Swahili Village - Newark, NJ — Restaurant in Newark

Short version: The food is great, and the service is comically horrible in every possible way.

I will start by saying I usually post positive reviews and I am only posting this one so that people can know and make their choices. I am not one of those people that just complains all the time about every restaurant.

We visited Swahili Village because my friend was visiting the US for the first time from Kenya, and we wanted to be able to offer some familiar foods. The food was absolutely delicious. The service was comically horrible. When we arrived we requested ice water for everyone, and ordered a flaming margarita, chai tea, and a draft beer. We got the water quickly, but with very little ice. OK, that I will chalk up to being like being in Kenya. The appetizers came quickly and were lovely and yummy. AFTER the appetizers we finally got the tea. But the tea was still COLD (room temperature) and the milk was SOUR. The waiter took the tea and half way through the meal brought tea again, but it was the SAME tea, with the sour milk, warmed up!!! About 20 or 30 minutes after ordering the waiter told us that there was an issue with the computer going down or something and so he had to repeat the order again and that he apologizes that there would be a delay. OK, that is understandable. But why don’t we have the Margarita or Draft beer? I also ask for ICE and more water. We also ask for appetizer potatoes to snack on while we wait for the food. He comes eventually with the flaming Margarita, which was just a little alcohol flame on a half lime on top. Then he comes to tell us that he did NOT order the potatoes we asked for because the kitchen said “They will be able to send the food soon anyway”. I said, “Umm, whatever. Then can I please have ICE, and more water?” We then get the food, which was delicious. And after an HOUR we finally get the draft beer. I ask again for ICE and more water. He finally brings a pitcher, and I take him from him so I can pour out of the side and get some ICE, since he did not bring any glasses or bowls of ice. I told him after two hours all I have is a single ice cube for every one of us. Please give me the pitcher. Despite that there was a known issue with the food, and only two other tables of customers no manager ever stopped by to say “Hi, how is everything tonight?” We decided not to bother ordering coffee, DEFINITELY not tea, or any dessert, since we figured it would take another two hours. The total was over $300. For the 5 of us. If they thought that we did not deserve good service because we were not spending enough I would respond that we would have ordered more drinks if we ever had gotten the FIRST ones. So the failure points were: 1-no manager ever checked in, 2-drinks extremely slow, 3-no QC to make sure mil not turned and tea hot, even AFTER being told it was bad, 4- tech issues that really would usually result in a free snack or SOMETHING as an apology. So, there was a problem with the server, the manager, the kitchen AND the computer. However, to be fair, it was exactly like being in Kenya! Just at 100...

Good day, my family and I went to the Swahili restaurant Newark location which was recommended highly by my wife’s cousin. Beside the unprofessional gentleman that came to great us by the parking area with a cocktail in his hand the ambience of the interior with tables and lights and the front desk host was great. The front door host after showing us to our table showed my son and I where the rest room was, she was great. The menu did not have any kids friendly meals but I’m guessing the Reaturant has its target audience. The kids shared my wife’s snapper fish meal and fried plantains and my grilled chicken with fried plantains. The snapper was bland and my grilled chicken was surprisingly dry as if it was too thin to be grilled the way it was and it took all the juiciness out. The bartender did an exceptional job with the flaming margarita which I took Rob the waiter recommended and upgraded the alcohol to a more top shelf alcohol. I ended up ordering a second one which came and did not have the flaming lemon as the first order. No consistency I was upset but didn’t make a big deal. I observed the waiters to the left and behind my table continuously check with their guests not mines after taking the order and the food was delivered he was M.I.A. I like the fact that the gratuity is included in the meals especially in the pandemic and times are hard for all. But it appears some employees are not giving the extra effort. And my wife ALWAYS tip well when we go out so much that my kids will tip even at a fast food establishment due to how they see my and I do at restaurants. So the bill comes we pay and give the parking ticket as directed by the parking lot attendant to get stamped we exit and made our way to the parking area seen the parking lot gentleman gave him the ticket as we were about to exit who comes running up to my SUV and banging on the window which startled my wife and kids, it’s Rob the waiter saying he gave us the wrong bill . Remind you the area where I was inside was not busy if I’m not mistaken he only had my table and a table to my left and that party left before we did. Now he comes get our card supposedly voided out the first charge and put in I’m guessing the right charge which now I’m finding out has a $10 parking fee which he said the parking lot attendant was supposed to have told us when we parked and he did not. Was a long night and horrible experience. Like I said beautiful set up but handful of staff and maybe the cook had an off night . I will be keeping an eye on my account to make sure I’m not double charged. Thank you...

Saw this restaurant had opened in Newark on tik tok. My friends and I had to give it a try!

Ambience - the decor was lovely. It was a very nice presentation. The music was at a good volume and they played really good variety of music. No dress code so come how you feel. People were dressed up and others were casual.

Service - Amazing service. Everyone was friendly, we got great recommendations for foods and drinks. We didn’t have to wait long for the drinks or food.

Drinks - I got the tropical splash which was delicious and pretty strong. The drink was sweet from the blackberry but you could taste the rum. I also got the Tropical Infusion. This drink was less sweet. It was tasty and though I couldn’t taste the liquor in this drink, things were leaning a little after finishing it.

Food - For appetizers we tried the Samosas, the chicken wings, and the Samaki filet bites. The samosas were really delicious. The outside was crunchy and the inside was well seasoned and slightly spicy. The chicken wings were good as well. The rub on it was a nice sweet and smokey flavor. The Samaki filet bites were my favorite. The flavor was so bold and it was just a party of deliciousness in my mouth.

For my main dish I got the goat stew/mbuzi kaanga with spinach and jollof rice. We also got the Mokimo try. Everything was really really really tasty. The goat stew was nicely cooked. The sauce slightly thick. The meat was also tender. It went really well with the spinach and the jollof rice. The spinach was tasty as well. The coconut milk gave it a really creamy sweet taste. The star of the dish was the jollof rice. It was absolutely mouthwatering. There’s were so many spices and flavors in the jollof rice. I couldn’t get enough. I wish I ordered a second round loll. We talked about the rice all night 😂. The Mokimo was actually weirdly really good. Idk why it was so good it’s peas, mash potatoes, onions, corn and sautéed onions. It was a weird flavor but a really good weird flavor like pistachio ice cream.

For dessert we got the mango mousse and the chocolate cake. The mango mousse wasn’t my favorite. My friend described it as mango air and that’s what it tasted like. The mango flavor was just too light for me. It was okay. I liked the chocolate cake better. It was so much chocolate 🤤 and it had different kinds of chocolate flavors throughout the cake.

We ate a lot of food lolll. We didn’t plan on eating all that food but I’m glad we did. Definitely visit and eat everything, it’s all...