The old Gulf gas station, at the corner of East Main Street and Old Lafayette Avenue in Lexington, now has a thatch-looking roof with its supporting walls covered in vibrant murals that reflect what one might consider to be an African theme. It’s one of those buildings that you’ll miss if you aren’t looking for it and one you can’t miss once you’ve been there. One side of the building is completely taken up by two glass garage doors that can be opened up to allow outside seating in warmer weather. This unique establishment is Sav’s Restaurant and Gourmet Ice Cream.
I was out of my comfort zone coming to review this restaurant; I am not familiar with the ingredients, cooking methods or dishes of the West African cuisine. With that in mind, I did my research before going and knew what I would order.
Our meal began with appetizers of fried plantains and fataya (minced beef and mint in a pastry shell). The fried plantains were decent: Well-coated, not too soft and maintaining a distinct flavor. The fataya is something you won’t want to miss; it was one of my favorite things of the night. The beef was well-seasoned and not dry, and with the mint elevating this handheld pie, I didn’t want it to end.
Following our tasty starters came our four entrées: Peanut goat (with fufu), cassava beef, leaf vegan and the SAVory chicken wings platter. Let’s first address the technicalities of what some of these things mean and what they are.
Fufu is a glutinous ball made from starchy vegetables (most commonly cassava in West African cooking); think of doughy mashed potatoes. Get this as your starch, as you can get white or brown rice any day. Cassava is a plant that produces the starch vegetable cassava and cassava leaves.
Apart from the wings, the other three dishes are West African soups. They aren’t the type of soup you buy in a can and heat in a microwave. The consistency is thicker, akin to Indian-style dishes. A stock is used, then the star ingredients are added and cooked down until reaching the desired viscosity.
The peanut goat was stew-like. The meat was soft, but the soup itself was lacking. As one would expect with a more gamey meat, it packed a strong flavor. However, if the peanut were to have had a bolder presence, that nuttiness might have better balanced the dish. Both the cassava beef and leaf vegan were rich and earthy. The cassava beef maintained a subtle, yet recognizable cassava flavor. In terms of my favorites, the leaf vegan tied with the starter fataya; it was fatty and rich but not overbearing to the spinach.
I would suggest you skipping over the SAVory wings. They are smaller than you might expect, as the menu describes “3 full-sized marinated wings.” The wings are simply seasoned with thyme. I expected stronger flavors, but the thyme wasn’t unpleasant. What saved these wings was their level of tenderness. These melt in your mouth and fall off the bone. I forgot that chicken could be so moist after eating at the Caf this whole semester.
We finished our night out with some gourmet ice cream. While it was smoothly decadent and came in sizable servings, having to spend $4.00 makes Sav’s gourmet ice cream not worth it.
Overall, the food at this establishment was delicious. Their cooking techniques are admirable, and their flavors are right where they should be. Their only notable downfall is their small portion sizes in exchange for their costly prices.
Where: 630 E Main St, Lexington, KY 40502
Hours: 11 a.m.- 9 p.m. daily
Menu: savslex.weebly.com
