Comments (0) Best West African Restaurant - 2009
Tam Tam African Restaurant
35 Florissant Oaks Shopping Center
Florissant, MO
314-921-3805
In an unobtrusive storefront in a Florissant strip mall for which the adjective "dowdy" seems too kind, Tam Tam African Restaurant is one of the area's better-kept secrets, specializing in the cuisine of Africa's northwest. The dishes are at once familiar and strange: Consider yassa guinaar, chicken breast marinated in lemon, Dijon mustard and garlic, served in a sauce rich with the flavor of browned onions. This might not seem far from simple French cuisine — understandable given Africa's colonial history — yet the dish's bright, lightly peppery edge is wholly its own; pair it with couscous or the root-vegetable porridge known as fufu, and you have something else entirely. Those looking to dip their toes into a new cuisine will find kebab- and shawarma-like grilled meats — or you could just take the plunge and order nyama choma, a grilled goat steak.
