Senegalese at Abistro in Brooklyn

One rainy day, Thanan, Ish and I trekked down into Brooklyn to try some Senegalese fare at Abistro.  If you ever want good eating companions for African fare, these are your boys!  Unfortuntely this rainy day was aaages ago, so these pictures will show you a glimpse and my current memory of the food!

Abistro is an amazingly reviewed spot on Yelp, so we were mighty excited and ordered several plates to share.

FRIED CALAMARI SERVED IN A TORTILLA BOWL WITH mango pineapple chipotle dipping sauce 

The calamari was good!  Nice golden batter.   I tried a piece of the tortilla bowl too (it was okay; maybe we're not supposed to eat it). 

Akara: blackeyed pea fritter with codfish and small salad.  

The boys enjoyed the salad, but we were bummed about the fritters.  

They were dry and bready with no hint of fish. 

 Seared Marinated Tofu with sauteed fresh strawberries, crimini mushrooms and a crispy cake in a strawberry vinaigrette



Such an interesting plate!  Sweet but savory with crispy and soft, smooth textures

The tofu tasted like it was seasoned with soy, simple but effective. Ultra-tofu-lover Thanan was All. Over. This. 
 What was more interesting to me was the cake the tofu sat on...like a mushy spicy apple cake.  It was unexpected but tasty.

Senegalese fried chicken served with pineapple scented jasmine rice cake, and senegalese salsa in dijonnaise.  The chicken was plenty moist and flavorful.

Abdoul's mussels - plum tomatoes, mushrooms, and scallions in a ginger lemongrass broth

Lots of hard, grilled bread to dip in the mussel sauce.  The mussels were perfect, flavorful sauce and cooked well.  I tried not to hog too many of them, but apparently Thanan was not worried about that.  He ate like half the plate.  Definitely recommend this dish with someone who can share! :)

There were only two dessert options so we ordered both!  Warm chocolate cake served with ice cream.  The cake is a lot denser than typicsl cake; it does not have flaky crumbs. It had a touch of cinnamon underlying the subtle sweetness.  Unique and not too rich.

Spicy bread pudding served with caramel sauce and ice cream.  I did not expect the bread pudding to come out as sliced triangles!  The spices came from more cinnamon and nutmeg (?).  I think I preferred the chocolate cake a little more (surprise, surprise), but Ish liked the bread pudding.  Both textures were pretty similar though.  Dense, moist cake with little crumb.

All in all, our Senegalese experience was a hit!  The place is small and quaint. the service friendly and the food so unique.  I would definitely recommend anyone to come to Fort Greene to try it out; we need to go back and try the brunch soon!

Abistro
154 Carlton Ave
Brooklyn NY11205