La Table de Penja is a gastro-bistro restaurant offering French cuisine with many African touches, whether in the spices or the ingredients used. The result is a delicious cuisine with very original flavors. A great find !
Part 1 – Concept
You enter a charming room with a bistronomic feel and a subtle nod to Africa through the warmth of the wooden decor, the ceramic counter, and the very colorful mural.
You’re warmly welcomed by a lively and cheerful floor manager. The dishes follow promptly and efficiently.
It begins with a rounded amuse-bouche: a little tartlet of cod tarama with hibiscus jelly.
Our starter is presented by the chef, who is as friendly as he is engaging. He explains that his focus is on the product itself, rather than trying to present a purely African cuisine, though he loves using African spices and ingredients in French dishes. Here, bistronomy blends beautifully with African flavors.
Part 2 – Tasting
This starter is superb: fresh spinach just rolled in butter, set in a rich broth, surrounding a perfect egg. The broth is infused with pèbè spice (a type of nutmeg), giving it a very exotic flavor. When you break the egg to take a spoonful of broth, you scoop up the Attiéké (fermented cassava) steamed and hidden at the bottom with Paris mushrooms—and it all bursts in your mouth. It’s so original, even masterful! ❤️
Our second course is the chef’s signature dish: rock octopus, poached in a court-bouillon and seared on a plancha. Not only is the cooking spot on, but it’s enhanced with a delicious béarnaise made with dried shrimp powder from Benin—both delicate and spicy—intelligently heightened by mustard seeds and served with a smooth mushroom duxelles. An excellent dish, full of complex flavors.
I thought I’d made a mistake not following the floor manager’s dessert recommendation—he suggested the rice pudding. Not at all! The dark chocolate from Xoco (a top chocolate producer that created and harvests its own cacao variety) is served as a mousse-filled berlingot, both smooth and light, accompanied by a similarly shaped banana cream and an ice cream made with fresh green Penja pepper. It was this ice cream that made me choose this dessert. It’s superb. I was expecting an intense taste—not at all. It starts off soft, followed by a second flavor in the mouth—subtle and diffuse—with the heat of Penja pepper, a controlled intensity. With the chocolate and banana berlingots, what a wonderful pairing! ❤️
If the rice pudding is even better, then a second visit is a must—and there were so many other dishes that looked tempting. This restaurant is a little gem!