Life in the Lower Mainland (BC, Canada)

Simba's Grill  is an East African restaurant. The "African" part has a lot of mystique to it since most African restaurants are basically Ethiopian. Unfortunately, there is a very strong Indian influence to East African cuisine, so it's really hard or impossible to separate comparing them. Going in, try NOT to compare them -- you are not truly going for Indian food, so drop those expectations. If you really want Indian food, just go to an Indian restaurant. Muhogo ($8) deep fried cassava root Recommended by the server as the most distinctly African dish. We were asked if we wanted "mild, medium, or spicy". The fries were just noticeably salty when I asked for medium. They did however bring two fairly-to-really spicy sauces, a mango chili and a pili pili sauce . Overall pretty good. Not as dense as potato. Crispy and not oily. A trio of sauces is brought to your table when you order: Yogurt, coconut, tamarind. We got a yellow-coloured mango ch...

Jambo Grill is a fairly large restaurant with quite a bit of Africa-inspired decor. Try to somehow go during a quieter time for a better experience and to enjoy the decor more: We went on a Saturday night and it was busy till 9pm, line-up at the door till at least 8pm, and what appeared to be a line-up near the kitchen for takeout. They take reservations, however. We were a large party in a full restaurant, so I expected our food to come out slowly--but still not take over 1 hour and with some persons getting theirs very, very late. Pretty much all the food came cold. Wait staff were friendly and always smiled whenever they came to a table, so they were doing their best under the circumstances. TIP: Do your Yelp check-in BEFORE ordering. The server refused to accept it and had to call over a manager to OK the free Chai at the end of the meal. ALSO, for parties of 6+, you must present your check-in at the start of ordering in order to get the free appetizer. TIP: Masala Chai ...