SW Suburban African

I have been meaning to post this for a while, but never quite got around to it. Have to admit that a sentence in the Trib's (excellent) article on African places convinced me I had to do it now.

It was about Masala Yangu, and the point was that it was surprising to find it in DuPage County. Sorry, Monica, you should have called or I should have posted this sooner, because it should not be a surprise. Masala Yangu is more refined, a little more upscale than the others, but it is not the only African place around here, and all these places represent a growing African immigrant community out here.

The other place in DuPage is TVF African Cuisine in Bolingbrook. I am pretty sure that TVF has some relationship with the True Vine Pentecostal Church, and despite the pictures on the web site, the place feels more like you are eating in a church kitchen than anything else. Same counter, same decoration level. They do have an interesting selection of DVDs and music, some soda and a few snacks for sale up front, one plastic picnic table with a few chairs, a roll of napkins and a bottle of hot sauce. Mainly meant for takeout, it seems. You can also make your money transfers in this storefront stuck in a corner of a little strip center that looks more wholesale than retail (about 1/2 mile west of the Boughton exit on I-355, btw, so not too inconvenient).

The food is a wide swath of West Africa, with sections on Nigeria (Eba, Amala, Pounded Yam, Fufu and Asaro), Ghana (Kenky, Banku, Fufu) and Sierra Leone (Rice, Fufu, Gari), as well as general snack, beans, bread and rice sections. Turns out what they really do is make some stews, some fried protein, and then match it with a range of starches. The result is meant to be eaten by grabbing a handful of starch and then wading into the stew with it. I have not quite gotten the hang of this and prefer to treat the starch as dumplings, dropping a dollop here or there and eat it up in spoonfuls, but I will keep trying.

Food here is flavorful, if not always finely prepared. It favors dried fish flakes and herbs over chili peppers. And for under ten dollars you get an order sufficient for 2-3 meals of stew or fried fish or chicken with the starch of your choice, along with a soda in a relaxed atmosphere.

Asanka, tucked in a new strip mall off I55 in Romeoville has a different goal entirely. The room is nice if a bit unfinished. Dim lighting, dark wood, a bar and a wide screen TV (displaying the International History Channel on our visit). The food is pretty much straight Ghanaian and offers a lot more options - not so much that the menu is larger, but that at TVF they really only offer five dishes plus starch resulting in a long menu but less variety. Service was just as casual, but less personable at Asanka.

But how was the food? On weekends, they make Banku and Okra soup. Spicy, gummy soup with chunks of beef and fried fish and a steaming ball of Banku - fermented, ground corn. Good heat on the soup, interesting smell and flavor in the Banku. Enjoyable. I did not hazard the tripe, cowfoot or smoked cowskin (wele) options with my okra soup.

The son enjoyed his Jollof rice and fried fish. On Sunday they also offer Omutuo - rice balls with peanut butter or palm nut soup. Everyday menu items include Waakye (rice and black eye peas with beef/tomato stew), jerk chicken, jollof rice, fufu, etc.

In the end I can't say which I prefer - TVF has the savor of the fish flakes, while Asanka had a more liberal use of chiles. I probably favor chiles, and I have found TVF to be a bit variable, but their Jollof Rice was wonderful on one visit, the best thing I sampled at either place. Both are worth a visit.

So, yes Virginia, there is African food out here. Masala Yangu is different in that it is East African and polished in a way these other places are not, though Asanka may get there.

TVF African Cuisine
528 East Boughton Road
Bolingbrook 630-739-1775 Open Mon-Sat 10-9

Asanka Ghanaian Restaurant
365 Budler Road
Romeoville 815-267-8705 closed Monday & Tuesday - the hours are in flux , so you might want to call first

Thank you David!

electric mullet wrote:Thank you David!

I hope I can count on you going to visit these places and providing your opinion, Tony.

David,

When I make it down there, I promise to report back. My contributions have been a bit spare as of late for no other reason than laziness.

I ate at Asanka when they first opened and they were out of alot of food. What I had was good and I would like to go back. It sounds like the weekends are the time to go (which I did) but now it looks like they have everything in order. Glad to hear that.

Thanks to the Great Suburbian Restaurant post and David's comments above, I stopped by TVF last night. It was quite good!

As I've never had West African food before (I've only had Ethiopian in Chi), I asked the guy at the register what he recommended, and he answered with fried rice -- not quite what I was looking for. In the end I settled on goat meat stew with Nigerian fufu. The goat was fall-off-the-bone tender and swimming in a highly-spiced sauce. I also noticed the use of fish flake (mentioned above) and really took a liking to it. The fufu (pounded starch, cassava I believe) was a bit tricky to figure out, but I soon remembered to pinch off a piece, use my thumb to make an indentation in the mass, and then use it as an edible spoon. Messy, plus I kinda scalded my fingers, but well worth it.

Looking through the menu, they also offer scotch eggs, which I hadn't had since a visit to Gage. Thoroughly excited, I asked for a few, but unfortunately they are only available on special order (they take about 2 h to make). Curses! Oh well, the meal alone was excellent.

Now I'm itching to make the trip to Asanka...