Philadelphia - August 21, 2009

Tastee Treat

Tastee D's African Restaurant

O mighty Philly restaurant gods, we are ever grateful for your benevolence. But, um, can you please bestow something besides truffled mac ’n’ cheese, BYOs, and gastropubs?

Please join us in giving thanks for Tastee D’s, an authentic West African restaurant from Nigerian native Adedotun Adepoju (known as Dot).

Dot got his culinary start in his mother’s kitchen, cooking traditional dishes for his family. Now he’s bringing recipes like jolof rice (cooked in an onion-, tomato-, and pepper-based sauce, and served with fried plantains and meat); moin moin (black-eyed peas in a pepper-based sauce with corned beef); and efo elegusi (cooked spinach with ground melon seed) to his small, bright orange resto.

Don’t mind the no-booze policy: The mocktails are surprisingly good. Try the Tropical Thunder, a mix of mango, guava, and pineapple juices.

It brings something blessedly new to the table.

Tastee D’s, 526 South Fourth Street (215-923-1113 or tasteeds.com).

  Cozy, Mom-and-Pop