Blog Archives--Good Eats

[There's a bunch of things that I typed up weeks ago, but never posted. Here's more Good Eats.]

I’ve been holding out on telling you about more good places to eat around Monrovia, so now I’m going to play catch-up.

PA’s: About two months ago, there was buzz about a new rib house opening. Then I noticed their sign in Sinkor—a picture of mouthwatering ribs drenched in BBQ sauce. I was incredibly skeptical that such a thing could even exist in Liberia! The place is owned by a few women who have spent a lot of time in the States, and they know their BBQ! The menu also has familiar things like burgers, salads, sandwiches, BBQ chicken and your typical appetizers. Sorry folks, they only serve Liberian dishes on Tuesdays and Saturdays. You can eat downstairs, which is more casual with fewer menu choices, but the prices are cheaper (so I’ve been told). When you walk inside upstairs, it feels like you’re not in Liberia. It’s a small place, with only about 15 tables, and on Saturday nights, the place is always full—usually because someone has reserved ahead of time for a larger party. If you arrive earlier (5-6pm), you shouldn’t have any trouble getting a table.
On our usual Saturday night, go-into-town and eat-out-trip, we unanimously voted to check out PA’s. On the first visit, all four of us got the same thing (“The Small Boy”)…and we were not disappointed! The Small Boy includes 4 (HUGE!) beef ribs, your choice of 2 sides (baked beans, coleslaw, potato salad, green beans, french fries, mashed sweet potatoes) and a corn muffin….all for $8USD! It’s plenty of food! It was a quiet dinner, except for everyone licking their fingers. It was so good that we returned to PA’s the next Saturday. This time I got a burger with fries, which was pretty good (it actually tasted like a grilled burger at home, which you can’t find in Liberia), but next time I will be getting the ribs! The burger was also $8USD, so my logic is you can get super good ribs and yummy things like potato salad (which is a huge treat in Liberia) for the same price! Anyway, PA’s is located in Kapezee by the airfield—just look for the sign with super good looking BBQ on it! Then follow the signs off of Tubman Road, except at the first sign, where the arrow points to the left, you actually keep going straight, and bend to the right. At the second sign, follow the arrow to the left, and you’ll run right into it.
P.S. We went to PA’s again this past weekend. It finally showed signs of being a Liberian restaurant. The biggest disappointment was that they didn’t have any potato salad, and there were a few things on the menu that were not available (which is very typical here). But the ribs were still good and bigger than ever (I could only eat 3), and I settled for the coleslaw.

TAAJ: Looking for Indian food in Africa? If so, head to the TAAJ. It’s located in Sinkor…6th Street maybe? I actually ate here about 2 months ago, so I don’t remember a lot about the menu. I got chicken curry with rice and it was $10USD. I had plenty of food (2 big pieces of chicken with sauce and a big bowl of rice)…and it was pretty tasty! You sit outside under a covered area, and if you’re really lucky, they’ll be playing a football game or a Bollywood film on the projector. They have a really large menu…chicken, beef, vegetarian, etc. and the prices are reasonable, and you won’t leave hungry.

The Royal Hotel: This is the white people mecca in Monrovia. I admit, I haven’t eaten anything off their menu other than a plate of French fries, which were just ok. If you need to feel like you’re in the West for the afternoon, then you go to The Royal. There’s plenty of freezing cold air-conditioning for everyone! They have free wireless internet, that’s sometimes pretty speedy, and other times, not so speedy. It’s a good place to retreat for the afternoon to catch up on emails. They just recently got a new menu, which translates into a price increase! The burger is $12USD. They also have started doing themed days…like Tuesdays is a taco buffet, which I haven’t tried, but it looks and smells really good….I think it’s either $10 or $12. On Friday there’s a BBQ buffet, but I’m not sure what that means. On Sundays they have a brunch buffet. We’ve been debating on whether it’s worth the new price of $15USD, but in celebration of Andrew’s last day in Liberia, we decided to try it out. The food was alright, but I for sure didn’t feel like I got my $15 worth…I can’t even eat $!5 worth of food these days. They have pancakes and pastries, a salad bar, hummus, moutabal, quiches, hot dishes like pasta, curry chicken, rice and beans, beef in gravy, and a few desserts to choose from. The buffet also includes juice and coffee. The beginning of our meal was accompanied by wireless internet, but about 20 minutes in, the staff walked around to inform everyone that they were turning off the wireless…BOO…cheap shot Royal! My vote is I’ll stick to ordering snacks while I’m using the wireless.

