Lat Dior African Eatery, Enmore

I’ve been wanting to go to Lat Dior in Enmore for months. Literally months!

African is something that I would very rarely eat simply as you don’t find too many African restaurants in Sydney (and I don’t think there are any in the Parramatta area). I’ve had African once or twice before, but not within the last ten years. But, I am really craving something different…and meaty.

I’ve almost made it to Lat Dior quite a few times but things just never worked out…usually due to the fact that whenever my family gets together Asian (specifically Yum Cha or Japanese) are on the menu.

So when Neicy-Poo joins Miss Chicken and I for dinner (yes, another great car exchange program is in play) she suggests that we finally give this African restaurant a try. Miss Chicken and I jump at this brilliant idea.

Neicy-Poo has been to Lat Dior a few times recently, but with her vegetarian friends. Now I don’t know if you know much about African food, but it pretty much focuses on meat, meat and more meat. Niecy-Poo found out the hard way that vego friends and an African fest are not exactly a match made in heaven.

Lat Dior has quite dim lighting, not good for taking photos on my poxy little camera. I tried taking a few photos with the flash on, but I think I was giving one of the other diners a stroke. So, just a few photos for this post I’m afraid.

The restaurant is also quite small, much smaller that its sister restaurant Le Kilimanjaro up the road in Newtown. Lat Dior has about seven or eight tables and I imagine it might get a bit crowded at times. The small room fills up as the night progresses and at 9.15pm people are still coming in for dinner (which astounds me as 9.15pm is normally when I'm getting ready for beddy-byes). 

The three of us decide to order three meaty mains and some side dishes. It’s going to be a non-vegetarian meat fest tonight. Woo hoo.

It’s quickly agreed that Cous Cous ($2.00 per person) is a must, as well as some yummy African Flat Bread ($2.00) and Harrissa ($1.00).

I love the flat bread which has a texture similar to a crepe. And I love that all the food is served on traditional wooden African plates - very cool.

I’ve seen Maeve O’Maera’s African Food Safari so I know I’m supposed to use the flat bread as a scoop for my meat and cous cous. It’s a bit messy, but I give it a go and then revert to the old knife and fork that I’ve come to know and love.

We settle on two side dishes. First up is the Accara ($6.00), a round pattie of black-eyed beans soaked overnight and then ground with mild African spices. The Accara are lovely and soft and the sauce they come with is rich and flavoursome.

Our other side dish is Sap Sap ($6.00) which has to be my favourite dish of the night. Fresh crunchy watercress with a dressing of mild African spices, tamarind and pepper – I could eat it by the bucket load and still want more. The taste is fresh and the dressing is lovely and zesty, but not bitter.

Next up is mains. First cab off the rank is Guinar African BBQ Chicken (no picture due to a technical failure on my part). We order a half chicken for $10 and the meat is so tender and juicy and falls off the bone when we go to break it up.

We order our next meal, Sossou Gorgiguan ($12.50) as the description is just so…weird.

I’ll let you read for yourself…

The tuna has a very strong fishy taste, but it’s not unpleasant. We’re not really sure of the correlation between “homosexual” and “tuna” and “Senegal”, but it’s a nice meal despite the truly odd description on the menu.  As with all the meals we've had at Lat Dior the spices are mild in flavour - although if you like it really spicy just ask and they'll spice it up for you.

Last up is a beef dish from Madagascar, Varenga ($10.50). The menu promised us this dish would be mouth watering and it lived up to its promise.

The bad news about tonight is that The Boy is DEVASTATED that I’ve gone to Lat Dior without him. The good news is that I get to go again with The Boy. Oh, and the REALLY good news is that Niecy-Poo has bought her own car so I have full custody of my car once again.

Lat Dior African Eatery is at 150 Enmore Road, Enmore.