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Bisbas Restaurant surprises with big portions and Somali flavors
Eating goat and learning about the Horn of Africa in Rolando
Goat Mandi, a dish served at Somali restaurant Bisbas
Surprises were easier to come by before the internet. In most cases these days, by time I sit down to try a new restaurant, I've already researched its menu, read online reviews, and scoured photos of the food to see what looks good (i.e., photogenic). If there's ever a surprise to be found, it's usually that the place wasn’t worth the effort. Much better are the surprisingly good places that catch me off guard.
Like this week, when the words "grand opening" and "Somali restaurant" caught my eye as I drove along University Avenue through the Rolando neighborhood. A quick U-turn later, I walked into Bisbas Restaurant with no expectations, and very little idea what to expect from Somali cuisine.
Somali objects, part of the decor at Bisbas Restaurant
After all, what did I know about Somalia, the coastal nation bordering Ethiopia and Kenya on the Horn of Africa? Mostly that it's been in a near constant state of Civil War for decades, that its most significant representations in mainstream American culture have been the films Black Hawk Down (depicting a catastrophic attempt at U.S. military intervention during one Somali civil war) and Captain Phillips (depicting the scourge of Somali sea piracy during the onset of another).
Lastly, I knew that, as a result of this instability, thousands of Somalis have settled in San Diego as refugees going back 30 years or more. Consequently, a small area of City Heights around 54th Street and University is sometimes called Little Mogadishu. It's a few blocks east of this area that I ran across Bisbas.
One of the things I've learned since visiting, is that bisbas is the name of the signature Somali green chili sauce I found sitting on every table at the new restaurant. Bisbas takes over the shopping center location of Cafe Royale, which described itself as East African-Mediterranean Restaurant, and included Somali dishes on its menu.
A remodeled restaurant space now focused on Somali cuisine
The new ownership has narrowed thr focus, and given the place an eye-catching makeover mostly built around geometric patterns. Somalia's a predominantly Muslim nation, so walking into Bisbas, I took it as a positive sign that the crowded dining room included several women wearing full niqab coverings.
A young man behind the counter was kind enough to guide me through a small menu of dishes featuring chicken ($18), halal burgers ($13), salmon ($20), and tilapia ($20 for a whole fish). But the entrees that immediately captured my attention highlighted a protein less familiar to San Diegans: goat.
At $20 apiece, my choices were goat mandi or goat biriyani. Both dishes reflect the influences of Somalia's geographic neighbors on the Arabian Sea—the Arabian Peninsula and Indian Subcontinent specifically—and both feature goat slow-cooked into tender, fall off the bone submission.
I settled on the less familiar to me mandi, and as impressed as I was with how well the meat was both cooked and seasoned, what may prove just as important to diners here is how generous the portions were. Entrees come with a side salad and either rice or pasta, though, as my friend behind the counter was quick to point out, you may opt for both. I did that, and was surprised how much of each was heaped onto my plate: a very lightly sauced spaghetti, and a pilaf-style rice. The kitchen even tossed a few French fries my way.
Chapati KK, a quasi noodle dish made with strips of stewed flat bread
Not only that, but Bisbas serves every diner a banana with their order. Yes, it's a simple and cheap side dish (it even comes with its own packaging), but it's darn nutritious—certainly more so than the fries.
I found the restaurant's most unusual dish on the Sides menu. For $15, the Chapati KK (slightly easier to find online as chapati saldato) cooks thin strips of chapati (the Indian style flat bread also known as roti) in a chicken stock, so they wind up having a consistency roughly between flat noodles and bread dumplings. It's topped with Bisbas's chicken suuqar, and given how filling the large plate was, it could easily be mistaken for an entree.
It's always thrilling to find cultural fare, well-prepared and lovingly served, in our city, and I'm excited for more people to experience Somali cuisine at this welcoming new restaurant. Though I'll admit, it's a little jarring to fill my belly so well, then hop online to see that, thanks to the US Aid controversy in our federal government, access to food and medicine in Somalia itself will be harder to come by this winter for the estimated 3 million Somalis, including children, displaced by armed conflict. Perhaps Bisbas Restaurant brings us a bigger geography lesson than the location of Little Mogadishu.
Here's something you might be interested in.
