Edo Kitchen

Address: 815 E 2100 S, Salt Lake City, UT 84106. 801.264.3979.

Review: Edo Kitchen is a new West African restaurant.

Having first been introduced to this food in Europe by African immigrants, I became intrigued. It's built on the idea that pairing large amounts of starch with some meat suspended in soup, you can get full for a relatively meager capital expenditure. It's also built on the idea that all parts of the animal get used: sinew, cartilage, all.

I had the goat meat stew accompanied with fufu (an oblong ball of mashed plantain).

Fufu is what it is. There's not much flavor to it. It's there to fill your belly, not much more. The goat stew was a bit the same. The liquid was tomato based and quite simple in that it was not heavily spiced or salted. The goat itself was dry and tough, which is pretty par for the course for goat. In all, authentic, but not terribly flavorful.

My friend had egusi soup with plantain. Egusi is a mixture of beef, shrimp, spinach, and other ingredients. It had more flavor than the goat stew, and the meat (being beef) was more tender. This was a superior dish.

In the end, West African food is an acquired taste for most Americans. I happen to enjoy it (possibly because of the good memories associated with it), while my friend didn't. That said, I didn't find Edo Kitchen's food particularly compelling.

Rating: 5/10 (5/10 is average).