Appioo African Bar & Grill, Chef Prince Matey's Ghanaian and West African on 9th and U Street NW

[jeffmhunt]

I'm trying Appioo for dinner tonight and was surprised to find no discussion on here. Anyone been? Recommendations?

It's billed as African but seems to be Ghanaian - a cuisine I'm not familiar with. I will report back on this thread later this evening or tomorrow.

Appioo on Facebook

"A Taste of Ghana in DC: Appioo African Bar and Grill" by Jaimee Swift on blackfoodie.co

[funkyfood]

Haven't been but very curious to hear what you think

[jeffmhunt]

Visit was tainted a bit because they claimed they couldn't process my Groupon since it was printed (as opposed to displayed via the app). I try to put the food above all else, but that was very frustrating. Waitress was extremely nice, but the tight basement space made the few loud patrons at the bar absolutely overpower the room. 

I had the egusi with goat and a side of jollof rice. The entree (menu: "Ground melon seeds cooked with spinach and palm oil") was very good, but I was especially impressed with the rice ("cooked in mild tomato sauce and savory seasonings") - very flavorful and pretty spicy.

My wife ordered vegetarian combo #1 - essentially an assortment of sides. Waakye ("Brown rice slowly cooked with black eye peas and our homemade shitto sauce"), Nkontombre ("savory spinach sauteed in tomato stew with red peppers, onions and garlic"), and Yor Ke Gari ("Stewed black eye peas in palm oil"). All were exceptional.

$40 + tip. We left extremely full, but we'll probably try another Ghanaian place before we come back - that Groupon bust bummed us out and the loud space just wasn't ideal for conversation. If you can, I would recommend carryout.

[DonRocks]

18 hours ago, jeffmhunt said:

Visit was tainted a bit because they claimed they couldn't process my Groupon since it was printed (as opposed to displayed via the app). I try to put the food above all else, but that was very frustrating.

That would be extremely frustrating.

In my limited experience, I've found a lot of overlap in West African cuisines - there are also plenty of differences, and even differences within tiny countries such as Togo and Benin (the closer you are to the water, the more you'll find seafood - as you're up by Burkina Faso, things turn more into yams, grains, fresh goat if you're lucky, etc. - I suspect the drive from Accra to Bolgatanga is well over ten hours).

For whatever reason, I've found a heavy use of peanut butter in the cuisines.

There's a really nice picture of Chef Matey on their Twitter account.