Safari Restaurant NYC

First time I try African authentic food and it was a very cool experience. Some flavors I haven’t had before and some I have combined into wonderful dishes! Large sized, nice variety and good service. Al in all a very nice spot!

We stopped here for lunch after finding it on Unilocal.The restaurant did not have posted hours so when we walked by the first time the sign said closed but they were really open, they just forgot to turn the sign around. When another place did not turn out we returned and had a very enjoyable lunch.
I got the mango chicken ($ 16) and the wife ordered the goat ($ 18). Both were excellent. My mango chicken was sweet but also had some heat at the end, how interesting. We were also given bananas to cut up and add to our dish, and it really brought an additional flavor level and balanced some of the heat.
We started with the sambuzas (2 for $ 8) that were homemade and so flavorful and light, not at all greasy or heavy like so many at Indian restaurants.
The ambience is quite modest. We were there on a hot day and I was dying from the heat when they saw me dripping away and finally turned on the AC. But you come for the food and it is excellent, so don’t let the other stuff get in the way. Service was warm, friendly, and efficient.
If I lived in NYC I would come here all the time.

Wonderful host/​chef/​owner. Great food. Amazing wall! Try the goat and the magi curry chicken. Oh, and the mango juice is fantastic. Thank you.

The food is amazing! Saw all the Unilocal reviews and had to go, so glad I did! The food was excellent! We had the beef sambuzas (beef patties) to start off. They were excellent, similar to a ground beef empanada but not too deep fried outside and the cilantro based sauce to dip was tasty.
For the mains we had the goat which hands down is the best dish! I had the mango curry chicken, again excellent and extremely tasty. I haven’t had anything with that flavor before it was good and wasn’t sweet like how at times mango based dishes can be. We also had the steak with pasta. I am not sure what was in that pasta but it was excellent and probably the best pasta I’ve had in New York definitely did not expect that at a Somali restaurant. I would actually consider ordering the pasta on its own as a dish there.
The grapefruit based juice was extremely good and refreshing. The hibiscus berry juice was also good but it is a sweet drink.
It is a small space and very cozy. The host/​server is extremely hospitable. Service can be a little slow for beverages and attention but the food comes out quick and given it is one guy managing all the tables it is understandable. As an FYI there is no liquor or beer. They accept cash & credit cards just no AMEX. Will definitely come back the Unilocal reviews on spot on the food is great!

Based off of the Unilocal reviews, I came here on a Tuesday with a friend and we weren’t disappointed! The place is simple and small as others have mentioned, but it detracts from neither the food nor the dining experience. Our server was very nice and gave us some recommendations. We ordered the mango chicken and the goat. Both were incredible. We were offered complimentary tea, and it too was delicious. To be fair, neither of us are familiar with Somalian cuisine, so we don’t know if what we had was authentic, but we will most definitely come back.

Fantastic restaurant with great food and amazing hosts. Our group of four tried their Sambuzas (beef and chicken patties), Hilib Ari (roasted goat), Mango Curry Chicken (grilled chicken with mango curry sauce), Chicken Suqqar (spicy chicken stew). The entrees came with spiced basmati rice and chapati, a flaky/​buttery flatbread. We finished our meal with their crêpe and chapati desserts.
The goat was a standout and if you come as a group get multiple orders (we ordered two for our table of four). I like spicy food so the Chicken Suqqar was also memorable for me. That being said, everything we had delicious, distinct, and perfectly cooked.
The people running the restaurant were also incredibly hospitable and generous. A plate of goat got bumped onto my shirt/​lap during the meal by one of my companions. The hosts not only quickly and graciously moved us to another table and cleaned up our mess, but without a word, they also brought out a complementary replacement entrée for us (even though I managed to salvage most of the dish)!
Lastly, it’s BYO and there’s a great wine shop just down the street at the NE corner of 116 and FDB.

