt. I believe I detected asafetida in the citrus sauce which, like other edibles here, reflected the influence of the subcontinent just across the Indian Ocean from Kenya.

Ugali, a maize-based food/eating implement, is here test-driven by dodger. I find it very hard to eat this way, though dickson claimed he could do it without leaving starchy residue on his fingers.



This is a good place, one of the more satisfying African joints I’ve been to, and the lunch buffet is $9.95, which is a good deal and includes veggies.

Hammond

David Hammond wrote:...note cow hoof at 12:00

Nice photos David.

Even though very gelatinous, the cow’s hooves were good, nice spice.

The fish in cassava with peanuts was very tasty as was the lamb with okra (not on the menu)

The citrus-based hot sauce which was pili pili, peppers, lemons was a hit, heat wise and taste.

--

What the hell are you eating, hoof?

It was a very enjoyable meal. They were very accomadating, both as we wrestled with how many people we would have, and in giving us off-the-menu, more authentic dishes. And Calvin and Rahila were both quite charming.

Having been there a few times and eaten items from the menu and the lunch buffet, there are some significant differences aside from the absence of Ugali and cow hooves. The food on the menu and buffet shows a stronger Indian influence, to my palate, than what we had at this meal. Here the dishes and seasoning seemed more African with a very pleasing refinement in the seasoning.

Let me add a couple of pix, first the fish stew in cassava leaves. Yes, there are fried fish and peanuts in there.



The curried plantains (grilled lamb chops on greens in back)



Calvin shared some information about positive press they have been getting and how it is translating into increased business. I am rooting for them.

Sounds like it was a great time, sorry I missed it. Thanks for sharing the pics. I was hoping to try to attend, even at the last minute (especially when Mr. Hammond offered to pay), but have been up to my eyes in alligators here at work preparing for a hearing next week.

At any rate, while I'm not an overly adventurous eater (I wouldn't have tried the hoof, for example), many of the items sound as though they were quite good. We'll have to give it a try. Hope they can make a go of it.

Calvin did say the preferred method of eating Ugali was with one’s fingers. So I thought I would give it a try and used it to soak up some of what Calvin called his favorite sauce, the citrus based hot sauce. I am sure some of the others remember the name.

The Ugali was stickier than oatmeal and with not much flavor. I imagine it draws it flavor from using it as utensil. Oh, while I also found the cow hooves’ texture to be unpleasant, the flavor was very rewarding.

Thanks to Dave for organizing the trip.

D.