Bolat African?

I tried searching the site and couldn't find anything about Bolat, so if it has already been discussed, I appologize.

Bolat is today's groupon ($20 for $45) and I am tempted to purchase and try it, but am a bit apprehensive. Anyone been before? Is is any good? I am pretty adventurous with food and the menu looked pretty interesting... but have never tried African food before. Any recommendations?

http://www.groupon.com/r/uu52585

Bolat has changed a lot since they re-opened. They kept the mainstay dishes, but are also incorporating a seasonal menu that will focus on different regions (or provinces) of Africa. The owner plans on doing special events educating patrons on cuisines of specific countries. I am excited about the changes and highly recommend trying some of the cocktails, which were developed by Gregory Williams, the recent winner of Metromix's top bartender competition.

It is also the same owners as Iyanze in Uptown. They have a few lunch trucks around the downtown area.

TAC Crazy wrote:They kept the mainstay dishes, but are also incorporating a seasonal menu that will focus on different regions (or provinces) of Africa.

Well, that's cool. It'd be good to see the cuisine of some of the under-represented food traditions of Africa (e.g., Zambia, Angola) get some table time.

Jeez. I was SURE that there was a thread because I was SURE that I had posted on it. No evidence remains and so my infallible memory (once again) turns out to be more fallible than I had hoped.

In any event, I visited with a group, "hosted" by a former student from Nigeria. He was eager to try it out and I remember quite vividly his reactions: the food was far more authentic and good than he expected and the service was beyond atrocious--as nearly the only people in the place, we still waited well over an hour for food. I no longer recall specific dishes, though I do remember the palm wine and my student's amazement that they served it in exactly the way (a particular kind of gourd) that they did back home. I remember thinking the wine was unique in my experience and that, the more you drank, the more it grew on you. Still, it's been a few years (two, I think), so I'll be curious to know how things are.

I have been there three times now and some of the stand out dishes were the shrimp ceviche, yams with three dipping sauces, beans cassorole with fried plantains, goat pepper soup and coconut ice cream (yum!). I feel bad because I cannot recall the individual dipping sauces for the yams but they were extremely tasteful. I plan on returning soon though. Pictures will follow next time around.

The service at the place was attentive. Both the owner and manager were great at greeting
customers and explaining the dishes. I am sure it is because they wanted to make a great first impression during the relaunch, but I would expect the service to continue. I believe the new chef, James Kerwin, is trying to add a contemporary twist while retaining the authenticity of the cuisine.