great restaurant I stumbled on in west Oakland. african food was very delicious. service was also…read moregreat. rice and chicken was what I had and it did not disappoint. portion size was great . Ambiance was pretty chill and welcoming.

the food and service was great!! definitely would come again for the ox tail and fufuread more

Kendejah is a Liberian restaurant serving traditional West African dishes. As someone from West…read moreAfrica, I grew up eating this type of food and still cook and enjoy it at home, so I'm very familiar with the flavors and authenticity. The menu changes daily, which I appreciate because it reflects how we actually cook back home -- different dishes on different days. However, they also keep certain staple items available consistently, which is helpful if you're craving something specific. I did order Togo cassava, leaf, and jollof rice with a box of jar of pepper. I have visited this place over 10 times so the this review is long time coming. I understand that the restaurant may adjust recipes slightly to appeal to a broader demographic, not just Africans, and that can affect the depth of flavor and seasoning. With that being said, while the food is good and represents Liberian cuisine, it doesn't fully capture the richness I'm used to from traditional home cooking. Overall, I appreciate having a Liberian restaurant in the area and respect the effort to share the culture through food.

I was feeling adventurous and stopped in here after dropping my brother off at OAK…read more There's one (true) vegetarian/vegan option- the Jallof rice combo. The other veg option contains fish powder. The girl working didn't seem too pleased I didn't know the menu. I felt a bit like an imposition.... She was kind enough to walk over to the kiosk to show me what my options were. I'm glad she did because I other sis would have ordered the only other veg option which unfortunately has fish powder. The setting inside was very causal and felt a bit like a hole in the wall. There was soccer playing on a big screen which made the space feel very cozy like you're hanging out in their living room. The food itself (I'm sorry!!) was meh.... And I'm the kind of vegan who is happy eating the beans & rice of pretty much any culture. The rice was... reminiscent of Uncle Ben's or school lunch rice, the saucey stuff was just really oily and didn't have much savory flavor, the fried plantains were standard. For $22, I don't feel like this was money well spent BUT to be fair, it became evident to me this is a place you want to visit for the meats. The restaurant had a fishy smell to it so probably order whatever fish dish. I bet that would be what they'd recommend to a regular guest. To the vegans/vegetarians out there, there is one dish you can have but I'd skip this place entirely if you aren't coming here with a group who are omnivorous.

The food at Ruth's buka never disappoints! I've been coming here for years and I'm yet to find a…read moredish I don't love. The quality of services compliments the food they serve.

when i tell you they're about to know me on a first names basis! the flavors are out of this world…read more i get the egusi soup (with beef) + fufu. kinda what everyone gets but i've been eating it like for 3 days straight because i am OBSESSEDDD. if you're a bay area native you already know east Oakland has some real gems but for me this takes the cake. not only are they super friendly but it's more like an express place where they have everything laid out so u can order and go! lmao i came in the next day and she said, "again??" i said "GIRL YESSS!!" Me personally i love good food and everything i ate has not disappointed me yet. and i still have more food to try. So if you like different cuisines and you have a diverse palette i would DEFINITELY go here. go head and give em your coin cause they deserve that!!! They're like family!!

I love African food. The spices are rich and it's always so savory. My favorite item here is the…read moremeat pie. It has a nice crust that is pretty buttery. The inside is filled with luscious meat. I always have lots of questions when I order at this joint, and they are always so patient with them. The ambience is that of a nice little food stand in urban Africa. Love it!

Love Jollof Kitchen! I go every month on first Friday in Oakland for the veggie plate. I put my…read morefriends on and all they talk about is when we're going back! Service is always great and super quick. The flavors with just the jollof rice are amazing, full of flavor in every bite. It tastes just like my friend's mom back home so I will forever appreciate the food.