Take-​Out Review:
Smells delicious as soon as you walk in. Fairly small space. Simple menu with vegan options (I ordered Costo Vegan Wraps which is vegan)
Wait time = 10 minutes
Since it was my first visit, I got a free Somalian tea. I love ginger tea so it hit the spot.
Why 4 stars: I left smelling like the food.

Where do I start, this is by far the worst Somali food I’ve ever had. One star is an understatement, unfortunately 0 stars is not an option.
We had the Hilib Ari which was not seasoned with your typical Somali spices, it tasted as if they added Soy Sauce and they added raisins to the meat which is very unusual. The rice was hard and over cooked.
We also had the chicken suqaar with Chapati, the chicken was salty and very oily and flavorless. The Chapati was the frozen Paratha that you can buy from your local Indian/​Pakistan Grocery. The Frozen Chapati was not fully cooked. The food was highly over priced we spent $ 50.00 on three meals and we left with our plates hardily touched.
I wouldn’t even call this Somali Food not sure what it is, I’m surprised there are Somali reviewers on here who are raving about the place. Makes me wonder if they are affiliated with the owners.
I hope the owners find an actual Somali Chef, I would hate for people to actually think that this is authentic Somali food, this is a very poor representation of Somali Cuisine. Huge disappointment.

Isbarmuuto ($ 4): Somali fresh white grapefruit juice.
Sambuza; Chicken ($ 5): Traditional Somali chicken with herbs, Somali seasoning, fried and served with Bisbaas sauce.
Hilib Ari ($ 16): Roasted goat served with Somali Basmati rice and Bisbaas sauce.
Hooyo Faduma’s Mango Curry Chicken ($ 14): Slow-​cooked mango curry sauce over grilled Berber Chicken; served with vegan Biryanni.
Busketti ($ 15): Flank steak marinated in house garlic ginger sauce, served with Pasta Saldata.
The food is phenomenal! The Hilib Ari/​Roasted Goat was truly sensational. The meat and vegetables were aromatic and extremely flavorful. Plus, the Somali rice is fantastic. A standout dish — it’s easily one of the best things I’ve eaten ever. I also adored the Isbarmuuto. The white grapefruit was really tasty and it was carbonated! The only thing we didn’t care about was the flank steak. The beef was tough and its flavor was completely shadowed by all the other amazing dishes.
You’ll find the bisbaas sauce everywhere and although meant to be really spicy, it can be adjusted! We asked for mild and though I could have used a little more spice, it was really pleasant. The flavor is wonderful and reminds me of a slightly creamy salsa verde. Either way, it’s delicious and I was putting it on everything!

Nice hidden gem find in Harlem!
We were originally trying to drop by Amy Ruth’s, but the line there was beyond ridiculous. Someone ended up looking for an alternative on the Unilocal app, and this place looked like it had pretty good reviews. I’ve never had Somalian food before, so wasn’t really sure what to expect. The space itself is quite small and cozy. No frills, simply decorated, but clean. The hostess/​server was incredibly friendly and stopped by to chat a couple times throughout the meal. I opted for the hilib ari which is a slow-​cooked goat dish and served with rice. It was very good, although the serving size was probably just a tad bit small given the price. It’s served with this spicy green sauce on the side which was absolutely delicious (have no idea what was in it).
One of the best parts of the place is that it’s BYOB! Also with no silly corking fees that seem to plague this great city. There’s a liquor/​wine store around the corner with decent selection if you didn’t happen to bring anything from home.
Pros:
— First (and maybe still only?) Somalian restaurant in NYC
— Friendly/​hospitable service
— Delicious food
— BYOB (with no corking fee!)
Cons:
— Slightly on the pricier side relative to serving size
Had a great time here and would definitely come back if I’m in the area!

Just visited today with my friend; I leave satisfied every time!!!
The food is amazing and the staff are incredibly kind and hospitable!
You feel as though you’ve been welcomed into someone’s home!
Excellent food and service! What more can you ask for?

