Flavors of East Africa

Great tasty East African food. Love the stews, although a bit too much bone in the goat. Try the local spiced drink. It’s fantastic.

Tried this place out tonight and was not disappointed. :) The ambience, décor and music are just right– interesting without being overwhelming. Most of the booths were full when we got there, but the restaurant was not packed by any means. That being said, the service was friendly, quick, and efficient.
As a vegan, I sometimes struggle to find one than one menu option, but this restaurant had several options to choose from — and the waitress asked up front if we had any dietary restrictions when going over the specials with us, a touch I appreciated. We started with the Bhajia (sauce on the side), which was delicious. I ordered the Nyoyo and the wali and my girlfriend had the ox tail. I must say the wali was my favorite, but the Nyoyo was also excellent. Both were a delicious blend of spices with just the right amount of kick. My girlfriend said her dish was «delicious: tender and yummy.» Portion sizes were generous; she ate only about half her serving, while I cleaned my plate. Oh! And the Gingerize! It’s a purple ginger/​passion fruit drink that is actually perfect pre and post meal.
Bottom line: GO. I’ll definitely be back.

The food was good and the waitress was nice and helpful. I had the fish and my sister has the jerk chicken. We both liked out food and we’ll definitely return again.

Wow? I had the beef short ribs with rice and lentils and it was so amazing! Loved the passion fruit juice too. The time it took to get all the food was long and they weren’t that busy. I can’t wait to go he again. I am going to be craving this for awhile…

That Dengu tho! Not to mention the Wali… ugh! It’s my whole point of posting this review!

Parking is one of the worst here. It’s street parking only located right on El Cajon Blvd, which we all know is very busy. There is residential street parking, but seeing how it is North Park, it is extremely sketchy if you come after 7pm. The workers here are very nice and friendly, but the service is extremely slow. They only have one woman waiting tables for everyone. I don’t blame the waitress I blame management for being too cheap to hire someone else to help.
I had the passion fruit drink ($ 3), Bahia gf vg ($ 6), chicken curry ($ 14). Someone in my group ordered the Jerk Chicken. Not quite sure what their definition of «real fruit juice» is, but I saw them just filling my cup from a fountain drink dispenser. It reminds me of the Minute Maid drinks that claim to have «1%» fruit juice. The drink itself was very sweet, like a fountain drink. The Bahia gf vg seemed very promising upon being served to our table, but the bite was disappointing. It’s basically slices of potato covered in batter. After a few pieces, it was becoming bland and there was no seasoning. You have to use their sauce, which is in a very small dipping cup. The sauce reminds me of thousand island dressing. Lastly, the chicken curry was a toss up for me. I’ll give them credit for tender cuts of chicken which made it delectable. Beyond that, the chicken lacked flavo. However, curry sombe sauce they use is very salty, lacking much of the spices they are known for. The real disappointment of the plate was the ugali. It has a very blocky, cornmeal-​type texture that is similar to hard jello. It’s not soft at all and is an odd accompaniment to the curry dish. I tried mixing it with the sombe sauce to soften it like rice or mashed potatoes, but it maintained its sturday texture. I took it home as leftovers and basically threw away the ugali because heating it in the microwave doesn’t soften it at all.

I’ve had the African Sweet Jerk Chicken, Sukuma Wiki (collard greens), Massala Fries, and Jungle Fries and they were all delicious. There’s nothing bland or boring about the food. The service was excellent. Everyone in there had a glued on happy face and extra friendly. Great experience overall.

I have been here twice after hearing several recommendations.
The food is very good and the portions are huge.
I’ve tried the grilled chicken and the chicken curry, and both were great.

I came here for my Girl friend’s birthday since African food seemed a little Alien to us.
What started as a small joke became life changing experience.
Who knew that spices this flavorful could exist outside of indian food?
And that awesome mango drink? (yeah, it’s just juice, but still)
Be careful when picking your heat.
The spicy scale is your typical 1 through 10.
But whats considered a 7 spicy in a Thai restaurant would be a 4 at Flavors of East Africa.
Picking a 7 would be a 20 at a Thai restaurant.

There’s an ease about this restaurant, a vibe that’s quite chill. We did street parking and walked a few steps over. Restaurant was nearly empty around 8:30pm on Tuesday.
The waitress, a lovely Brazilian woman, was very personable. She took her time to explain some of the menu items and her favorite dishes. My sister is a vegetarian so she ordered a plate of Wali, yellow rice mixed with veggies. Her husband ordered the jerk chicken salad and I got the short ribs. Every dish came out looking beautiful!
I tried everyone’s food and especially loved the rice and the grilled taste of the meats. They were out of fried plantains so we ordered the fried dough with powdered sugar and cinnamon. So good. I can’t wait to go back and try the goat and oxtail. Awesome restaurant.

Great food and our waitress Barbara made some great recommendations! She was incredibly personable and very sweet, it’s a very cozy environment and the vegetarian food options were soooo tasty and flavorful! It was a delight to experience! It’s a very home-​like relaxed eating environment. I wouldn’t recommend rushing through the meal or dining in when your racing the clock, take your time and enjoy! I will most definitely be back!

