Return to Ohinéné

I first wrote about Ohinéné last June, after Tom and I dined there upon the recommendation of a friend who lives nearby. We recently returned to celebrate the success of Tom's e-book, Dining Out in Paris, because Ohinéné is one of the twelve restaurants featured in it!

Ohinéné restaurant
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Edith (co-owner and chef) and Jean-Benoit (co-owner and part-time server) were as cheerful and welcoming as ever.

Edith Gnapié and Jean-Benoit Chauveau, co-owners
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We were surprised to see an image of their son Owen on a poster in the window on rue Orfila as we approached the front door:

Y'a bon, BISSAP
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It tells passersby that Ohinéné serves wonderful bissap (a soft drink made from hibiscus flowers). I can testify to this because Tom and I both ordered it the last time we dined here and we loved it.

Bissap
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This time, we elected to try Edith's fresh ginger juice and were equally impressed. It is the best I've tasted in Paris!

Ohinéné still serves French cuisine at lunchtime, as the menu behind the counter shows. They've even begun serving burgers, which have become ubiquitous in Paris restaurants.

Lunch menu
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But at night, cuisine from Côte d'Ivoire reigns! Edith almost always prepares a dish that is braised and smothered with a vibrant array of chopped veggies.

Special of the day
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And Jean-Benoit is proud of the top quality mangoes that he selects for dessert.

Fresh mango
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Read about Edith and Jean-Benoit's story in Dining Out in Paris.

Ohinéné
14, rue de la Chine
75020 Paris
Telephone: 01 71 20 67 62
Metro: Pelleport (Line 3bis)or Gambetta (Line 3)

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Rio Dos Camarãos Restaurant: A Review

Rio Dos Camarãos is an African restaurant located in the eastern suburb of Montreuil, about a five-minute walk from the metro station Robespierre. Tom and I first learned about it when we were surfing the Internet for restaurants serving Afro-centric cuisine. We found an intriguing photo of a banana-chocolate tart presented on a place mat made of bottle caps and followed the information trail to this spacious eatery.

Rio Dos Camarãos - façade
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When we saw the African statuettes in the window, we knew that we had arrived.

African statuettes
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The interior is simply decorated but the elements that chef and owner Alessandro Bella Ola and his wife have chosen to embellish the large dining room are unmistakably African. Handsome cloths cover the tables and large and small dolls dressed in colorful cloth are placed throughout the restaurant. Color photographs of Africans hang on the walls.

Table setting
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Dolls and wine rack
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Our waiter, whom we later learned was Chef Bella Ola, invited us to take a table. There, we studied the menu that listed a wide range of traditional African dishes, including Mafé, Ndolé, and Yassa.

We decided to order apéritifs while pondering what to order. Tom chose a blond beer from Cameroon called Castel. Served in a 65cl bottle, it was refreshing with a slight bitter taste. I ordered a Punch au bissap - a cocktail of rum and hibiscus juice. While suitably bracing due to the rum, I found that the flavor of hibiscus was not as strong as I expected (or would have liked). I felt the same about the non-alcoholic ginger juice that I ordered to accompany my meal.

Chef Bella Ola brought over a dish of spicy peanuts and corn nuts to accompany our beverages. Tom also ordered a small side dish of green banana chips, which really did taste like green (slightly unripe) banana. These were fun to crunch on.

After Chef Bella Ola served the beverages, he disappeared into the kitchen. A woman, whom we later learned was his wife, took over the table service.

We are always wary of ordering too much food at African restaurants, so when I spied an intriguing starter called Nyam ngond on the menu, I asked Chef whether it was copious. He assured us that we would receive a "truly appetizer-sized" portion, so we decided to order it. Chef graciously invited us to split it between us so that we'd be sure to have enough room for the main dish.

Nyam ngond
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Nyam ngond is a cake-like preparation of pumpkin seeds. It was presented as a flat disk resting on a mound of julienned carrot, zucchini, and cabbage. Instead of containing crunchy morsels of seeds, it was spongy and it had a flavor slightly reminiscent of fish broth. We later learned that it is a dish that is generally served as a main course on the day after family celebrations. We found the salad to be quite refreshing.

We both had a difficult time deciding which main course to choose from the wide variety on the menu. Tom finally settled on Mafé poulet fumé, otherwise known as smoked chicken in peanut sauce. This turned out to be an excellent choice. Madame Bella Ola brought a dish containing a mound of fluffy, white rice and a steaming cast-iron pot containing chicken with carrot and cabbage smothered in peanut sauce. The chicken was tender, the vegetables flavorful, and the rich sauce tempting. Simply delicious!

