Senegalese cuisine is one of my favorites around. Each platter is such a flavorful and well-rounded meal, filled with spices, sauces, meats, and veggies. And while this restaurant looks a bit shabby, the food is excellent, which is the most important part. Two of us split the thiebu djen (my forever fave) with jollof rice and lamb dibi with couscous, and both were excellent. The fish was so tender and flavorful, the sauces went perfectly with the jollof rice, and the veggies (ranging from carrots and cabbage to yucca) were nice and tender. It was also a massive portion. The lamb was smoky and flavorful but had lots of bones. There were onions prepared two ways, one a little more crisp, mustardy, and tangy, the other a soft sautéed kind of stew. I loved both. You can easily split each dish into two meals, which I did, along with ordering another thiebu djen to go. The bissap (another typical go-to item) had a really deep, concentrated hibiscus flavor that took me by surprise. I liked it, but the flavor was a little too rich for me, so I did shamefully bring it home and dilute it with a bit of water. *hides face* The employees were all really friendly and helpful. It was almost empty when we first arrived on a Tuesday at around 6:15, but in less than an hour it was packed to the brim. Everyone ended up sharing tables with strangers, but no matter because we were all busy enjoying our own food, exactly as it should be.

The food is delicious. Dibi lamb and salad was my choice today. Service was good and prompt.

The cuisine of West Africa has layers of nuances. It is slow cooked with passion and has been shaped by history. Someday, hopefully I will make it to West Africa. I look forward to that experience. I cannot wait to try the authentic and undiluted Jollof Rice, Cest Bon, Thieboudienne, Yassa, Mafe etc. I am currently obsessed with Dibi Senegal. It is a street food. It is essentially charcoal grilled lamb chops which post grilling is doused in a tangy, spicy mustard sauce, garnished with sliced onions, wrapped in a parchment paper and then thrown in a wood fired oven. Dibi Senegal is served wrapped in the parchment paper (straight out of the oven), along with bread and Sosa Kaani (an incendiary sauce made from Scotch Bonnet peppers). The best Dibi Senegal (in our area) I have found is at Le Baobab Gouygui (120 West 116 St NY). BTW on Monday Le BaoBob offers Cest Bon made with fish, shrimps and vegetables. It is a smoky flavored Seafood Paella on steroids.

I've been to Senegal, and this place is very authentic as most of the customers seem to be Senegalese. The place was very busy but the staff made us feel welcomed and they made space for us so we could dine in. This place has a communal feeling, and most people seem to know each other, which was very nice. There was one server, but she really did a great job managing all of the tables on her own. I ordered the dibi lamb and was a bit disappointed that they did not have the sweet plantains (alloko), so I got the fries instead. The fries were not that good, but lamb was so delicious! It really tasted just like the lamb I was eating in Senegal. My friend ordered the fried fish and it was also very good. We had the bissap juice, and I loved how sweet it was. The portions are very generous, and prices were very reasonable.

Great food, and actually good and friendly customer service. Sometimes the food can be a little inconsistent in terms of preparation style but always very tasty!

Liked - Thiebu djen - great portions but the fish was a bit too fishy and the rice could have been more flavorful

I never had Senegalese cuisine before so I decided to try it out. This place is fire. literally and figuratively. I got takeout during lunch time and they only have a few options to choose from. I believe I got lamb stew and it came in HUGE portions with plentyyy of rice. It was delicious and also very spicy. I highly recommend giving this place a shot. This became two meals for me due to the large portions haha

I've been only thrice and get the Theibu Djen every time with some ginger or sorrel or Vimto to drink. Their Theibu Djen is the red one and the fish had little to no bones which is major to me. They do it the traditional way with broken rice tasting fermented like fish sauce (so much my wife didn't like the smell) and hot pepper and a half lime garnish. Every time I go here the plates are already ready and there are several delivery guys getting theirs to go. I mean someone is constantly handing the cashier to go plates of Theibu Djen it's that busy and the food is already made so it's an amazing win/win.

I almost walked out of this place when I heard they didn't have thiebu djen, since that's what I went there for. It would have been a grave error to walk out, and I never would have known! Luckily, the smells of lamb fat encircling me convinced me to stay and get the thiebu yap instead, which I thought was going to be basically the same thing as the fish with lamb in its place, but no - it was this intensely fatty flavored spiced rice laced with black eyed peas and tender lamb chunks that was simply amazing. If you order this, make sure you like gamey, fatty meat. The two of us honestly could have been full and satisfied on just that one dish, but we also ordered the whole fried fish, and even decided to wait a half hour for it (we were there a little early for normal dinner time). This kind of dish can be kind of boring and only satisfying because of the fried crunch, but the way Le Baobab did it, it was scorching hot, crispy, and tender, and accompanied by these mustard-infused sauteed onions, as well as a lime, that gave it plenty of kick. Sorrel and ginger drinks (they were out of baobab juice, which I have yet to try) capped off a perfect meal.

I've noticed that a lot of Senegalese restaurants around the 116th Street area open later than advertised. According to Yelp, this place opens at 7AM. Yet when I arrived around 12:30PM-1PM, the hostess told me that the chef had not arrived. Apparently most regulars know about this schedule, since I was the first to arrive to an empty restaurant. About 5-10 minutes later, two people, who seemed like regular patrons, walked in. Once we ordered, the food did arrive relatively quickly. And it was worth the wait. The plates were huge! Our party of three shared the thiebu djen ($13), which included stewed fish with eggplant, carrots, cassava, white cabbage, and djolof rice, as well as the the lamb maffe (with peanut butter stew, $13), and the chicken yassa ($13). The chicken yassa included marinated chicken with lemon and onions. The last two dishes included white rice, not djolof rice. By far the best was the thiebu djen, offering the greatest diversity of items and flavors. Compared to some of the other Senegalese restaurants I've tried in the 116th street corridor, Le Baobab offers similarly good and well-priced food with a similar level of service.