We decided to eat at the restaurant because we love Flavors of East Africa at the Hillcrest Farmer’s Market. We were very disappointed in our visit here. It almost felt more like a sit down, fast food restaurant. I ordered the African Sweet Jerk Chicken with the eggplant in tomato creamy sauce and rice as my sides. Everything was good, but nothing was impressive. I also ordered their ginger drink and I will say that was delicious.
My boyfriend ordered the rice with nyoyo and we were both really disappointed with the nyoyo. First off, I’m not a fan of beans, or I have to be in the mood to eat them, but the dish was just very bland. Also, the tortillas/​bread we were served with became hard very quickly. It was disappointing and took away from the experience. He ordered one of the «fresh» fruit juices, but it tasted very concentrated and they were in one of those circulating juice dispensers.
The waitress was nice, but she was a little aggressive and kept forgetting things. When we came in, there was only one other couple there. The female asked for a vegetarian dish and when her dish came out there was chicken in it. The waitress apologized for her mistake and admitted that it slipped her mind. Then, she forgot my boyfriend’s water and some other things. As I mentioned, there was only one other couple when we walked in, but some of the tables weren’t wiped down and where she sat us needed to be wiped down too.
Overall, wasn’t a bad experience, but wasn’t impressive.

Very delicious and flavorful. It’s a definite that I’ll come back, especially because there are so many choices and it would be gluttony to order all at once. So we opted for the recommended choices of the jerk chicken and oxtail. The jerk chicken was very tender and had almost a bbq sauce type flavor. The oxtail was also soft, but it was difficult getting lots of meat out of it. The kids tilapia (which ended up being for the adults at the end) had a light batter and was cooked perfectly. The sides of collard greens (oxtail meal) and lentils (jerk chicken) were great compliments. And for you Vegans out there, they have several Vegan choices.
The only downside was there was no AC and even though it was probably 80 degrees outside, it felt like 90 degrees inside. We were sweating and not from the spiciness. Next time, we will opt for the patio if it’s during this sweltering heat.
So in short, lots of flavor, lots of food, lots of choices.

I’ve seen them at multiple farmer’s markets and events around San Diego, but was only given a sample and never tried a full meal from them until now. I decided to dine here for another birthday dinner with friends. If you sign up for their birthday club, you get a discount off your meal! We reserved a table and sat in the back in their comfy booth. I’m glad everyone agreed to share everything!
We had the sambusas, jungle fries, and the passion fruit and mango tropical drinks to start with. Both drinks were good, but the passion fruit one was a little better and less sweet. The jungle fries were similar to carne asada fries, but had a more exotic flavoring. We didn’t realize each sambusa had something different inside, so we cut each sambusa into 6 pieces, so that we can try them all. There was spicy beef, chicken, cream cheese coconut and shrimp, potato, spinach, and spicy lentils. My favorite was the beef and these are very similar to samosas.
Our server said that the portions are on the small side, but they’re actually huge! We ordered too much food, but were able to slowly finish everything LOL. For our entrees, we shared the Tilapia African garden salad, jerk chicken, Kilimanjaro beef skewer, and a whole fried tilapia. Everything was really good and tasty. They don’t really have desserts here, but I was given a big rectangle of some kind of fudgey cake thing with nuts. It was good, but so rich and too sweet for me. Service was excellent and friendly. The girl serving us is really pretty if you plan to dine here and want to check her out LOL.

Una buena opción para salir de la cotidianidad, te ofrecen platillos con productos conocidos pero con una preparación especial que te permite conocer nuevos sabores. Si tienen oportunidad visiten este restaurant africano…

A group of 9 of us came here to celebrate my dear friend’s birthday. Remember, it’s street parking so come at least 15 minutes to look for parking. The restaurant itself is quite quaint and small. There were two waitresses running the establishment. both were very nice.
There were many options to choose from. Some of their dishes and key ingredients were not written in English, so feel free to ask for clarification. I went the safe route and got the chicken curry and my boyfriend got the African sweet jerk chicken. I absolutely loved my chicken curry! It was so comforting to eat. But the star of the show, surprisingly, were my side of lentils. I know… I sound crazy but wow were those lentils amazing or what! Super creamy texture and great flavors. My boyfriend’s jerk chicken really was sweet… they weren’t kidding. I prefer it spicy to be honest. I didn’t try their beef stew, but the other dinner patrons were raving about it.
Would I come back? Most definitely. What would I get next time? I really loved what I got so I wouldn’t hesitate to get the chicken curry with lentils again.

