Senegal (French: le Sénégal), officially the Republic of Senegal ... is a country south of the Sénégal River in western Africa.
Besides the fact that it was in Africa, everything I knew about Senegal (for example, their official language is French) right before my dinner at Bissap Baobab I owe to a quick read of the Wikipedia article. We were greeted by a tall well-built guy speaking French.
The place was hopping and we had to wait a few minutes for a table. I decided to have a drink and tried the Tusker, a Kenyan pale lager ($4)
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My friends went instead with the Coconut-infused rum. Be careful with these, they are as easy to drink as a Calpico soda and you can get drunk in no time (plus they're reasonably priced, making getting drunk even easier).
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While we were waiting at a bar for a table, the bartender gave us some piping hot plantains for free!
Aloko (fried plantains, tamarind sauce - $4.75)Well, it's hard to mess up fried plantains, and the tamarind sauce was an unusual but delicious accompaniment.
Though I was wary having African cuisine given my first experience involving mango pits (
Nigerian), the appetizers we tried all had familar flavor profiles. The somone was similar to a potato croquette, a bit sweetened by corn and served with a creamy avocado sauce instead of aioli.
Somone (mashed potatoes mixed with corn, parsley, garlic, flour, and milk. Served with avocado sauce - $6.25)The menu explained where many of the dishes came from, and I had no choice but to order the Tiep Dien since it was supposed to be the official dish of Senegal.
Tiep Dien (Red Snapper cooked with red Jolof rice - $18)This somewhat reminded me of a seafood paella + jambalaya. The snapper is meaty and while it could be a little more moist, it was plenty flavorful and so was the rice. A rustic, comfort food dish. The Brazilians have their
feijoada and the Senegalese have their
tiep dien.Bissap Baobab was a much better African food experience than my first, with more familiar flavors (I'm not trying to say the restaurant I went to before was bad, perhaps I'm just not used to it). It was a good, hearty meal with tasty and reasonably priced drinks and a fun vibe. Service was pretty slow though, so don't come here when you're in a hurry.
Bissap Baobab2323 Mission St
San Francisco, CA 94110
(415) 826-9287
http://www.bissapbaobab.com/