Mafé Poulet Fumé
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I decided to try the national dish of Cameroon, called Poulet D. G. I received a sizzling-hot iron plate containing a copious portion of stewed chicken legs, plantains, leeks, and red and green bell peppers. The chicken was tender and juicy and the plantains were just sweet enough to add balance to the spices in the dish. The vegetables added color and texture to this heavenly preparation.

Poulet D. G.
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The dessert menu offered some unusual choices. Tom opted for Tatin banane, a large slice of caramelized, upside-down banana pie served with two dollops of whipped cream. It was fashioned after the traditional Tarte des Demoiselles Tatin that is made with apples. The bananas were dense and chewy and tasted somewhat like the sun-dried bananas that one sometimes finds at specialty stores. Tom loved this, declaring that he could eat a slice every day!

Tatin banane
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I sprang for Crème brulée au citron vert. It looked like a traditional crème brulée with its burnt-sugar crust, but it had the bright pick-me-up flavor of lime rather than the mellow-me-down flavor of vanilla. I quite enjoyed it.

Chef Bella Ola, who hails from Cameroon, honored our request to come out from the kitchen at the end of our meal to pose for a photograph.

Chef Alexandre Bella Ola
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He proudly shared that Rio Dos Camarãos restaurant will celebrate twenty years of existence in November 2014. He is planning an entire remake of the menu at that time. We're looking forward to returning in the fall so that we can sample his new culinary creations!

Rio Dos Camarãos
55, rue Marceau
93100 Montreuil
Tel.: 01.42.87.34.84
Métro station: Robespierre (Line 9)

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Ohinéné - A Taste of Côte d'Ivoire in Paris

Several months ago, a dear friend recommended a French-Ivorian restaurant in his neighborhood. Tom and I finally planned to have dinner there after a guided tour that we took through the Ménilmontant district and on the appointed day, we wended our way through the streets until we came upon the bright red façade of Ohinéné on the corner of rue de la Chine and rue Orfila.

Ohinéné restaurant
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The restaurant is fairly small and the decor is reminiscent of an American lunch room, including a display counter where French take-out items are visible. The dining room is sparsely decorated, but is bright, neat, and clean.

Ohinéné dining room
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The appearance of the restaurant can be confusing to those expecting to see "theme" decor to accompany the Côte d'Ivorian dishes that are served here. But rest assured, you are in the right place! One look at the handwritten menu of the day will give you the confirmation that you seek.

Menu of the day
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While mulling over the menu, we each ordered a rum punch. Tom's was made with banana and guava nectars, lime, and white and dark rum. Mine was concocted with ginger. Both cocktails were thicker than we anticipated, as though fruit pulp had been used as the base. Both were delicious!

We ordered from the chalkboard that the waiter brought to the table. There were no starters listed, just main courses.

Tom decided to try the fish special of the day. Called Dorade royale marinée et braisée à l’ivoirienne, it was a whole sea bream that had been marinated, braised, and then served smothered in medley of chopped purple onion, tomato, and zucchini. The succulent white flesh of the fish was flaky and tender and separated easily from the bone. A large mound of riz rouge (rice prepared with tomato sauce) was served alongside.

Dorade braisée
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Riz rouge
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I ordered Kédjénou de poulet, a preparation of chicken stewed with chopped peppers and onion. I received a breast and drumette served in a bowl and drenched in the yellow-orange colored broth in which it had been stewed. A small bowl of attiéké, a dish of light and fluffy fermented cassava pulp, was served alongside. I found the dish nourishing and satisfying.

Kédjénou de poulet
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Attiéké
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For the beverage accompaniment, we each ordered a glass of bissap, a sweetened beverage made from an infusion of the flower of the roselle (hibiscus) plant. The Ohinéné recipe for this drink is thicker than most bissaps that we've tasted and we found it to be quite refreshing.

Bissap
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The variety of desserts offered were not African inspired, but we were pleased with our choice of Tiramisù, a favorite Italian confection. Served in a square bowl, it consisted of cake soaked in coffee syrup that had been topped with mascarpone cheese and powdered with cocoa. We have not tasted a Tiramisù as good as this in a long time. Many are too dry or lack strong coffee flavor—this one was just right!