Alloko Garden is one of many restaurants cooking out of Jingletown Eats, a ghost kitchen and food…read moredelivery distribution center identifiable by the painted bird on the storefront. I had already planned to visit Jingletown Eats to pick up donuts from Mochill for Yelp Elite Week, so of course I had to take advantage of the opportunity to try a new restaurant, Alloko Garden, as well! I ordered the Shoukuya (whole grilled chicken) and Alloko (plaintain fries) for $30. Both were so delicious! The chicken was juicy and well-marinated, and came with a flavorful tomato and onion topping. The plaintain fries were fun to eat and paired perfectly with a spicy, salty dip, which the website describes as a prebiotic sauce. Having no other point of reference, it reminded me of Chinese fermented bean paste. The only issue was that I didn't receive the salad that the whole chicken set should include. Looking back at the different options, only the whole chicken comes with a salad, so I can see how this mistake could happen. After making my own veggie side, the Shoukuya and Alloko ended up being enough for four servings, which is a great deal. I would absolutely recommend Alloko Garden to anyone craving or wanting to try West African cuisine!

Man! This was some yummy food and a blast from the past. As…read morea returned Peace Corps Volunteer who spent 2 years in Ivory Coast back in the 1990's, I was thrilled to see a local restauranteuer surface who could re relate some of the flavors that tickled my taste buds back in the day. Not to hate on its neighboring countries, but after travelling widely in West Africa I concluded that Ivory Coast has a truly rockin' and superior food culture. I'm vegan aspirational but my partner is not, so to increase his buy-in, we ordered Shokouya Cancanan chicken. The half chicken, accompanied by delicious grilled onions and tomatoes, was a generous portion of robustly seasoned, plump, fresh and perfectly cooked chicken. I love that they only use "happy chicken" as I call it--cage free, hormone free & antibiotic free--which assuaged some of my flesh eating hesitancy. The side dishes were just as I recalled: attieke, a marvelous cous-cous-like starch made of ground, fermented, then steamed cassava, was tangy, springy, and performed as expected in hand. (In hand?, you ask? Why yes, the "real" way to enjoy attieke is to scoop up a small handful with your right hand, scrunch it up in a ball, then dip it in a sauce or accompany it in this case with a bit of tender chicken.) It gives a taste and a mouth feel like no other. Then there was the alloko, which is a generous portion of chunks of fried plantain "doux," or sweet plantain. In Côte d'Ivoire you would likely enjoy these as streetfood, in my opinion best consumed after the heat of the day had spent itself and you were walking with your companion to take some fresh air before turning in. A street vendor would hand you a pile of these wrapped in a piece of newspaper, accompanied by a blob of paste composed improbably of fermented dried fish, ground chili pepper, oil and the omnipresent Cube Maggi. The marriage of sweet banana, spicy, umami, salty...made my toes curl just as I did 20 years ago! well, you can experience some of that magic with Alloko Garden's alloko. Each chef has their own recipe for the alloko side sauce and I suspect the proprietor, Monsieur Tohouri, uses less heat and less fish and more natural ingredients than the MSG-fest that is Cube Maggi, for us Oaklanders than he might have grown up with. But this healthy non-volcanic version more than gets the idea across and my partner, new to alloko and its accompaniments, understood that the idea was delicious. We both loved that instead of omnipresent plastic, this alloko (& attieke) came in a biodegradable paper box. Because he was temporarily out of one other dish that I'd hoped to sample, Mr. Tohouri kindly added a dish for me called fonio arancini, which are kind of hush puppy type doodads made of a grain I didn't remember encountering in my village, fonio. Even 20 minutes after picking up from the storefront in Jingletown, the fonio arancini arrived home still delicious in all the ways grain plus a dunk in a deep fryer can be: hot and crispy on the outside, warm and almost pudding-like on the inside, with a warm umami awesomeness from the cheese mixed with the dough, and a yummy dipping sauce alongside. According to the article I read in Berkeleyside, this fonio is part of an interest Monsieur Tohouri has in increasing the economic base in Côte d'Ivoire. First step is creating market demand. I say, bring it on!! Although we were ravenous after a four hour bike ride that day, both BF and I were satisfied after this feast. I know this is the first of many trips to this place. I feel so fortunate to have an authentic source of Ivoirien cuisine in my back yard, and with an emphasis on the health of the food chain, the planet, and the humans both producing and consuming the cuisine. I ordered and picked up directly from the storefront because I'd read somewhere that restaurants lose something like 40% of the price charged, to the delivery company (uber eats, grub hub etc). As the prices were very fair given the generous portions, this means a really tiny profit margin for the person doing all the work. What I didn't realize would be an added benefit was meeting the actual proprietor, the chef himself! Monsieur Tohouri came out to hand me my food, thus completing the awesomeness of the experience. How often in this disseminated and impersonal world do you get to thank the actual person who feeds you? My overall assessment: five thumbs up!! Merci bien Monsieur Tohouri!

