When we arrived (~4 PM), the restaurant was nearly empty. Nevertheless, it took the waitress a good 15 minutes to come to our table, even though we sat very close to the bar/waiter station.
The menu is intimidating, filled with dishes that are given African sounding names and sport flavor combinations unfamiliar to the European customer. While there are some real, iconic West African dishes (e.g. Mafe), most of the names seem to be ethnologues, African personal and place names picked out of a hat (Buluku, Makemba, Nunda...). Some of the dishes are even blatantly misnamed - for example attieke (acheke) which should be a fermented cassava meal (akin to couscous), here is a chicken breast served with rice and vegetables.
Naming could be irrelevant, if the food was authentic. While flavor profiles are roughly African (fried sweet potatoes are quite OK), the food is notoriously underspiced. If not for the names and some unusual ingredient combinations (e.g. burger with watermelon, addition of pineapple to a pork chop etc.), one would not be able to tell if this is African, Middle Eastern or Indian food, that has not been spiced properly.
The waitress was friendly, but a bit condescending, recommending the dishes that were most familiar to a Polish palate (e.g. meat + potatoes). When one of us wanted to switch fries for sweet potatoes (which are vastly superior to the potato cubes they serve), he was told it will be done. But it was not. The waitress tried to invent a weak excuse, that they fell apart on the griddle (though two of us got our servings all right...). After dropping off the food, the waitress was nowhere to be seen.
That being said, the food was tasty and plentiful. Price-wise it was OK too. The fruity drinks (I had something lime-y with fresh mint) are very sweet, so do order a glass of water with them!
I am not sure I will return to Meg Mu, but if someone else was footing the bill and I was hungry, I would not say no. The food is inoffensive, and service is not rude - albeit inattentive. read more