It was a hearty, satisfying meal. Edith Gnapié, the chef, came out of the kitchen a few times during the service to be sure that everything was fine in the dining room. Her French husband was our waiter and he was very attentive as well. Though this restaurant is off the beaten path for us, we wouldn't hesitate to make reservations to return here!

Ohinéné
14, rue de la Chine
75020 Paris
Telephone: 01 71 20 67 62
Metro: Pelleport (Line 3bis)

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Le Petit Dakar: Not Just Any African Restaurant

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In the heart of the Marais district, just north of the trendy rue des Francs Bourgeois, lies a small restaurant called Le Petit Dakar.  It is an unusual find in this fashionable neighborhood, and one worth exploring!

The old façade of the restaurant was more evocative of Africa than the modern one, so that now, only the name indicates to passersby that they will find something other than French fare inside.

Le Petit Dakar - Old Façade

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Le Petit Dakar - New Façade

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Upon entering, one does not find the kitsch that decorates the interior in many of Paris’ African restaurants. The walls and ceiling are light-colored, and the tables are made of light-colored wood. Multi-media works of contemporary African art on the walls and African music playing on the sound system are the only indications that this is anything other than a traditional restaurant.

Le Petit Dakar - Dining Room

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As the name suggests, Le Petit Dakar specializes in Senegalese cuisine.  Yet not all of the dishes on the menu come from Senegal.  The entire series of entrées is listed under the title Un Détour par les Iles (An Island Detour), which acknowledges the culinary culture of France’s departmental and territorial islands, and one of the main dishes on the menu is from central Africa (see below).  One dessert is Senegalese (Tiacri - consisting of a millet couscous and milk-based preparation flavored with ginger and cinnamon), but the Fondant Tout Choco (chocolate cake with a melted chocolate center) is unabashedly French.  A small selection of ice creams round out this part of the menu.

As for beverages, the restaurant proposes two apéritifs that I recommend: Vodka bissap orangé, made from vodka and bissap (juice from the hibiscus flower) flavored with orange juice, and Rhum gingembre ananas, made from rum, ginger, and pineapple. It also proposes virgin bissap juice and ginger juice on its beverage menu.  A Senegalese beer called La Gazelle is available for beer drinkers, but be aware that the bottles contain a whopping 63 centiliters of the brew!  If you prefer wine with dinner, there is selection of French wines on the menu as well.

My husband Tom and I first dined at Le Petit Dakar a few weeks ago.  The traditional, Senegalese Yassa (chicken marinated in lemon juice, then smothered in onions) that I ordered as a main dish was quite tasty, and Tom loved his Thiéboudiènne (the national dish of Senegal, made from fish, rice, and tomato sauce – served only on Fridays and Saturdays).   We returned last Thursday, anticipating that dinner there would be the perfect follow-up to the vernissage (art opening) we attended that evening at the contemporary African art gallery Les Arts Derniers on the nearby rue Saint-Gilles. 

Thiéboudiènne

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This time, both Tom and I ordered the same thing: Assiette Seka (warm bell pepper, eggplant, and zucchini atop a mixed salad) and a central African main dish called Sauce Graine.  This consists of lamb stewed with okra and palm nuts, with a mound of white rice served alongside. (The “gravy” was not at all slimy, which is what most people fear when they hear that okra is part of a dish.)  We happily accepted the server’s suggestion to accentuate the dish with finely diced peppers served in a tiny ceramic container, and dosed our dishes with the fiery condiment according to our individual taste.  I had a glass of ginger juice with the meal, which was refreshing and pleasantly complementary to the flavor of the stew. 

Sauce Graine

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While we found the appetizer to be “correct,” we both devoured the Sauce Graine!  We forewent dessert, as we were quite satiated after finishing the main dish.  We were even more pleased with our bill - we paid a modest 60 euros for our apéritifs (two Vodka bissap orangé), first and main courses, and my glass of ginger juice.

For an “off-the-beaten-track” dining experience in the center of Paris, try Le Petit Dakar!

Le Petit Dakar
6, rue Elzevir
75003 Paris
Telephone: 01.44.59.34.74
Metro: Saint-Paul (Line 1)
Hours: Tuesday through Saturday—Noon to 2:30 PM and 7 PM to 11:00 PM; Sunday—Noon to 2:30 PM

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Entrée to Black Paris!™ is a Discover Paris! blog.