Azara Kitchen LLC — Restaurant in New York

I came here a few weeks ago and I would like to preface that the food is actually pretty decent with a good portion (albeit overpriced) and the drink was very delicious. That being said, I experienced quite possibly some of the worst service here that I have ever experienced in my life and I would say I am a relatively easygoing person. It started with the young lady asking us if we wanted sparkling or regular water which turned into a $7 dollar bottle of water. We were not offered tap and while I know I could have asked, it is very typical to be asked as "tap, still or sparkling". I would have let that go if it was not for the fact that I asked a question before ordering my food if the fufu was made out of sweet or green plantain. The young lady who was helping us in the sports jacket (Alo or Lululemon cannot remember which) with the upmost attitude says "Obviously it's plantain so it's green." As a caribbean person, I am used to dishes made with both kinds of plantain so I did not understand why I was given so much attitude for asking about a food I had never had before. The food took at the very least 40 minutes to come out and there was only 1 table of 2 who had ordered before us. If it was busier I would have understood but this restaurant was almost empty when we came in. There was a very large group that came after us and once they came in, our waitress did not bother to check in on us or give us updates on the food. Since my friend and I were short on time, I flagged the waitress down and asked to get the check before we finished eating and the waitress disappeared for another 15 minutes. The older man who gave us the food was very nice so it helped my experience but honestly, for as long as that young lady works there I would never recommend this restaurant unless you are okay with waiting almost an hour for your food and being given attitude for asking questions about the food. At the end of the meal, I noticed the tip calculation was inaccurate on the receipt. Honestly, the waitress was lucky my friend was the one paying because I would have tipped $0 dollars and I have never done that in my life. I would have loved to support this restaurant in the future especially because the drink was so refreshing and the food was good but the service was unacceptable. If you see a young lady in a sports jacket serving that day, I would recommend...

We were staying in town for two weeks dogsitting for our daughter while she was honeymooning. Naturally, we wanted to find unique cuisine that we would never have a chance to experience out in the 'burbs. While thinking of unusual cuisine, West Africa came to mind via a random synapse firing. Azara Kitchen was the highest rated of the several West African restaurants in our search results.

This was by far the best dining experience we had in our stay in NYC. We told our waitress that we had never been to Africa and had zero ideas about West African food other than that we had to try Jollof rice.

Our waitress was very helpful in suggesting dishes that were popular with first-timers. I had the Jollof rice with lamb stew and my partner had fried branzino fish with plantains and other veggies. Both were absolutely delightful.

I was really glad we came because the spices are very different from anything I recall having before. I've had plantains in Caribbean cuisine but these were really different. The spices in the Jollof rice were, again, unique.

Our server recommended Baobab juice, made from seeds of the uniquely shaped long-lived baobab tree, to drink. That was another treat. Definitely unusual, but not so alien to Western tastes that it's off-putting.

The combination of great food, an attractive interior and extremely nice and helpful staff made this a winner, and at a reasonable price point for Manhattan standards. We'd definitely come back to try more of the menu on a future trek in...

Clean and welcoming place, had the food to-go. I got the beef fataya, of which the closest more recognizable item would be the Argentine empanada. I thought the flavor was decent and the dough was extra doughy which was good if heavy. I was more reminded also of Bengali shingaras, which are decent as long as not too heavy. I could've said more filling but actually as a snack it was fine.

I also got the dibi lamb. The lamb was way too dry, and the jollof rice was also dry. My guess is these were both made in much bigger batches, which is fine. But they were made with too little moisture to account for the loss of moisture when reheating. Put another way, the food was slightly nuked and that led to an oily dry lamb and a crumbly rice. I wonder what these would've been like fresh. For the dibi lamb, I looked this up because I was curious why the dish was so seemingly simple, and I think the mustard sauce is missing. Without it, this is a very oily stir fry, where the subtle flavors of classic Senegalese food are lost in the dense fat content.

Overall an OK place, I think if I go back I want to try one of their sandwiches, which should be less oily and thus more representative of what they're going for. Or I may just go for a snack and try their vibe as a reading/working place. But the mains are just not at the level I'd expect for Senegalese food in Harlem. Not yet, at least.

P.S. Actually, I wonder if it's the fish I should...