Bisbas Restaurant surprises with big portions and Somali flavors
Eating goat and learning about the Horn of Africa in Rolando
Bisbas Restaurant surprises with big portions and Somali flavors
Eating goat and learning about the Horn of Africa in Rolando
Goat Mandi, a dish served at Somali restaurant Bisbas
Surprises were easier to come by before the internet. In most cases these days, by time I sit down to try a new restaurant, I've already researched its menu, read online reviews, and scoured photos of the food to see what looks good (i.e., photogenic). If there's ever a surprise to be found, it's usually that the place wasn’t worth the effort. Much better are the surprisingly good places that catch me off guard.
Like this week, when the words "grand opening" and "Somali restaurant" caught my eye as I drove along University Avenue through the Rolando neighborhood. A quick U-turn later, I walked into Bisbas Restaurant with no expectations, and very little idea what to expect from Somali cuisine.
Somali objects, part of the decor at Bisbas Restaurant
After all, what did I know about Somalia, the coastal nation bordering Ethiopia and Kenya on the Horn of Africa? Mostly that it's been in a near constant state of Civil War for decades, that its most significant representations in mainstream American culture have been the films Black Hawk Down (depicting a catastrophic attempt at U.S. military intervention during one Somali civil war) and Captain Phillips (depicting the scourge of Somali sea piracy during the onset of another).
Lastly, I knew that, as a result of this instability, thousands of Somalis have settled in San Diego as refugees going back 30 years or more. Consequently, a small area of City Heights around 54th Street and University is sometimes called Little Mogadishu. It's a few blocks east of this area that I ran across Bisbas.
One of the things I've learned since visiting, is that bisbas is the name of the signature Somali green chili sauce I found sitting on every table at the new restaurant. Bisbas takes over the shopping center location of Cafe Royale, which described itself as East African-Mediterranean Restaurant, and included Somali dishes on its menu.
A remodeled restaurant space now focused on Somali cuisine
The new ownership has narrowed thr focus, and given the place an eye-catching makeover mostly built around geometric patterns. Somalia's a predominantly Muslim nation, so walking into Bisbas, I took it as a positive sign that the crowded dining room included several women wearing full niqab coverings.
A young man behind the counter was kind enough to guide me through a small menu of dishes featuring chicken ($18), halal burgers ($13), salmon ($20), and tilapia ($20 for a whole fish). But the entrees that immediately captured my attention highlighted a protein less familiar to San Diegans: goat.
At $20 apiece, my choices were goat mandi or goat biriyani. Both dishes reflect the influences of Somalia's geographic neighbors on the Arabian Sea—the Arabian Peninsula and Indian Subcontinent specifically—and both feature goat slow-cooked into tender, fall off the bone submission.
I settled on the less familiar to me mandi, and as impressed as I was with how well the meat was both cooked and seasoned, what may prove just as important to diners here is how generous the portions were. Entrees come with a side salad and either rice or pasta, though, as my friend behind the counter was quick to point out, you may opt for both. I did that, and was surprised how much of each was heaped onto my plate: a very lightly sauced spaghetti, and a pilaf-style rice. The kitchen even tossed a few French fries my way.
Chapati KK, a quasi noodle dish made with strips of stewed flat bread
Not only that, but Bisbas serves every diner a banana with their order. Yes, it's a simple and cheap side dish (it even comes with its own packaging), but it's darn nutritious—certainly more so than the fries.
I found the restaurant's most unusual dish on the Sides menu. For $15, the Chapati KK (slightly easier to find online as chapati saldato) cooks thin strips of chapati (the Indian style flat bread also known as roti) in a chicken stock, so they wind up having a consistency roughly between flat noodles and bread dumplings. It's topped with Bisbas's chicken suuqar, and given how filling the large plate was, it could easily be mistaken for an entree.
It's always thrilling to find cultural fare, well-prepared and lovingly served, in our city, and I'm excited for more people to experience Somali cuisine at this welcoming new restaurant. Though I'll admit, it's a little jarring to fill my belly so well, then hop online to see that, thanks to the US Aid controversy in our federal government, access to food and medicine in Somalia itself will be harder to come by this winter for the estimated 3 million Somalis, including children, displaced by armed conflict. Perhaps Bisbas Restaurant brings us a bigger geography lesson than the location of Little Mogadishu.