Unless you’ve done your research beforehand, it can be quite easy to walk straight past this Senegalese address in the Goutte d’Or area of the 18th arrondissement. Look up when you arrive in its vague vicinity, though, and you should be able to make out a sign that reads ‘Restaurant Le Dibi de Chez Aida’ in small writing. The scene inside isn’t particularly inviting (a few tables, a humming television, groups of locals chatting at tables), but the waiting staff will soon prove as warming as the West African specialities they serve.
Standouts from the menu include various sauce-based dishes like the thiebou tienneu (fish in a tomato and carrot sauce, accompanied by wholegrain rice) and the beef mafé, with its unctuous peanut plant sauce served on a generous bed of sticky white rice. The house speciality here is the wood fire-grilled whole chicken or lamb (to share), while drinks include an array of appealing juices like ginger, tamarind and bissap (hibiscus flower).
TRANSLATION: HUW OLIVER