My general recommendation is to go for the fish. With the meat of your choice, it’s a delicious, wholesome, and hearty plate of food. The tomato-stained rice retained a nice bite, the pile of sautéed greens tasted fresh, and the plantains arrived caramelized to prime sweetness. I cared the least for the okra soup, which was the blandest of the lot, and its slimy texture also presented a logistical challenge - again, rice would make it easier to enjoy.įor those new to West African food, Ruth’s Buka’s jollof rice combo plates are approachable crowd-pleasers. The banga, a palm fruit soup, was sweet and savory, though its oily consistency made it extra challenging to scoop up with fufu.

The efo riro, a combo of leafy greens and tomatoes, was simple and comforting. The egusi, a Nigerian classic thickened with pounded melon seeds, was complex and fiery. I was surprised it cost $5 extra - on the phone, Ogbe told me it should have actually been $3 - but it was some of the most delicious, nutty white rice I’ve had in awhile.Įvery soup I tried was tasty. If you’re not a fan of fufu and the like, you can substitute white rice instead. Ruth Ogbe opened her restaurant two years ago. You’ll also get a big bowl of water to wash off your hands. Regardless of which one you choose, you’ll rip off a chunk of the stretchy, elastic dough and use that to spoon stew into your mouth. Whether it was fufu, pounded yam, or amala, the overall texture and blank-slate flavor felt very similar - at least they did to me, someone with admittedly little-to-no prior experience with them. The other soups follow a mix-and-match format, where you can choose your meat and accompanying ball of dough, most of which contained cassava root or yam flour.

As winter approaches, I’d return for this sinus-clearing dish. Pepper soup is the exception, and it was one of my favorite dishes - light, thin, and slurpable, intensely peppery and floral, with a mass of boney, skin-on tilapia swimming within the pool of grey. The bulk of Ruth’s Buka’s menu is devoted to soups, although the majority are more like saucy stews paired with a starch.

These particular spice sensations are difficult to come by in the East Bay. Your rewards are potentially huge, though, especially if you crave West African flavors. If you come with a group, plan to share, as the dishes always arrived one after the other with a lengthy lag time. Everyone seemed to know each other, catching up in their native tongue before digging into their meals.Įven without many other customers, service tended to be a bit slow. closing one evening, though, I witnessed Ruth’s Buka transform into a real gathering place for the local Nigerian community. Despite checking the place out at different times for lunch and dinner, I always seemed to interrupt one of the family members eating or texting in the otherwise empty, burnt-orange space. Over the course of my three visits, I encountered the whole family and felt like I accidentally stumbled into their home - sometimes uninvited.

Buka nigerian nyc