Max’s Mukhaase

If you want to move beyond normal ethnic food this is s great move. Local place where the owner obviously cares. Serving west African food mostly from Ghana I think. I had goat stew with black eyed peas and rice and a very flavorful sauce. Very tasty. I will be back to try another dish. Love supporting local place working hard to make a go if it

Very unique! Ask for the root drink. It is a strong gin based drink that is really flavorful for the type of person that can enjoy hard sprits straight. The food was really good we will be back. The flavors and effort brought to the food were spot on. If you want to try something new and delicious stop here.

I was in the mood for something that tasted home cooked and filling and got it right here. My brother and I each ordered something different and both meals were amazing! The owner served us and was very personable and helped us pick out our order since we had no idea what we wanted. The peanut butter soup was so amazing! We’ll be coming back. I wanna try out the rest of the menu!

The peanut butter soup is my favorite. He made it vegetarian for me, too. It’s fresh and delicious. Reminds me of my grandmother’s cooking — minus all the meat and hooves she puts in hers

Absolutely amazing food! Zucchini peanut butter dish blew my taste buds away. I always say give me rice and veggies and I’m happy. this stew surpassed all my expectations and hopes! Quick and friendly service! I will most definitely be coming back soon: D

I’ve had the fried fish and just had a chicken dish, and they were both great.
Its wonderful food that’s very approachable. Definitely recommended.

Great Ghanaian food. The tuo zaafi was wonderful but may not be for the novice. You have to eat it with the hand and it can get tricky. Of course you can always opt to use a spoon instead. The groundnut stew with chicken is great. The chicken is stewing chickenand has more flavor. The various goat preparations with waakye and plantains are very much worth trying. Tilapia with kenkey and shito should not be missed. Can’t say enough about how good and authentic the food is.

Max is a charming man to start with. So humble and welcoming. I had a fantastic time with my sister.
On to the food!!!
My goodness is it AMAZING!
We had the lightsoup with fufu aka aponchi kakraa and it was so delicious and filling! It was an ample serving of protein and carbs alike. I made sure to finish every ounce of it. Beware guys food coma alert. This is no joke– chale! it takes me back to chop bar days and you’d be hard pressed to find Ghanaian cuisine as authentic as this.
Our fufu was served in a traditional bowl the apotoyiwa (hurray!!) — a blackened fired clay bowl with a grooved pattern in it. Max even followed up with a bowl of water to wash our hands which was extremely humbling to us.
It’s a must visit every time we’re in town!

Fufu Goat Soup for me! I’ve never had any local food from African countries and it was delicious. Mom-​food if your Mom is from Ghana, I would say. Max was friendly and helpful, and didn’t make me feel like an under-​educated white diner. Soup was a bit spicy but not killer, broth was incredibly good. Down the street from me so I’ll be back soon!

This restaurant was on my bookmark list and I finally had the chance to try it today while I was waiting for my car to be repaired. I ordered the beef Ala maxo based on Max’s recommendation (I don’t eat fish). I wasn’t sure what to expect as I have never had cuisine from Ghana. The strips of beef green pepper, and carrots were in a hearty, savory gravy with white rice on the side and it was delicious. Everyone there was extremely friendly, chatting with me occasionally while I ate. I overheard the staff talking to a customer about ginger beer, which I love (and had no idea it was an African specialty). When I asked about it they brought me a complimentary glass — so much better than the canned stuff! I’ll be back on a weekend to try the okra stew.

Love the food, love the atmosphere, I’ll recommend the waakye and goat stew or if you’re feeling brave, the tuo zaafi. The chef and staff are really friendly.

My fiancé ordered to go banku and okro stew. Very delicious but the meat portion and the stew was not enough. Will definitely come back but please increase the stew amount. Thank!

Delicious food, hearty portion sizes, friendly and fun atmosphere… couldn’t have asked for more! The chef is pretty good here. I’ve tried a lot of the meals and they are all absolutely delicious! The restaurant is spacious and bright and the menu also comes with pictures so you know exactly what you are ordering. This is now my go to African restaurant!

«Medaase» ! The most friendly, hospitable, and delectable African restaurant in the Phoenix area. MAX’s MUKHAASE (Kitchen) was the best experience of authentic African cuisine I have experienced in the Valley. You won’t be disappointed (nor sick). Located off Alma School Rd and Guadalupe Rd, in Mesa. SouthWest Corner of Intersection.
My favorite dish is Zucchini stuffed with Max’s Rice, Carrots, Cauliflower in an unforgettable, yet smooth peanut sauce. Everyone else in my party enjoyed the Tender Beef, Chicken and rice dishes. Each dish has a different style of rice! The portions are generous and establishment is clean. Not a single crumb in the seats or table. Max and his restaurant family place love into their presentation of food.
Max is very professional and answered all questions I had with professionalism and kindness. I learned alot about my Ghanaian family and culture in my conversations with Max, as well as the through the food and art. There are 2 flat screen tv’s for your enjoyment as you wait for your fresh cooked food. One tv hosted American channels, while the other Ghanaian channels.
PLEASE NOTE: Food is made to order. Very Fresh. Therefore, If you only have a 30 minute lunch break, do not expect the food to be made in 5 minutes. Just a Heads up! Possibly call ahead of time?
«Medaase» (thank you) for a wonderful experience, one of which your whole family would enjoy.

