Jambo Cafe

This was my first time eating here and I was hanging out with amazing people. The fabulous ambience made the experience lovely. I enjoyed the African Cuisine. The staff was friendly and attentive. Jambo is great for a group of people or date. I highly recommend this restaurant. They even have a gift shop. The servings were large and the menu is fairly priced.
I will come to Jambo Cafe again!

BLUF (bottom line up front): Hands down 5 Stars! Excellent place! Must visit if you haven't already.

Just wanted to get that out of the way! This place is a hidden gem. Will be my go to spot here in ABQ!

So was recommended here by a person I met locally and I'm glad he did. Service was excellent and it has a very cultural atmosphere. They bought out this mango ginger tea sample that was amazing! Must have! Then everything from the cinnamon plantains appetizer and jerk wings, to the lamb burger and chicken kabobs was equally amazing! I can go on and on but as I said at the beginning the place is great and has many other great menu options. I will be glad to try others when I return!

I'll admit that Jambo Café has been on my radar for sometime now. My husband and I travel to the Caribbean frequently and my dad just got back from Africa recently so the cuisine has been on the forefront of my mind and I've heard that Jambo is amazing.

My husband recently went to dinner with his friend at Jambo and I snuck a bite of his leftovers and had to try it fresh so I begged him to take me tonight! I immediately loved the atmosphere. Themed restaurants are my thing and Jambo really transports you straight to Africa! It is gorgeous yet warm and welcoming. So are the people!

I ordered the grilled BBQ jerk chicken with red beans and rice with roti (African bread) and my husband did the coconut curry chicken with rice and roti. First of all, roti is AMAZING' It's like a thick tortilla but so much better!

The food was perfectly seasoned and amazingly flavorful! They also have a store onsite with imports - including the seasoning blends that the chef uses as well as his personal cookbook.

If you have not yet been to Jambo, you HAVE to go! It's our new favorite!

This was my first visit to Jambo Cafe. As you can see from one of my pictures, I was extremely excited to learn that they had Tusker Lager from Kenya. I was even more surprised to find an astounding variety of African cuisine.

We started out with an appetizer, I believe it was called stuffed Filo dough. I believe it had vegetables inside, mint, chickpeas, and sprinkled with feta and drizzled with pomegranate reduction or perhaps pomegranate molasses, I'm not sure but whatever it was it was great!

My dining companions ordered the combination plate, which had goat (delicious), coconut curry chicken (delectable) which is also what I had, and it also came with an ample serving of lentils (yummy), rice and flatbread (I cannot remember the name).

As I said, I had the coconut curry chicken and the coconut rice which I very much enjoyed.

My other companion had the lamb stew with saffron couscous and some sort of chutney that was to die for. I don't say this lightly since I actually do not care for lamb, but It was truly scrumptious.

The service was very good and the portions are giant. I easily have food for another two meals as did my companions.

The price is right for all that food as well. They also have some cheaper options for lunch, such as a vegetarian wrap that I'm going to go back to try, and many other delicious looking offerings.

I highly recommend Jambo Cafe and I'm looking forward to my next trip there to try something else that's amazing.

Excited about going to Jambo's Cafe, we started it off by listening to Shakira's "Waka Waka" in the car to get the energy just right.... And it literally transitioned perfectly into the restaurant experience. You walk into the restaurant, and there is fun, playful African music playing. Life-size elephants greet you at the door, and there are bigger-than-life giraffes inside. They have the most amazing photos depicting African life, which you can actually buy on the walls, and there is just this complete put-togetherness that makes you feel as if you have walked into Africa. It's a divine feeling and makes you anticipate the food.

The food is up to Snuff guys. Like, it has the flavor, it has been prepared correctly, and the combinations are not just what you would expect but actually taken up a notch to the point where you can call it upscale and classify this place as casual fine-dining. It's *Elevated with a capital E.*

If you want to take a date here or friends here, do it.... There are places to sit everywhere you look, different branches in the restaurant, some of them having more light than others. There are real flowers on the tables, cool lantern lights lit with tea candles on the tables, and then alternative lighting in some sections throughout. It would definitely be a romantic and unique experience.

The combination plate has goat, chicken, and lentils (dal): the goat is cooked slowly in the flavor of the dish, and is tender, has the right amount of fat on it, and honestly, is the best goat I've had in a restaurant in years... it literally will fall apart when you tear it with the fresh hand-made roti that seriously came to the table steaming. The chicken has the flavor and tenderness you look for with an unexpected flavor that makes you want to go back for more.

The flavor of the shrimp in the coconut shrimp starter with the lemon added on and the dipping sauce was so light and fresh that next time I go I definitely want to have it again or try another shrimp dish because it was so perfectly done.

At the end of the meal, the owner Ahmed came over to say Hi and ask how the food was, he's been driving from Sante Fe every single day down for dinner to make sure that each plate has the perfect quality control and is the way he wants it. There is love in this restaurant, guys. Try the food and taste the love.

We have been to Jambo Cafe in Santa Fe-
I think we had a much better overall experience! This service was spot on, the ambiance is very calming, reggae music softly playing and they really did a great job with the decorations! Love the photographs of the children and the food was perfect! We have to come back as we simply couldn't order everything today :-)

Solid African food with generous portions and quick service.

We had the combination plate for $17 which came with chicken curry, goat stew and the lentils and rice. The portion is plenty for two to share and a good introduction to three very different meals (for those unsure of what they may prefer). I loved the goat (soft, fall of the bone) and also enjoyed the chicken curry. The lentils were well seasoned and tasted just fine but, compared to the other two dishes, they were my least favorite. My husband had the bbq jerk chicken. It was average. A plain quarter chicken with bbq sauce splattered on top. It came with dirty rice and beans which could have used more flavor, they were a little dry. It also came with plantains which were delicious.

We had dinner at 730pm on a Sunday. We were literally the only people in the place. It was odd how empty it was (they don't close until 9pm). Service was great (how could it not be, we were the only customers).

Located in a strip mall, parking is free and easy.

They have a cute little shop with African goods on the side. They are mostly overpriced.

I love this place! They take after their sister restaurant in Santa Fe. Yes folks...its the same owner and same wonderful food. Try the jerk chicken or the combination plate. The hub loves the jerk chicken. I've had the lamb burger a few times and been impressed. The real show stopper is the combination plate, though. It includes a goat stew, chicken curry, roti, and lentils...along with the light, fluffy rice. The roti kind of reminds me of what it would be like for nan (an indian bread) and a tortilla had a wonderful, crispy baby! SOOOO good. The spices in these dishes are out of this world...or at least the country. They'll take you to a place you'll never forget.

Don't forget to have some of the delicious rum pecan pie with a scoop of ice cream for dessert. It's literally the best pecan pie I've ever tasted...and I love me some pecan pie.

I've ever had homestyle African cuisine. If you've ever thought to yourself that maybe you're not missing out anything important by not visiting Jambo Café -- your tastebuds are absolutely missing Jambo's most delicious food & flavors!!

I recommend the combination curry & goat stew! But really, I have yet to taste anything I didn't like. And I'm Southeast Asian!

I can't believe I've never reviewed Jambo. Everything I've had on the menu is good. The combination platter, jerked wings, bbq jerked chicken and the peanut chicken curry meal. All 5 star. I do like the jerked chicken plate in Santa Fe better because if I'm not mistaken, it doesn't have bbq sauce