This is one of my favorite restaurants in San Diego. I might add it to my Kiss of Approval date night list, because it was one of our favorite date spots in SD County. We went 3 times, and the service is really the only thing holding this place back from getting 5 stars. The servers are SLOW. It does take a very long time to get water and refills. And while I know the tea is brewed to order, that also takes an extraordinary amount of time.
Now onto the good stuff. The food is really good. If you have ever had African food, it’s everything you would expect, executed perfectly. For those new to African food, it’s a cross between Middle Eastern and Indian foods, with a ton of spice and depth of flavor. Let’s break it down.
APPETIZERS: We’ve had the Bahja potatoes and sambusa, both of which are great. I have to say though, if you are only getting one, get the potatoes. They are covered in a lentil batter, which adds an amazing amount of flavor. They come with a delicious sauce that I can’t get enough of. Wow — this review has me salivating just thinking about these.
ENTREES: We have ordered the oxtail, goat, and jerk chicken — listed in order of fantasticness. The oxtail has been perfect on every visit. It was fall-​off-​the-​bone tender, and the flavors were spot on. A+ execution. Goat is my favorite red meat, and a really great gateway for trying kinda strange foods. It tastes similar to beef in my opinion, but it’s chewier, and slightly gamier. Their goat was so tender and juicy — maybe the best I have had. The jerk chicken was the safest, most «normal» dish we tried and was also great. I am not a huge fan of bbq and grilled chicken, but this one impressed me.
CHAI — Anyone who knows me (and my honey) knows that our THING is tea. Chai especially, is a must at every restaurant that serves it. This is perfectly authentic African chai — and not the kind you will have at your local café. It is full of flavor, and spicey (with pepper, not just regular spices). It’s $ 3 and you get one free refill, but SO worth it. Don’t forget to sweeten it before drinking (like most African restaurants, they don’t sweeten it for you).
DESSERT — We didn’t love the dessert we had, it was some sort of banana pie thing.
All in all, an awesome date night option if you and your honey are in the mood for an adventure.

In the mood for food full of flavor? This place is incredible. I’ve tried out the jerk chicken at the Hillcrest Farmer’s Market but came to the restaurant with a groupon.
The restaurant itself is located across from the Lafayette hotel. It doesn’t have AC so it can get a little toasty inside. The food is very good though with huge portions. We tried the jungle fries and they were loaded with ground beef, cheese and salsa. We also tried the fried lentils that came with a delicious sauce.
But I love the jerk chicken. It comes with deliciously seasoned rice and something similar to a tortilla.
All the flavors of this meal were perfection. Definitely a place to check out for something to spice up your next meal!

I’m not sure why Unilocal didn’t have this place in the suggested reviews like all the other places I visited this week. But it was good enough that I remembered so that should say something.
Came in on Wednesday night and our table was the only table… for the whole night I think. It really doesn’t reflect the food and service though. I liked everything I tried. Had the Bhajia for an appetizer which was potato slices dipped in lentil batter for you Gluten free vegans out there. Tasty. Then I had the beef stew which I requested it to be made spicy. Unfortunately it was not spicy to my standards at all but it was still very flavorful and delicious. The molded rice mound (sorry for the life of me I cannot remember what it’s called) and all other sides were tasty as well… I was hungry before I came in but I practically licked the plate clean.
We tried the passionfruit drink and the black tea too and it was good. Tip to the owners: offer an arnold palmer kind of thing… where you can mix the tea and one of the fruit drinks… i tried it with my friends drink and it was the perfect amount of sweetness to an otherwise delicious tea!

For years now I’ve been raving about various types of African food to my husband, so when he was trying to find something different to eat, he suggested Flavors of East Africa. FEA has a map of Africa with Kenya highlighted, so I’ll assume this is predominately Kenyan food.
When we arrived we were greeted by other patrons staring at us like we were invading their space (we weren’t, the restaurant was not full and there was plenty of room for everyone.) We were seated promptly by the waitress, who took our drink orders. And then we waited. And waited. And waited. As my Malawian friend might say, they seemed to run on African time. The service was really slow, and it was slightly disappointing to see one of our entrees (after one had already been served) sitting in the window for several minutes before it was served to us.
The sambusas were delicious, though be prepared for the spice. It’s not overbearing, just spicy! The Mbavu (short ribs) left a little something to be desired, but the beef skewer was delicious. The denbe was fantastic as was the wali.
I felt the price was quite high, but when I saw the platter of food, it seemed more worth it. You get a lot for your $. They’re also worth a try at the Farmers Market’s where they spend their weekends. Definitely get the sambusas, they’re worth every minute you might wait.

FOOD:
Jerk chicken reminded me of bbq chicken with lots of bbq sauce. I’m not a fan of heavy bbq sauce on my meats. I didn’t enjoy this place as much as how I imagined to.
I can see it being successful at a street fair but it isn’t the same dining in.
The chili fries helped save the day. You can’t go wrong with comforting sides like this. The fries could be crispier but the toppings and chili made up for it.
SERVICE:
Service was quite strange if you ask me. The bf and I was the only diners on a Friday evening around 6. Our server did not greet us or show emotion besides seriousness. She was monotone actually and kept staring without smiling. She completed requests when asked but was very reserved making our dining experience awkward.