food &
dining food &
dining
| Adelaide's Afrique Cuisine **** Prime Choices: Chicken Gravy, Cost Per Person: About $10 Open Monday - Saturday 11am -10pm
|
It was a cold, windy Friday night. Searching for a warm adventure, my trusty sidekick Low Oval and I had heard that the infamous Adelaide could tell us where to find it. FuFu. Pure, unadulterated, almighty FuFu.
Feeling brave, a little feisty and ravenous with hunger, we broke out the fedora, the whip, and an AK-47 (this is Philadelphia, after all). Darkness descending, we moved into the uncharted territory of Drexel. Through our incredible prowess and directional acumen, we discovered Adelaide's Afrique Cuisine, the temple of a little hole in the wall.
Surrounded by hypnotic tribal music, looming African masks, and beautifully woven fabrics, Low Oval was dizzy with excitement. "Dr. Jones!... I mean, Junior!"
"Don't call me Junior! My name's Indiana."
"But that's the dog's name!"
It's a good thing our party was small as we seated ourselves at one of six patio tables for two. That's when we saw her. A Nubian princess, dressed in traditional garb -- jeans, a t-shirt and an apron. She stood there enticing us like a tall blond German Nazi posing as an innocuous anthropologist.
"What'll you have?"
We didn't get any menus, just a small neon board listing today's offerings. You get what African and Caribbean dishes Adelaide felt like cooking that morning. Adelaide has a chicken fetish, as it is included in Palm Butter, Fried Okra, Cassava Leaf and Chicken Gravy (highly recommended), which is part of the student special. For $4.99, you get a huge serving of Jollof rice, similar to Spanish rice, and chicken. The vegetable of the day was peanut butter spinach. "Sounds kinky," giggled Low Oval.
And then we asked for it... FuFu. Alas, the African fruit of life had eluded us. There was no FuFu to be had. FuFu is a potato like root that is ground into a flour and made into a dough, and served in soup.
Dismayed, we ordered ginger beer (not for the faint of tongue), hoping to drown our sorrows in a $2 glass of non-alcoholic beverage, and a basket of fried plantains (in lieu of pretzels). As a result, our spirits were lifted, thus reviving our hunger. We then decided to partake of Friday's seafood night, spending $14.95 on the scrumptious Fried Red Snapper.
Overall, everything is heavily spiced. Particularly pungent dishes include the palm butter and cassava leaf, a strong version of collard greens, so be forewarned.
We were stuffed like the teddy bear you've had since you were three, all but coming apart at the seams. But we couldn't resist dessert. I looked at the array of cakes (okay, three) and grimaced with fear. "Cakes ... why did it have to be cakes?" Worst of all, the price was a mere $2 for a hefty serving.
The waitress warned us about the Juju chocolate cake: "Better have someone to go home to."
"Why?" We were intrigued, waiting for a bit of wisdom for the ages.
"You know, the chocolate stimulates the endomorphins in your brain." We tried all the desserts and heartily recommend the African pound cake.
A bit of advice: try to sit facing the wall, otherwise you will spend the whole evening distracted by the flickering TV from 1963, perhaps causing you to go into a fit of epileptic convulsions.
Good luck, and may the FuFu be with you... oh wait, wrong movie.
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