Kilimandjaro serves fare from West Africa, specializing in classic dishes from Senegal.
- COLIN KERRIGAN TTN Abdailayle Kida, 34, a chef, and Andrea Fabrizio, 29, a pharmacist, eat at Kilimandjaro as often as possible. The pair said it’s one of their favorite spots to dine in West Philadelphia.
Do you love African delicacies? Are you on a budget? Then Kilimandjaro Restaurant is the place for you.
Kilimandjaro, at 43rd and Chestnut streets, is an affordable, award-winning African restaurant that will make your taste buds holler for more.
The atmosphere of this University City restaurant is quaint and calm with an aroma of delicious foods, such as thieboudienne, a Senegalese dish made with fish, jollof rice and tomato sauce.
“Their jollof rice is really good. I would take my girlfriend to there,” said Kabir Oshodi, a junior at Drexel University.
“Everything is fresh,” said Youma Ba, Kilimandjaro’s owner. “We try to cook everything daily. The price is not very high for students.”
Popular dishes include an appetizer, aloco (fried plantains), which are accompanied with fresh grilled fish, poisson du jour (the fresh grilled fish of the day) and a dessert called thiakry, made of African couscous, pineapple juice and sour cream.
The prices range from $2 to $12, just right for a tight college budget. Plus, Ba said she plans to have special nights for students in the future.
Not only does the restaurant offer the taste of a different culture, but it also employs a multicultural staff whose members hail from various African countries, including Nigeria, Mali and Sierra Leone.
“Sometimes,” Ba explained, “in the African [food] business you have to speak different dialects to attract customers.”
Fatia Kasumu can be reached at fatia@temple.edu
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