We really wanted to do something a little different for this month’s restaurant review, to spice it up just a little. So, naturally, we decided to go somewhere a little out of our comfort zones. For this month, we chose Five Star African Cuisine, an authentic African restaurant consisting of dishes inspired by West Africa. In all honesty, we should have gone on a different day, since it was the hottest day of the week at the time we went, and we spent the day getting hot and spicy food. Thankfully, the staff were really nice and helpful when helping us decide on what to get, telling us what foods were more flavorful and spicy. They even gave us free water bottles on the house! And despite the fact that a lot of their more popular dishes were sold out, we still got more than enough.
This time, rather than buying a lot of food and split-paying, we decided to buy 1 meal each to our own tastes and share! This was very interesting. It limited the variety but we spent less money individually. This made our restaurant review this month a little shorter, but was still just as fun.
Leyla who ordered first, got ‘Plantain and Chicken’ for all of us to taste and rate. While we had to wait until it cooled down, which is never a bad thing—unless you’re very hungry—it ends up being worth it for the taste. It was so hot that we had to wait until the very end to enjoy it, while taking some bites here and there throughout. The chicken’s skin was very crunchy but the inside was super juicy at the same time, which is exactly what most people want from chicken. The Plantains served on the side were also crunchy, but had a hint of sweet which balanced out the entire meal. For the meal, we rated the plantains a 4/5, and the chicken a 3.5/5.
Sophia who ordered next got gravy with a side of rice. This was a huge portion as the rice was piled onto the plate, with a bowl of spicy beef gravy, making it definitely worth the price. While there was an absurd amount of rice, it still remained very soft and the perfect texture. Consequently, it was a little bland on its own, but it compensated for that with the combination of both the rice and the Pinto Bean Gravy. The Pinto Bean Gravy had some pieces of beef, which worked so well together. It starts out with this nice beef flavor that was sort of oily, and ends with a whole lot of spice. The beef fell apart in the best way and the gravy itself reminded us of a stew. The powerful flavor of the gravy balanced with the subtle flavor from the rice gave it the perfect balance. While the taste was to perfection, it was extremely spicy, so keep that in mind if you cannot tolerate spice. There were tears, but we powered through in the end, which was definitely worth it, so we’re giving it a 4/5.
Finally, Atari decided to split ‘Potato and Fish’. While the fish was the focal point, the potatoes on the side—which were, to our surprise, sweet potatoes—were the star of the show; the MVP. They were soft but crunchy simultaneously, and we kept eating despite them burning the roofs of our mouths. There was a pinch of salt on them, making the balance between the sweet and salty perfect. We aren’t kidding on how amazing they were, which is how our rating for this is a 5.5/5, which may seem impossible.
While the potatoes were impossibly good, the fish was also very scrumptious. They gave you the whole fish, minus the head and tail, and some hot sauce on the side. The fish tasted almost buttery and had a crispy layer. As we were in the mood for fish, this met up with our expectations and overall had a very nice flavor and balance of textures. We all really enjoyed it, which is why we rated it a 4/5.
Overall, this review was really worth the trip to West Fargo. It’s no wonder why it’s called “Five Star African Cuisine,” they definitely deserve more than five stars. We were extremely satisfied with what we got, it is worth a second trip in the future for sure!