If you are in the mood for different, try it! We brought a group of 5 and shared 1) peanut butter soup with rice balls (awesome) 2) tilapia with banku (it’s supposed to be smelly, but soooo tasty when mixed!) 3) goat soup with fufu (amazing!) 4) jollof rice (this was the biggest hit with everyone). Each dish was unique and portions were big.
We started with the meat pies: they were just ok, next time we’ll pass. The staff is very friendly and attentive. For the beginning of our meal the tv was a little loud but eventually got turned down.

So I’m Ghana tell you a story about the last time I got together with co-​workers for a lunch outing. I was the one stuck with driving everyone and when that happens it’s no longer a democracy– I’m Stalin — or for the sake of this review and to be continentally accurate I was instead Mobutu Sese Seko and anyone that didn’t wanna go where I wanted to could just GTFO out of the already moving vehicle Hollywood action movie style. Of course I had to deal with the predictable protests about getting ebola/​AIDS/​Ghanaria/​Sleeping Sickness/​Malaria/​Tuberculosis/​etc — just from going to the restaurant which made me realize I’m dragging these fools way out of their freaking comfort zone. The place is called Max’s Mukhaase Restaurant and Catering Service. Mukaase means ‘kitchen’ in Akan, a language spoken over much of the southern half of Ghana. Got that? There’s gonna be a quiz. Anyway, we got seated and a Max introduced himself and gave us all menus. I decided to go for the Fufu/​Goat Light Soup as it’s called on the menu. The menu could use a little more in the descriptions and actually labelling the pictures. Now the one negative or «con» here is that although the food is made to order the dishes all came out very slowly until a few of my co-​workers — one of them a contract worker figured that by the time we’re done and get back and his manager calculates the amount of time he was out on lunch — he’d definitely be a Ghana. (rimshot). Thank you, try the Fufu and Goat soup! That’s the last Ghana joke — I promise. So we all decided if we’re coming back it’s for dinner — on the weekends because they’re not open for dinner on the regular weekdays so we won’t be in a hurry to get back.
So when I got my Fufu and Goat Light Soup a woman also brought a bowl of water for me to wash my hands in because you usually eat the fufu with your hands and break off little pieces. I quickly told them I would eat it with fork and spoon. Yeah. Diehard Western ingrained ideas of how to eat a soup suddenly took over for a moment. Even so I ended up eating the last pieces of goat with my hand anyway. Soup was tomato based and rather spicy. Goat was good — a little chewy which is why I finally ate the rest of the pieces by hand. Fufu — a mixture of cassava and plantains — consistency — close as I can think of in comparison is Japanese mochi or specifically ozoni that is served for New Year’s. Not really having any flavor — rather playing the straight man to the spicy soup and the goat meat. One of my co-​workers had the hot pepper sauce — I tried a bit of it and according to everyone on my table my face turned red all of a sudden — even though I didn’t feel it was that hot. They have a few items for folks for whom just walking through the door to a Ghanaian restaurant was already too much of an adventure to handle — club sandwich, burger, sausage roll, and a hot dog. Vegetarians can get the stuffed zucchini with peanut butter sauce or the catering pasta. There’s also a bunch of dishes that are only available on the weekend. Lotsa parking cause it’s in a mall. Below is a cheat sheet for help with the menu:
JOLLOF («one pot») rice — usually made with rice, tomatoes and tomato paste, onions, salt, and hot red pepper. Beyond that, nearly any kind of meat, vegetable, or spice can be added.
WAAKYE — a Ghanaian dish of cooked rice and black-​eyed peas coloured with an indigenous leaf to make it purple-​brown. It is prepared by boiling the beans and rice together.
GARI — cassava tubers peeled, washed and grated or crushed to produce a mash after being drained for a few days then fried in a clay frying pot. Comes in either white (fried without palm oil) or yellow (fried with palm oil).
FUFU — boiled starchy food made from cassava and plantains pounded into a dough-​like consistency with a pestle and mortar.
RED RED — a Ghanaian black-​eyed peas and meat stew served with fried ripe plantain that earns its name from the red pepper and red palm oil that tints the black-​eyed peas stew and the bright orange color of the fried ripe plantain.
BANKU — is a Ghanaian dish which is cooked by a proportionate mixture of fermented corn and cassava dough in hot water into a smooth, whitish consistent paste and then wrapped in plastic
KENKEY — similar to a sourdough dumpling — usually made from ground corn mixed with water and fermented for a few days — then half of it is cooked and then mixed with the other uncooked half throughly and wrapped in banana leaves or corn husks.
EGUSI — Sauce usually made from roasted finely ground or pureed egusi (a melon resembling a watermelon found in West Africa) seeds that give it a smoky, nutty character. Pumpkin seeds are sometimes used instead.
TUO ZAAFI — dish originating in Northern Ghana consisting primarily of maize dough with salt and water to taste
SPHE BOLG (Spaghetti Bolognese) — Boiled spaghetti with Oil, fresh tomatoes, minced beef, white pepper, mixed herb, salt, gravy, cheese.

Max ’ s is a real authentic African restaurant. The food is mouth watering delicious. I had one of the Chef’s favorite Tuo zaafi. The food was well garnish with excellent taste. Be prepared to use your hands and will probably be licking them when done. Customer for life.