The food here was good. I’ve never had Somalian food before, so it was definitely nice to try something different. It was a little bothersome that the goat dish came with lots of bones and whole seeds of cardamon which is never pleasant to bite on. Additionally, the service was a little slow (but we did come with a party of 15).
What to get:
— The chicken sukkar was great! I got it with the BREAD (not the rice) which I highly recommend. The bread was really delicious and the portion size was perfect.
— the spiced sweet tea was really exceptional and not like anything I’ve had before.

I will start by saying I’m not too crazy about ethnic food, I often find myself overwhelmed or just displeased with the eclectic flavors.
I decided I’d give this place a try since I was famished. I had the Hilib Ari, this goat dish was bomb! The flavors worked so well together! The portion size was good too. The goat was tender and delicious! Not dry at all, plus they put in the right amount of spice so you can actually enjoy the dish.
My group also got complimentary cups of tea at the end and the chef even came out to chat with us, really nice guy, it’s little things like this that just add a cherry on top.
You can’t go wrong with ordering here… unless you’re a vegetarian lol

Okay so I came here before a concert at The Apollo because, well, the Unilocal reviews were amazing and I had never tried Somalian food, and I’m SO GLAD I did.
The wait for the actual food was a bit longer than expected, but the flavors def made up for it. I ordered the traditional Somalian chicken stew and a hot sweet tea. IN-​SANE. If only I could eat like this forever…
The chef (who btw was a total cutie-​pie) came out and thanked us for dining with him, gave the entire table a round of tea on the house, and even gave us a few ingredients to take home to make the tea for ourselves. Talk about good service!
I will most def be recommending this place to all of my friends. It’s an awesome little quaint restaurant that packs a serious flavor punch.

To be honest I don’t know anything about Somalian food but boy was this great food! The goat was not gamey at all and the rice was soooo tasty!
Will definitely come back: D

Had dinner here after looking through the reviews on Unilocal.In one word– OUTSTANDING! Every bite is pure heaven. More specifically– the location will make u think twice but take my word– try it! — the ambience and music will make you feel u r sitting in Somalia and eating: v authentic– the fragrance of spices will make your taste buds liquify– the staff is all smiles and hospitable — then comes the FOOD– perfection at its best! I had tge somalian traditional tea– black tea with cinnamon, cardamom and ginger with honey; followed by their super popular and most recommended slow cooked goat ;; with spicy traditional somalian chicken;; and then traditional somalian roti dessert. Every single item had a distinct taste. Flavors that leave your palate craving for more. Beautiful blend of Indian and italian spices.
This place for sure lives upto the reviews on Unilocal.Thanks to Unilocal I could find this gem. Try it!

This place is amazing. I had wanted to try it for a while as the NYTimes reviewed it and liked it. My best friend and I came here and were so in love. It’s a really small space but we found both the service and food to be perfect.
We shared the meat sambusas which were perfectly flaky outside, juicy tender inside. Just all around yum. For my main dish, I had the lamb (Hilib Ari) at the waitress’s suggestion (she emphatically recommended this) and I was not disappointed. The lamb was juicy and flavorful, rice fragrant, and the bisbaas sauce was spicy and delicious. My friend had the busketti which is kind of like steak with pasta and she loved it too. Couldn’t stop raving about how good it was. We also both appreciated that we had enough food to be full but not disgustingly full.
Our waitress was attentive but not pushy which is the perfect combo.
And this all came out to about $ 21 a person which is amazingly cheap for such delicious food. We will be back.

I’d not tried somalian food before, and this was delicious so I’d have it again. It was different to other African food I’d tried before. And really good. I particularly liked the veggie wrap starter thing. And the fish main was good too, tho the fish was very dense and heavy. The woman working there was very helpful and friendly, and chased the kitchen along when I was running out of time and had to leave (yeah the service is a bit slow).
The only downsides:
* the dishes were pretty similar, e.g. same mixed vegetables with the same spicing in the wrap and with the fish
* it was quite expensive for lunch — two people sharing a (huge) appetizer, with a main course each, drinking water came to about $ 50 — there are other great places to eat in that price range.

