Banadir--Somali food

germuska and I have been trying to arrange a dinner at Laa Mushkila, a new Somali restaurant on the northern fringes of Broadway, for ages. We finally nailed down a date and time. Only the restaurant wasn’t open. Come to think of it, I don’t think I’ve ever seen it open. And calls to the place always end up being answered by what sounds for all the world like someone’s home answering machine.

Fear not. We trekked westward a few blocks to find ourselves as Banadir, another Somali place. (In my research, I discovered that Somalia hasn’t been called Somalia since 1991; it’s now the Republic of Somaliland.) It still being Ramadan when we went, the place was closed during the day and, by the time we arrived, 7 pm-ish, it had recently opened and was packed. As has been observed in various threads relating to certain restaurants, the place had much the feel of a social club and seemed to be largely populated with cabbies. We were the only non-Somalis there until we were joined by the zim (and partial famille).

We thought Somali food would be like Ethiopian. Who knew? It isn’t, although there are certainly those influences. Ethiopian is essentially vegetable-based; Somali is clearly meat-based. Though they do share some affinities (both, for example, have a sour pancake-like bread—injera in Ethiopia and anjara in Somalia), spicing is quite different. And Indian and south Asian influences seem more pronounced in Somali food. As it turns out, Banadir is the name of a southern province in Somalia and a good portion of its eastern border is the Indian Ocean.

As we waited for the zims, we were given a large plate of sambusas (think samosas—deep-fried ground-beef-and-curry-filled pastries) with some baked dates and a “hot” sauce. The sambusas were very good as was the sauce, without being hot in the least. We were also given a large pitcher of Vimto, which wWe subsequently discovered is a popular British juice based on blackcurrants, grapes, raspberries with herbs and spices. It’s quite sweet but we also found it pretty appealing. According to Wikipedia, that unimpeachable web source, it is also manufactured in Yemen and Saudi Arabia and is said to be a very popular drink during Ramadan. The Sunday Times noted that “A bizarre series of advertisements has resulted in record sales of a humble British fruit cordial that has become the Arab world’s most popular drink during the Muslim holy month of Ramadan. Vimto, a blend of fruit juices, herbs and spices, has long been regarded in the Middle East as an energy-boosting accompaniment to the evening meal after a day of fasting....”
In any event, we never saw a menu, putting ourselves in the hands of a very personable gentleman who, I gather, may have been the owner. (The Chicago Reader tells us it’s a mom-and-pop-owned place.) He brought us a huge platter of beautifully cooked rice, seasoned with cardamom and clove, and another equally large platter with chicken drumsticks, goat, and “chicken steaks.” The latter—chicken breasts pounded flat—were fairly bland but either overcooked or (more likely) held too long. Dry. The goat was lovely. Few bones, moist, nicely flavored meat. One of the others will have to weigh in on the drumsticks. We were also served a smallish bowl of potatoes and carrots in an unusual tomato-based sauce that included cinnamon, clove, and some other goodies. (I’ll defer to zim’s palate here for further identification). So good was it that we had another bowl brought out. All this was accompanied by a little more starch, a roti-like bread that was, interestingly, slightly sweet. Again, cinnamon (and clove?).

At that point, I think the owner was a little concerned at the rate at which food was disappearing, so he offered to bring out some spaghetti. Which is not as strange as it seems if you remember your geography and your early twentieth century history. Pasta, it turns out, is quite popular in Somalia. Had we been in a Somalian restaurant owned by people from a different part of the country, we might have discovered more in common with Ethiopia than we did. We were surprised, for example, to learn that although there is a long shoreline on the ocean, fish apparently isn't a popular dish. Indeed, when we askedwe were told that they were out--and I got the distinct impression that meat is front and center here.

We requested and were given the freshly made “real” hot sauce which, we were promised, might knock us out. Though several notches above the standard sauce in heat, it was still only mildly hot in our collective judgment and we not only finished the entire plate but asked for more. Wonderfully flavored and a delicious accompaniment to just about everything we had.

Dessert was a custard of indefinable flavor topped with a little canned fruitcup (ah, the days of my youth....)

All in all, an excellent dinner. Grand total for this Somali adventure, including friendly service: $49. I’m certainly looking forward to returning.

Banadir Restaurant
6221 N. Clark Street
Tel: (773) 274-2778

GypsyBoy, thanks for the report. Banadir is a place I've been wanting to try for quite awhile, but I could never seem to work out someone to go with me in pre-LTH days. Most places, I would go by myself, but I got into a long conversation with a Somali cab driver and learned that it's considered very odd and practically tragic for a person to eat alone in Somali culture. If you are alone it is because you have no friends or family at all and you are regarded with great pity. So, I missed out on this place up until now. Apparently they have a great lunch buffet on Fridays, and now I know I can post and hope that you or zim or germuska are eager for another visit.

Gypsy Boy, very fine post. This place looks delicious -- I like the sound of clove/cinnamon/cardamom, meat, heat and a little sweet.

Coming back from the airport in the last year or, a Somali cab driver and I were talking about the food of his country and he mentioned spaghetti, which at first sounded strange as you say but, of course, becomes less so when one considers the Italian “influence” on the area.

This place is kind of a trek for us, but I’m inspired to make the trip.

I'm very glad that GB and I finally got it together for some Somali food, even if we almost missed. Thanks for documenting with so many great pictures!

I don't think this is food which will haunt my memories, but it was plenty satisfying. The one best "taste" in my book was the sauce we were given for dipping sambusa. The crepe-like bread was also interesting. (I am completely unsatisfied with the results of my slightly-more-than-cursory google searching to put a name to it...) As I think you can see from the photo, the spaghetti was pretty perfunctory, and we treated it even more perfunctorily as we had eaten plenty by the time he offered it.

Curiously, I saw a giant Vimto billboard (in Spanish) on Lawrence west of Western yesterday.

Also curiously, while riding on Division on Saturday, I passed a restaurant with a sign advertising "best indian, pakistani, and somali food." I was on bike en route to the Vuelta and traffic was too intense to stop and get details... If I recall correctly the signage was under or near some kind of overpass.

We walked in during part of the NBA final. The room was crowded, but one booth remained open. I would guess we were the only non-Somalis, but looks can be deceiving. We were politely ignored by the crowd, and we sat down at the booth, looked around, then realized a menu wasn't going to be brought, so we got up and looked at the hanging menu over the buffet. The man behind the counter began lifting lids off steam trays, and said that this was what was available.

I said we'd have try beef dish, the spinach dish and a vegetable medley. The man asked if we wanted one order. I wasn't sure what this meant - there were two of us, we had indicated three dishes. So I said yes. It seemed the answer he was expecting.

He ladled an enormous plate full of these dishes, then another heaped with Gypsy Boy's cinnamon/cardamom rice. It was my girlfriend who identified the cardamom. I don't have the discerning palate to identify spices in a medley. I just know it was the best meal I've had in weeks, maybe months.

We went to pay. Eight dollars, we were told. I said that can't be, and he insisted. I passed over a twenty, and the man went in the back to change it. But this seemed absurdly too little, so we simply departed to avoid wrangling over whether he was willing to accept a twelve dollar tip. It was well worth it.

Thanks for reminding me about Banadir. I drive by it almost every day, but I haven't eaten there in a couple of years. You must have showed up during one of their buffets. They usually have them during the week, and they are always packed. $8 is what they normally charge per person for the buffet. I guess he figured you would be sharing a single dish or something. Even at $8 a person it is stilll a heck of a deal. Did any dish stand out for you? Do you remember what else was offered?