Several months ago, I read a review of a West African restaurant in Washington, D.C. called the Bukom Cafe in rec.food.restaurants. Since I was planning on visiting Washington in the near future, I printed the review for future reference, along with other area information that I happened to find periodically on the Internet. Finally, my chance to explore the capital's cuisine came last week, when I attended the SHARE summer meeting. I was staying at the Washington Hilton, which turned out to be a short walk from a lively part of town that I had never seen before, the Adams- Morgan area. The main street of this neighborhood, 18th Street N.W., is crammed with interesting shops and a multi-ethnic stew of eating places. I immediately found myself making an evening pilgrimage from the hotel to Adams-Morgan. The first night, a Sunday, I dropped in at the Bukom Cafe and was so charmed by the place and pleased with the food that I ended up doing something quite atypical for me: I was to eat there four out of the five nights remaining in my stay! A word about the ambiance: I found the setting of the Bukom Cafe to be very tasteful, with high ceilings painted black, beautiful African objets d'art hung on mauve plastered walls, and a few wonderfully camp artifical banana trees and faux thatched roofs strategically placed around the room. There is a stage by the front window, where a small band plays most nights of the week, and when the band isn't playing, Afro-pop music flows from the sound system. The atmosphere is decidedly upbeat and fun, in a pleasant and gracefully hip sort of way. The food was hearty and well-seasoned. The cafe featured a buffet on Sunday night, with several main dishes to choose from that were found on the regular menu. I tasted two chicken dishes, one with a nut-based gravy, and the other featuring cassava leaves, and a fish prepared in a tomato and onion sauce. Another night I had a lamb stew, and on the final night a ratatouille. Most of the entrees were served with fufu, a large dumpling that leant itself admirably to soaking up the gravy from the night's main dish. The staff was very friendly and attentive, and made me feel at home. I hope they live a long life on 18th Street, and I'm sure I'll drop in for more of their home cooking the next time I'm in Washington.
Washington, DC