A return visit confirmed it: This Ghanaian restaurant is less rough-and-ready than it looks.
On the first evening I visited with two other adventuresome diners, CNN was playing on the flatscreen, though at sports-bar volume. Make that "chop bar," a place for pub grub, West African style.
Shown below, that's a spice-rubbed, fried tilapia; a smoky stew (they call it a sauce) of spinach and egushi, or pumpkinseed; a full-bodied peanut soup with goat; and spicy plantain with rice (darkened by bay leaf) and beans. The fried chicken, which I've heard is excellent, was unavailable that evening, and another dish we ordered was "finished," we were told, as the owner began delivering dishes to the table. (She did bring along a small bowl of palm oil soup as consolation.) The total for all that, plus a side of boiled cassava and three Stone Strong Lagers: $33, before a generous tip for the affable service.
When we caught up with that chicken on our return visit, it wasn't nearly as zingy as we'd hoped. This may simply be the mark of a catch-as-catch-can kitchen; our repeat order of egusi, shown after the chicken, was paler and pastier but just as flavorful the second time around. (For that matter, the menu, our order, and the check all didn't quite jibe on either visit, but both times the tab was reasonable enough that we gave it little mind.) Also shown below: a light soup with goat leg, a stewlike peanut soup with beef, jollof rice, and rice and beans. I've yet to try the Sunday special of "bush meat," which at Meytex means grasshopper.
Meytex Cafe
543-545 Flatbush Ave. (Lincoln Rd.-Maple St.), Lefferts Gardens, Brooklyn
718-941-1093
I'm sorry I didn't join you guys the first time around - bad karma for me. But let me know if you want to go back. I'm chomping at the bit to try that Peanut Soup; the fried chicken sounds great, too.
P.
Posted by: Polecat | March 10, 2008 at 12:20 PM