very good and best fufu I've tried no glazing is actually one of the best African food I've triedread more

Golden Safari is the place to go for food! We finally had time to go and it was definitely worth…read morethe hour drive! This was our first time trying this cuisine and they did not disappoint. The staff were friendly and were very attentive. Jollof rice - very flavorful and soft. The portions they gave us in general was HUGE. Not sure if the vegetables medley were frozen or fresh but they did not have that watery feel to it. It had the nice crunch. Chicken - the chicken paired well with the rice. I love how it didn't feel greasy, it tasted very clean, and juicy. Just your standard chicken, nothing bad about it. Goat egusi- this was the star of the show. The viral fufu and egusi soup. The fufu itself had a slight bitter taste but it tasted like potatoes (it is yam). Love the texture, it reminds me of the starchy Vietnamese sandwiches with the sausage. The goat in the egusi soup was sooooo tender. As a person who does not like lamb, I can eat goat. I enjoyed the greens and the sauce of the soup. We also ate it with the rice and it was delicious. We would definitely go out our way to enjoy this again!

New menu has a few tweaks but the same great stuff We…read moreordered Simo veggie mix with double yellow lentils instead of red Lamb crispy Tibsy Still love this place. It has the best Ethiopian food, 100% teff injera, kind staff and a nice patio. Easy parking

I would give 6 stars if I could; this food is incredible!…read more I'm from NYC, I love Ethiopian food; I have eaten it for years in different places and this food is the most flavorful Ethiopian food I have ever had! I truly wanted to lick the plate. Abby, who is the owner and is so lovely and sweet. This is my new Ethiopian spot in the Bay!

Good food. They treat the customer right with a better service. The Ambiance is unmatched.read more

Omg best food ever.!!!!!!Try it u won't be disappointed!!!…read moreI'm obsessed with the waffles. I ordered 7 orders of them a few times so I would be able to eat there food for breakfast the whole week :) Warning it may take a while to get your food cuz they're is usually a lot of customers, but it's well worth the wait!

This place is special. This evening 4 friends who are loved like family and myself sat down to eat…read moreand share our recent experiences/discoveries in this thing we call life. We were quickly seated. Shortly after we were given our water. As we pondered the delectable menu one member of our group brought our attention to the beautiful artwork surrounding those eating. The images are breathtaking portraits of individuals who look to be part of the Eritrean community. Sounds of laughter from the surrounding tables and feelings of safety from the peaceful internal environment embraced us as we looked. Then the food came out. It was full of color and there was clearly intentionality behind the presentation. Upon tasting the dish, flavors of savory seasonings, fresh vegetables, and soft injera filled the mouth. It was more than enough food for us all and we ended up taking left overs. If you are near the area I HIGHLY recommend paying this spot a visit.

One of the best and our favorite Habesha restaurants in Oakland. The food is authentic, injera is…read morealways good and not heavy. The prices are fair and the portion is a lot more than most restaurants. The service, ambiance, everything is great and the art is beautiful. it's a gem and must try! 10/10

Love this spot the people are super friendly and have little holiday events. Kitfo and Chicken tibs…read morewith veggie platter is our go to. Have been eating here for 7 years and it's consistently tasty. Honey wine and their teas are also great.

Addis Ethiopian Restaurant was such a great experience. The food was rich in flavor, fresh, and…read moresuper comforting you can really taste the quality and seasonings in every bite. Everything paired perfectly with the injera, and the portions were filling and worth it. The service was also friendly and welcoming, which made the experience even better. If you're craving Ethiopian food or want to try something new, Addis is definitely a spot I'd recommend. I'll be back fr fr