African Express Eatery

7.5 Recommended

Food  8      Ambience  7      Service  9      Value  6     

We hadn't tried African food in a while so we tried this place on a Thurs night. Reasonable decor and ambience suitable for casual dining. The African gentleman who served us was unfailingly polite and friendly. We tried the domoda chicken, vegetarian ndambe and a side of broccoli. Well-cooked tasty cuisine.

Portions were a little on the small side, I would have tried another dish or two but I had a sore jaw which inhibited my ability to chew properly! Would like to go back for more dishes when time and budget allows.

Jan 06, 2012 

6.5 Recommended

Food  5      Ambience  6      Service  8      Value  7     

Six of us ate here a few weeks ago. Serves are small so don't expect big steaming bowls of food to come out to feed the big eaters in your group. Having said that we also ordered entrees, bread and rice so luckily that filled us up. I suspect that if they presented the mains better i.e. not in cereal bowls we might have felt we were getting better value. Unfortunately, the meat was tough in 3 of the 5 dishes we ordered which was disappointing (the other 2 were chicken and fish dishes).

Try the Hybiscus drink, yummy and sweet, it was nice for something different. The waitress was lovely and the service was sweet.

Nov 25, 2010 

3.3 Below Average

Food  1      Ambience  6      Service  1      Value  5     

I have been eating at this restaurant for a long time ordering the same dishes. They always vary in quality. I have forgiven the bad because the good is so good. But tonight was the last straw. The tuna was mostly an inedible disgusting tasting lump of off blobby Fat, skin and dark meat.

I politely complained saying I didn't want to pay for the dish (I only ate a small amount which made me feel sick) and the man was gracious. But the woman was highly argumentative and embarrassing. I will miss the good food but I will never go back. It's too unreliable. Other diners may be lucky!

Aug 22, 2010 

6.3 Average

Food  7      Ambience  5      Service  6      Value  7     

Came here one evening with my girlfriend when the Sultan's Table was full. Ordered a beef, lamb and chicken mains and two vege dishes, along with a rice and a bread. I agree with the previous reviewer, that the rice and bread is disappointingly small. The Beef was ok, the Lamb very salty, but the chicken excellent.

The vege dishes were nice but again too small. The wooden bowls make it a little different, but the food does go cold quickly. Overall the meal was well priced. We brought our own wine and the corkage was very modest. Dishes were all very curry-like, but very mild in spice content. Enjoyable, but the ambience is a little quiet and dull.

Jul 30, 2009 

7.3 Recommended

Food  8      Ambience  7      Service  7      Value  7     

Four of us went there for dinner on a Saturday night (aka Lat-Dior) and had a good night. The food was really delicious but as the previous reviewer mentioned, the portions are quite small if you're a big eater. In saying that, I had a good portion of lamb tajine $10.50, plus rice $2, plus flat bread $2 and a bowl of greens for $6. So you can eat well for $20 a head.

The food were mainly 'curries' with a nice blend of african spices. Something different and enjoyable.

Jun 22, 2009 

5.3 Average

Food  6      Ambience  6      Service  5      Value  4     

This place has a new name now; apologies but I can't recall it. The menu is a fantastically jubillant read, and promises something refreshingly different. What we had was actually pretty tasty, but beware exceedingly stingy portions for carbohydrates! (for most dishes you'll need to order rice/cous cous/flat bread separately).

We ordered a serve of rice and a serve of flat bread to share half each. The rice amounted to about two tablespoons' worth each. The flat bread was the biggest disappointment- a thin pallid pancake, flaccid and cold, a sorry little character. Are profit margins really so tight as to begrudge a little more rice or flour per person?

The earthy quality of the gently spiced vegetarian bean and lentil stew was satisfying, and I also quite enjoyed the tuna with a tangy sauce heavily laden with tumeric.

The menu urges you to order a side of greens, which we did- steamed broccoli served with a spiced lentil and onion relish. While I'm no fan of overcooked broccoli, my opinion here was that it was just slightly too crunchy. I'd say the same of the pieces of zucchini in the bean stew.

I agree with the reviewer below who thought that the wooden bowls were novel, but their flat dish-shape meant that the food quickly lost its heat, despite the speed at which it was all consumed.

The final thing that struck me about our meal here was that it was a very healthy option, given that the sauces were not at all oily, we got a good serve of veggies, and the precision-control of the carbs. None of which are authentically African!

May 04, 2009 

6.5 Recommended

Food  7      Ambience  6      Service  7      Value  6     

I have visited the restaurant as well as having home delivery several times and found the food to be quite good each time. For vegetarians there are limited options that need to be supplemented by side dishes and a couple of servings of bread as the serving sizes of the mains are small. It's good to have an alternative to the many Thai restaurants. The restaurant is basic inside and the table was small for four but the use of wooden bowls was a nice touch.

Mar 09, 2009 

7 Recommended

Food  8      Ambience  5      Service  7      Value  8     

I went here once for a birthday dinner on a hunch - it turned out really well. We tried many different dishes and were impressed by most. African is not something I’m used to, so the new experience was exciting in itself. The spices used were great, and it is definitely refreshing to try some different dishes. It’s good to go with a group and get lots of dishes to try a bit of everything.

Feb 06, 2009 

3.5 Below Average

Food  4      Ambience  3      Service  3      Value  4     

A strange one. Really friendly and helpful staff but service was a little slow and disjointed (might have been training a new staff member the time we went there though). Strange and slightly sterile atmospheres in the room - a little too much like a hospital cafeteria or something similar. Difficult to pinpoint the ambience. Just something amiss. Food is top notch though and pretty good value at that. Any misgivings about the atmosphere are certainly over ridden by the food and friendly staff.

Update: I had a return visit that pretty much nullified all of the above. Service was slow, waiters inattentive and didn't seem to care that after we'd finished our appetizers and with the flat bread ordered with the meal on the table less than five minutes later, that we sat there for a further 20 minutes before our mains arrived. Pretty bland food this time out and no salt and pepper to be seen anywhere in the restaurant. Really disappointing.

Jan 24, 2008 

5.8 Average

Food  5      Ambience  6      Service  6      Value  6     

I found the food plain, nothing special here and the portions to be a little small. Disappointed.

Oct 17, 2007