King Burger: Located in town on Broad Street, King Burger is probably the closest thing there is to fast food (that doesn’t involve rice). I will say, it was quite an interesting burger…more like a slice of roast beef on a bun, with cucumber and non-American ketchup. It’s very affordable (a cheeseburger was 190LD….about $3). The place is small and alittle dingy—think Waffle House, but they had CNN on! If you’re looking for a quick, cheap bite, and as long as you’re not expecting a big fat juicy burger, then you’ll be alright.

MonaLiza: Located in Sinkor, across from UN Drive Supermarket. The place is large, clean and well air-conditioned. The menu has a lot of choices—pizzas, Lebanese food, salads, sandwiches, the burger…but the best thing is the long pastry/ice cream counter on the side of the room! I don’t want to plug them too much because when I was here last year, this was the only place I ate out at….5 times in 1 month! The food is nothing special, it’s priced fairly…the ice cream is pretty good (it’s cold!), but it is Lebanese (like really gooey and stringy gelato). The best thing in the place is their macaroons, but they don’t call them that. I recommend just stopping in to pick up a few chewy macaroons to much on while you run you errands in town, or to take home for a sweet treat!

Good Eats in Monrovia

I apologize in advance for not giving the exact locations of these places…but they’re all in/around Sinkor. I’ve only eaten out at 3 places so far, so I’ll rank them in order by preference.

Top Pick: Sajj—really good and cheap food. The seating is outside but you’re inside of a wall, but it provides for an escape…when you’re there, you feel like you could be anywhere in the world; but then you hear all of the car horns honking, and you remember you’re in Liberia. I’ve eaten here 3 times, and ordered different things every time, and I haven’t ever been disappointed. They have a good variety to choose from (mostly Lebanese, but they have other things too) and it’s easy to eat here for under $10! I recommend just about anything from the first page of the menu! Service is decent…we are friends with most of the wait-staff, which helps. And supposedly they have wireless internet.

Second Choice: Golden Beach—you can’t beat sitting on the beach, eating a decent meal, and watching the sun set over the Atlantic. You can sit at a table out in the sand, or on the covered porch area. The menu can be a bit more expensive, but you’re paying for the view. The menu has a wide variety to choose from (Liberian, Chinese, sandwiches, ‘American’ appetizers, etc). I had the Club Sandwich, which was $7USD, and it was alright….the Liberian dinner and the Chinese chicken were $12-$15, but it was plenty-o food. Pretty good service too.

Lastly: Delish—we had planned on going to The Royal this night, but apparently everyone else had the same idea! The parking lot was packed, and so we opted for Delish, which is right next door. It was a first for all of us. You can sit inside (slightly air-conditioned, large TV with Italian football games on in the sit-down section) or you can sit outside and watch the traffic go by. If you’re looking for Italian food, they’ve got lots to choose from…but since you’re in Liberia, it might not be quite what you’re used to. I got the spaghetti and ragu meat sauce for $12USD. It was a lot of spaghetti, and it tasted decent….but alittle salty. My coworkers got spaghetti carbonera and a chicken pizza….which were both sufficient in size, and had a decent flavor. The service was exceptionally slow (slower than usual Liberia) and we were the only people in the place eating dinner. The redeeming thing about the place is the ice cream! Banana and pistachio ice cream….and it was GOOD and COLD! Also, the bottled water was the coldest drink I’ve ever had in Liberia. Our bill was $44USD for the 3 meals, 2 large bottles of water and 4 scoops of ice cream.

I can honestly say that my best meals in Liberia have been the dinners made by our Liberian Ma. Anything Mary makes is good…and spicy! We usually sit around sniffling while we eat because Mary makes everything spicy! I think the main reason why it tastes so good is because of the love she puts into the meals. She usually wakes up early to go to the market to buy her ingredients. Then she usually gets here between 9-10am and cooks all day long so that dinner will be ready at about 5pm. She’s a hard-working woman with a servant’s heart and she takes good care of us! She also does all of our food shopping and food deliveries for our feeding programs. Mary has introduced my taste buds to some new Liberian dishes…and I think my new favorite is pumpkin! I’ll try and get some pictures of the Liberian dishes so that you will all be well-educated.