Review: At Yalley's, exploring the globe in Kenmore, dish by dish

West African dishes like peanut soup, fufu, and deep-fried turkey tails are a welcome education

Clockwise from top left: Jollof rice with fried chicken, plantains, peanut soup with fufu, “red-red,” blackeyed peas in palm oil with hardboiled egg.

You can go to restaurants just for food. Everybody’s gotta eat. But I like choosing restaurants that can teach me something about this great big complex planet we live on today.

One of the easiest ways to learn about people is to eat their cooking. Every culture has delicious food utterly unlike anything you grew up with. When you approach a restaurant from the right angle, you can stuff your brain and your belly.

That’s why this week’s Four Bites review spotlights Yalley’s African Restaurant, 290 Kenmore Ave. Patrick Agyapong and Ophelia Amponsah, born in Ghana, opened their restaurant on Kenmore Avenue in 2021. Their West African menu also touches on Nigeria, Togo, Senegal, and Liberia.

Here’s some of the lessons you can learn at Yalley’s.