Buckeye Sambusa

Buckeye Sambusa, the new East African restaurant on South Campus, is my introduction to any Africa cuisine!
I decided on Buckeye Sambusa because I wanted a quick and cheap lunch while running errands. There is nothing inside Buckeye Sambusa to transport you to Somalia. A handful of plastic draped tables in a bright orange dining room with a counter full of hot foods is all that really populates the inside. As a matter of fact, the dining room is rather stark.
A handwritten menu informs me that sambusa’s, the namesake of this restaurant, fall under the breakfast category and cost a meager $ 1.25 a piece! The man behind the counter was very eager and friendly as he listed all of the hot specials for the day. Many were not listed on the menu, which really only consisted of sambusa’s and a chicken sandwich — that honestly didn’t seem too authentic. I went with the sambusa and ordered the 3 types offered. Tuna, chicken and ground beef.
Now a sambusa is very closely related to a samosa. They might be cousins on the food family tree. A sambusa is a triangle-​shaped pastry filled with a protein (tuna, chicken or ground beef), onions, garlic and spices. I’m going to venture a guess and suggest that the spices must change depending on the type of protein used — because each sambusa I tried tasted different. The chicken sambusa was my favorite, followed by the tuna and then the ground beef. The chicken sambusa was perfectly savory and I would definitely classify this as comfort food. The tuna was nice — but it did have a strong fishy taste. The ground beef, and I’m as surprised as you are, was my least favorite. The flavor did not agree with me whatsoever. I was disappointed in the temperature of the sambusa served to me. Luke warm, as if someone forgot to turn on the heating lamp. I don’t believe this is the way they are meant to be served, but correct me if I am wrong.
I also ordered a Somali Tea, listed as «sweet tea with spices». The owner wanted me to sample the tea before purchasing to make sure it was palatable to my western senses. This tea was off the hook! A little too sweet for me, and I informed him as such, but otherwise was deliciously complex in flavor! Served hot, this is a great drink to get in the morning on your way to class.
I could see Buckeye Sambusa thriving as a food cart, serving up piping hot sambusas and cups of tea on cold football Saturdays. I’ll have to reserve judgment on the restaurant as a whole until I can sample some main dishes.