Jambo African Cuisine

Say "jambo" to your new favorite restaurant. This place fulfills my biggest desire when going out to eat: having the opportunity to sample a wide variety of foods at a low cost. Their all-day buffet features most of what you can order as a man/side dish including samosas, roast beef with garlic, rice balls, beans, and more. I've never seen some of these foods before and loved getting to try a little of everything. I could have eaten a whole trough of the samosas and beef. Carmel sauce was provided to drizzle over the roll-type thing and the fried rice ball. See, I didn't even know what I was eating, but it was dang good. My boyfriend wasn't impressed with the food, but I really enjoyed it. If you're a fan of trying new things, you'll be a fan of this restaurant.

The buffet doesn't look like it offers a large selection of food, but you won't care once you fill your plate. If you dine in, the buffet is $12 and includes a drink. You can fill a take-out container instead and pay $9.99/1.5 lb, but it's not as good of a deal if you plan on eating a lot. The take-out option can get pricy.

When you tag four stars in a review, it says "yay! I'm a fan." next to it. This is an accurate judgement of Jambo African Cuisine for me. I'm a fan. However, I'm a fan of the restaurant, not necessarily the food. Here's why: the service experience and the food were in two different ballparks.

First, the food: it was on par with a two-three star for me; most of the items were hit and miss. Granted, Erika and I went for the takeout buffet, and the sit down meals might be better. Still, we had few options, and of the ten to fifteen items at the buffet, only a few of them were truly enjoyable. Specifically, they had dumplings that were wonderful, and a fairly well cooked curry. However, besides those items, the majority of the food seemed greasy and poorly prepared.

What saved the experience for us, was the exceptional service that the owner demonstrated. She was quick to recommend menu items, exceedingly friendly, and very interested in how we came to be in her establishment. Furthermore, she let us try menu items for free since it was our first time in. That's the kind of hospitality that you only see at locally owned, small businesses. She made it a wonderful experience, and we left with smiles on our faces.

So will I go back? Probably at some point. There still a place in this world for restaurants where services is first and foremost. The key takeaway for me, was that, next time, it might be worth sitting down and ordering off the menu.

We visited this place based on Yelp reviews. The owner is very friendly and did a great job educating us on the food. This was our first experience with Tanzanian food. It was a superb experience.

Please visit this restaurant. We need to support innovative new restaurant concepts.

I am in the Kalamazoo area on business and, since I'm a foodie, thought I'd try this place for lunch. The establishment is very clean and the staff was a bit shy but friendly, (perhaps just cultural differences). However, the food was very tasty. I ordered the chicken seasoned with Zanzibar spice, greens with cashews, and chapati. I was pleased with everything. Very exotic flavors to foods many of us are already familiar with. I will definitely return whenever I am in the area.

Jambo...cheers to you.

My first time having African food and I am definitely coming back here! Warm greeting when we entered and said it was our first visit. He went through each item, showing us each one and suggesting the combo plate. We each got one that had 1 meat and 4 sides and got to try so many items! The coconut donut was a little greasy, but the owner could bottle the house made hot sauce as it was so good!! Sweet and spicy, not the kind that hurts, just warms you through. The tilapia was bone in, which surprised Scot as he took his first bite. Just a great excuse to play with the food. We ate our fill and have leftovers to take home to eat again tomorrow! I hope in the future that real plates and silverware become an option.

I love the stewed beef and chapati here. Overall this is a nice change from the usual. The beans and samosas are also good, and it comes with a drink. I don't like sweet spices on meat so some of the dishes were not for me but I I would like to try some of the other dishes here in the future. The woman who was cooking was very nice and helpful in explaining the dishes.

Are lunch at Jambo on the recommendation of several Yelpers. I have essentially no basis for making a judgment about authenticity of African cuisine, but I can say it was yummy.

The hot chai is spicy and was a great surprise. I wouldn't probably drink it with my meal again, but I would stop in for a liquid treat again for sure.

I have reservations about Jambo for a couple of reasons: first, the young woman helping me with my order seemed almost shy when I tried to order, or ask questions about the menu, and just generally made me feel awkward during our whole interaction. Maybe she was having an off day? I wouldn't make too much of just one experience.

Another concern I had was with the menu: the pictures of some dishes led me to believe I would get more than I did. Fire example, they have a great fried roll dish, and the picture shows a basket full of them. Your order buys you just one, so to treat your whole party it really starts to add up! It was also like this for the samosas which were quite good but I think a touch overpriced.

I guess that gets to my last point: for a quick service style restaurant, the prices, particularly at lunch, are a bit high for me. A combo meal special would probably do really well here and attract a larger crowd. Maybe the chicken, rice and a samosa for a somewhat discounted price? That would be the bomb. Just food for thought!

I wish Jambo the best of luck, and I'm hoping the next meal I have there is even better.

Good food very reasonably priced. Staff was friendly. The food was flavorful. I tried everything on the buffet and I liked it all. To drink we had the juice of the day which was a ginger pineapple concoction with light carbonation! Yummy! If you like worldly flavors give this place a try, you won't be disappointed.

Shortly after a recommendation of this newly opened restaurant from a friend, I found myself craving something out of the ordinary for lunch... As you walk into Jambo and are warmly greeted by their friendly staff, you are directed to the menu, which has pictures of each item with a brief description. I find this to be quite helpful when attempting a culture of food that is unfamiliar.

Ideally priced, quality food. Everything is served in to-go containers making it a handy spot for a workday lunch.

As with any place that has been open for less than a month there is still some kinks needed to be worked out. The table we were at was pretty wobbly and looking across the place, not many others looked too stable either. Other that and a little bit lengthy of a cash register system, I am looking forward to seeing how this place progresses!

This is such a hidden gem, but is definitely a teesure if you can find it! The buffet had a nice variety of rice, beans, and meat. The ambience was comfortable and beautifully decorated, yet casual. The prices are very reasonable as well. Definitely plan to try this place again soon.