30 Restaurants in 30 Days: Skumba
How’s this for a recommendation? I’ve got a great restaurant for you; I just don’t know its name.
I’m going to go with Skumba, which is what its owner, Adam, calls it. Other signage says “Skumbia,” and “Kumba.” But according to a foodservice report, it was recently incorporated as “Xkumba.”
Let’s just call it tasty, exotic and worth the effort to search out. Located in an East Point mini-mall at the corner of Stanton Road and Langford Parkway, Skumba serves wings, kosher dogs and fish sandwiches off its menu and fantastic Gambian food from a line-up of hotel pans in its steamtable. Ask Adam what’s good, and he will get busy preparing you tastes.
Chicken in peanut butter sauce
West African cooking can be challenging, but not here, where the food is made with crossover appeal in mind.
This chicken stew with peanut butter and okra has the wonderful, perfectly tempered presence of a gumbo — the spices and aromatic vegetables cooked so deeply into the sauce that it blooms and lingers on your tongue with a playful dance of flavors. There is none of the tackiness or in-your-face flavor of peanut butter, but you know it’s there if you go looking for it. I could eat this once a week.
Joloff rice
The Joloff rice uses a short-grained, sticky Asian variety that is beady and pleasantly springy in your mouth. It comes capped with a piece of fish that is clearly the African cousin to Caribbean escabèche — the fish fried then marinated so the texture is firm and the flavor clean. On the side come custardy rounds of eggplant, tender green cabbage and sauce-imbued potatoes. My friend remarked that the spices in the rice reminded him in a good way of Rice-a-Roni.
We also tried a taste of spinach stew with chunks of very tender, fatless lamb served over a dry, beady grain that Adam called “corn couscous.” From a cook’s perspective, it was interesting to see whole Scotch Bonnet peppers bobbing in the stew. They give the creamy spinach an easygoing back-of-the-throat spice but also a fruity kick.
I will definitely be back to try more of this exciting menu.
Maybe not breakfast…
Skumba: 2047 Stanton Road, East Point. 404-762-6256.
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8 comments Add your comment
ziza
November 16th, 2009
12:07 pm
this is why you’re so awesome, jk. you are willing to go way off the beaten path and give a good review where a good review is due. there are a few west african restaurants in this neighborhood that are varying degrees of good/ok. i’ll be trying skumbakumbaxkumba this week.
VoiceOf Reason
November 16th, 2009
1:13 pm
I know exactly where this is. I used live up the street on the East Point, Atlanta town line. Wasn’t there when I lived there, will certainly stop by now, thanks.
I also sometimes add peanut butter to a chicken dish that my family enjoys. It makes a nice sauce, and no one ever knows its peanut butter. Even my mom that thinks nuts will take 5 years off your life (she’s still with us!). It’s a trick I learned from an African roommate (Congo area) that she learned from an African friend. Go figure!
Darin
November 16th, 2009
3:10 pm
Dude, if I’m ever in East Point in time for breakfast I am totally going for the sardines, beans and bread. I have got to know what that’s about. That pic of the Joloff Rice looks very good. Hope I get to try this out sometime.
I am criminally undereducated about African food. Lunch stops at Desta on Clairmont Road are my sole experience with it.
Katie
November 16th, 2009
6:14 pm
This conversation made me think of the wonderful food at the African Brown Bag. I loved the food at the L5P location, and later at Ford Factory Sq. But then I lost touch. So, I googled and found the following (from Creative Loafing):
Geneva Francais dies
Sunday, November 8th, 2009
I’m sorry to report the bad news that Geneva Francais died Sunday. I have no details, but received an e-mail from a family member, who was short on details himself. He did say that she had suffered two earlier strokes.
Geneva was one of our city’s true culinary characters. Her restaurant, the African Brown Bag, was among my top favorites during the ’90s. She started business in Little Five Points, preparing a blend of African-French cooking that attracted foodies from all over the city. Later, she moved the restaurant to Ford Factory Square, but it did not last long. I can’t think of another restaurant as eccentrically appealing as the Brown Bag was.
I’ll furnish more details as I receive them. In the meantime, I extend my condolences to her family, especially her daughter Hillary, who usually helped Geneva at the restaurant.
ziza
November 17th, 2009
3:21 pm
@ Katie – yes sad that Ms Geneva just passed. She was a quite a lady and I loved African Brown Bag.
I went to Kumba yesterday and they’ll be moving in a few weeks to a small strip mall on Campbellton and Stanton (there’s a gas station on the corner).
@ Darin – Interestingly enough, I went to Desta this weekend for the first time and loved it. A different spin on Ethiopian and it was very good. Desta is East African. Kumba is West African and the cuisines are different though both do alot of stews and sauces with varying spicyness. There really aren’t too many good West African restaurants in Atlanta. There’s one up from Kumba that I find to be one of the best on Delowe and Campbellton.
@VoiceofReason – you’re referring to what’s known at Mafe (2 syllables) in Senegal and best known at peanut stew everywhere else. It shows up in many African countries in many different incarnations. I make a mean one myself.
Kumba did have some mafe last night, but I opted for the chicken stew.
@JK – I’ve been thinking about this since yesterday. The fish dish you had is called Tchebu chien (sp?) in Senegal and it really is not Jamaica’s escoveith’s cousin. Escoveith is a twist on Spain’s escabeche. Tchebu chien is not pickled or marinated in a vinegar infused marinade like escoveitch is. Tcheb (as it’s affectionately called) is actually an intricate (as in many steps to prepare) fish stew. And the red rice is as much a part of the entire dish as is the stew. Tcheb without rice is not tcheb. Whereas one can eat escoveith with no starch and it’s still escoveitch.
sorry for the longwinded post.
ziza
November 17th, 2009
3:37 pm
@jk: i’ve been thinking about this since yesterday. the fish dish you reference is called tchebu chien (sp?) in senegal. it is the national dish. imo is it not escoveith’s cousin for a few reasons. escoveitch is really a spin on spain’s escobeche as they share the vinegar/vinegar marinade with peppers, onions and such. tcheb (as it’s affectionately called) does not have any such marinade. and is really a fish stew where escoveitch is not. also the rice that accompanies tcheb is as much a part of the dish as the fish stew part is and tcheb is not tcheb without it. whereas one can eat escoveitch with or without an accompanying starch, and its still escoveitch. just my thoughts.
@darin: i ate at desta this weekend and loved it. a nice spin on ethiopian with some different menu items than most of the ethiopian restaurants here have. west african and east african are quite different. not too many good west african restaurants here in atlanta. theres one up from kumba on delowe and campbellton thats pretty good.
@katie: african brown bag was wonderful as was ms geneva. her restaurant was quite an experience. i still miss it.
Like2Eat
November 23rd, 2009
8:26 pm
Went to Skumba today for lunch. They only offered chicken wings. Door was open, was freezing inside. Nice lady behind counter said they might have other food later. You might want to call before going. Bring jacket.
Blanche
November 30th, 2009
3:55 pm
My experience was similar to Like2Eat’s: I arrived yesterday (a Sunday) at 1:15 and there was only 1 dish available, an okra and lamb stew that looked like an EPA SuperFund site. It had the texture of mucilage and about as much flavor. I tried to make inquiries as to when a larger assortment of food might be offered, but the Plexiglas window (I’m guessing a vestige of the shop’s perhaps having been a check-cashing outlet) virtually precluded meaningful discourse. YMMV, but at least call before venturing out.