A friend recommended this restaurant after reading a great review in The Village Voice. Our group of 12 people filled up half of this small, quaint restaurant. The restaurant was small, but we’ve actually been to smaller restaurants. Nice atmosphere, very friendly (although slow) service. I don’t think they’re used to serving such a large group all at once.
Ok, onto the food… these were some of the tastiest dishes that I’ve had in a long time! I loved ALL the dishes but the standout dishes were the Chicken Sambuza and the Mogadishu Beef Sugaar. The basmati rice and Bisbaas sauce (surprisingly in 3 of the dishes) were fantastic! Their Shaax Tea (very aromatic sweet Somali tea made w/​ginger, cardamom, cinnamon and cloves) was delicious! I am definitely going to go back and try some of their other dishes… can’t wait! :D
Here are the dishes we all shared:
Sambuza (Traditional beef and chicken patties made with aromatic herbs and Somali seasoning; deep fried and served with bisbaas dipping sauce) — Both were delicious but the chicken was better. One of the Fav dishes of the night!
Hilib Ari (Most popular dish — roasted goat with Somali basmati rice and bisbaas sauce) — the only thing that would make this dish better is if they could make boneless goat! Hahaha
Kismaayo Chicken Suquaar (Traditional Southern Somali dish — spicy chicken stew with aromatic house spice; served w/​basmati rice) — another tasty dish but compared to our other dishes, this one wasn’t as good.
Chef’s Special Liido (Fresh catch of the day served w/​homemade lime zest sauce and bisbaas rub; served w/​pasta saldata) — the catch of the day was King Fish… the fish was cooked perfectly and went really well with the pasta. Nice flavors!
Mogadishu Beef Sugaar — (rosemary and mimita infused beef sugaar cooked w/​vegs, served with bed of Bariis and basmati rice) — Hand down, the Fav dish of the night! The flavors were outstanding!
Note: Bisbaas sauce is made of garlic, lime, serrano chili, cilantro and yogurt., sooooo Good!
And don’t forget: this restaurant is BYOB!

I hope this lovely new restaurant flourishes in this neighborhood. Places like this are one of the reasons I moved to Harlem: ethnic diversity, family vibe, good food. Instead, the neighborhood is increasingly looking like Williamsburg. I’ll leave it up to readers to determine what that means.
First the only criticisms: if ranking on the food/​price alone, I would give this place 4 stars and here’s why: I don’t believe the 1 «$» rating is accurate. I ordered the Kismaayo Chicken Suqaar with flatbread and a steamed milk tea. For $ 15 the meal did not fill me up. I ran out of flatbread quite quickly (had to eat the rest of the curry with nothing) and the portion sizes at other restaurants (Ethiopian, Indian, and West African) in the area seem larger.
Now the many good points. The food was very tasty: tangy, spicy, fairly tender, with a chili-​cilantro chutney that was a great accent. The bread looks a little raw, and I had misgivings, but it was actually very tasty, pliant, soft, and went very well with the chicken. The steamed milk tea (Shaax Somali) is quite sweet (something I hope they can adjust) but very aromatic and tasty. I’ve been missing good chai near me (I used to live near a great Pakistani deli) and this will definitely give me my fix.
The place is small but warm. It’s casual, but also has an intimacy about it, and the woman who was running it from behind the counter is so kind and put up with a ton of my questions. Friendly business-​owners and staff go a long way and I’m so grateful for this at Safari. Definitely bumped this review up to 5 stars.
I’m looking forward to trying other dishes, desserts, drinks here and bringing my friends. If they read these reviews, please increase your portion sizes just slightly, and add a little more bread with each meal, and your restaurant would be perfect.
Welcome to the neighborhood, Safari; wish you had come sooner!