Ambassades Buffet

This is one of my favorite places to relax when it isn’t too busy. Good bar for that. When it is busy and I can still get a seat at the bar I am pleased and end up having a nice time with the staff and fellow patrons.
Overall charming spot. (I meant to post this in 2012)

Love it here!!!
But please tell the owner to hire more waiter staff. My bf and I had dinner there last night, Aug 8/​14, and we waited for everything for a long time… We weren’t in a hurry and enjoyed the weather sitting outside. The food is good the drinks are good the waiter was pleasant and nice. But they need to hire more bus boys or waiters.

The owners tried to duplicate their place an Frederick Douglass, but instead of a nice French café they serve African food which is now of little interest to the new Harlem residents who were born in the US and actually have money to spend. Like their first try on Lenox, their second try will fail until they make it the French Bistro that there is demand for. Harlem needs more African food as much as it needs more broken down churches and beauty salons.

Nice looking place and not too pricey. We were really disappointed at the bland greasy brunch on Sunday, but will give it a second chance.

No longer a buffet, now a restaurant/​bar/​lounge set up. Food is pretty much the same as the Frederick Douglas location except without the wait (and unfortunately they don’t have the pastries at this location… yet).
Options are pretty much the same as the FDB location, but they’re not all on the menu (e.g. the Menu says that there is only veg Maffe, but lamb maffe, which we ordered, was also available upon request). The Lamb maffe was excellent — peanut based sauce was flavorful and the lamb was tender. We also ordered the Chicken Dibi (Grilled Chicken) with a side of plantains, the onion sauce, and their special mayo. The chicken was succulent and flavorful, the sauces rounded off the dish, and suprisingly I enjoyed the plantains — they weren’t too sweet and were well done — slightly crisp/​firm on the outside and tender on the inside.
Interesting note — the veg maffe on the menu is priced at $ 14 — we payed $ 11 for the lamb maffe… just saying. Also the service at this location is much better than the service at the FDB location.
Great place to go if you’re looking for decent west african (Senegalese) food with quick service and a low key, not too busy atmosphere.

The first thing one notices upon entering Ambassades Buffet is a strange and pungent smell — unfortunately, I don’t think it’s the product of an exotic Senegalese dish. Piling up on food at the buffet was fun since I was walked through it by a Senegalese couple; the nut sauce over rice took me right back to my years in Uganda.
Unfortunately, I’m 99% sure that I got food poisoning here. Not surprising — perhaps I should’ve bottled my sense of adventure and paid more attention to the big «B» plastered on the restaurant window.

Love their pastry shop on FDB so thought I would try out their buffet. I tried the hot buffet, it was ok. What I did not like about was how GREASY the food was, even the rice! The meat was more fat than meat, so I had to spit out at least three balls of fat. I went late at night so I cant judge at it normally is. I will give it a second shot but they do need to cut back on the amount of oil and trim their meat so you dont get a mouthful of lard.

From the Patisserie people, this Senegalese buffet @ $ 6.99 per pound offers fun, exotic, funky and familiar foods with killer baguettes.
Red cous cous, lamb, steak, mac and cheese, fettucine alfredo to name a few. Eat in at the long spacious spot or take out. Food is cooked on premises and is mega tasty. Some interesting gyro looking machine in front with an equally funky crêpe maker on the front counter. More to explore here and cheap enough to do!