Papaye

I have nothing but good to say about Papayes. The quality in taste, consintency & professionalism of the servers. To even the price points of the food. There are alot of Ghanian restaurants in the area, they have alot of competition & trust me Ive been to about all of them but out of all of them Papayes is the only one I give 5 stars. Thats a clue! Great Jaloff, amazing soup, awesome waakye, brilliant suya. Place is clean, good branding. THE BEST.

In the Heart of the boogie down Bronx is a place called Papaye… The restaurant name means to be virtuous, or to do good for yourself, in the Ghanaian language… Twi
The establishment is sparingly decorated you will not find any kente cloth or African drums, except a flat-​screen television tuned to a Football (soccer) Game.
If you love Caribbean food or if you love Latin food… this is a great place to go to if you want to taste how its made in Africa and how influential African cuisine has been on the cuisine of the Americas.
I ordered the Red snapper and peanut soup with fufue. a thick paste made from plantain and cassava and shaped into a ball, and the similar omo tuo, made from pounded rice. Each is served floating in a soup flavored by peanut and/​or palm nut or red pepper, with chunks of goat or chicken or fish.
The portions were Large… The dishes Spicy… The Taste Fantastic
Give it a try you will be pleasantly surprised.

This is actually the first time I’ve tried african cuisine. Truth be told, I wasn’t really expecting much given the pictures the other reviewers posted here. But wow, was I surprised. I ordered a goat soup served with fufue (it’s basically a dough ball but better suited for spicy soups). The soup tasted fantastic! It has such a deep, earthy flavor that you can’t really find in any other cuisine. The goat meat was odorless (which is rarer than you’d think, even in New York) and tender. If you’re not used to game meat, the skin on the goat might be off putting, but you can always put it aside. By the way, don’t be surprised by the relatively high prices, since the portions are huge and can easily feed up to 3 people.
Another plus is that this location is actually pretty close to Yankee Stadium (they have another branch which might be even closer, but this is close enough). For those of you who only venture to the bronx to watch a yankee game, walking here could help you acquaint yourself to the most mysterious borough of New York city.

The staff was friendly, the food was spicy, and the atmosphere was genuine. If you’re looking to try African food, here’s the place!

The rice and fish was dry. The beans and spinach tasted the same and as you see from my photo I took, the beans and Spanish were dumped on top of each other thus, Levaing it looking unappealing…
The only nice thing was They brought the food to our table and collected our trays when we were finished… unlike the Accra resteraunt on Burnside.

i was soo starving after a long day. I rarely go to the bronx because i dont have a reason to go. But having a craving for west african food drove me here. It was really good choice.
I had the joloff rice with a side of fried turkey butt. Just simply amazing! Then because my eyes were bigger than my stomach i ordered the fofou with okra and goat meat. Which is also great despite the overwhelming spice, but i managed.
So for sure a must go!

I wanna give 3 ½. I usually come and they are on point. Just came from there now and I’m sad. My portion was big. But… my rice was burnt. You can taste it. My goat meat was too tough. I will keep coming here but the consistency is killing me.

Whenever I feel like I need a home cooked meal and my mother is nowhere to be found I head on over to Papaye! This food is soooo good! The jollof is perfectly made. The stew is amazing! The meat is chewable and yummy! What more could I ask for?

Good food and huge portions. I came with my husband for lunch and we each ordered a dish, and we realized our mistake when the food came. Between us we barely finished one. Its now dinner time and neither of us are hungry again.
The goat with okra and fufu was delicious. Just spicy enough without being overpowering.
This is likely to become our regular lunch spot when we end up in that part of town.

Went there today and LOVED it. We had to make a trip to the Bronx so figured we’d eat somewhere exotic. The first place we stopped in was out of everything so we headed over here. Very pleasant atmosphere, very authentic, but clean and professional. Food was great (esp considering we barely knew what we were ordering but that’s OK), staff is super friendly and was great to see the regulars at the other tables. All just ten minutes drive from Manhattan. A great place, my first brush with Ghanaian food, a winner.

I rarely make a trip up to the Bronx because there’s nobody I know that lives in the Bronx and because it’s not really a borough (compared to multi-​culturally diverse Queens and hip & trendy Brooklyn) known for its with amazing culinrary delights and has notoriety in being a dangerous borough. That being said, I’ve never really had much exposure to African cuisine except for Caribbean (Jamaican) and Ethiopian (which I didn’t really like) so I decided to hop on the 4 train up to the Bronx to try out some authentic West African cuisine despite the snowy weather.
As you enter the restaurant, you will not be greeted by the ladies who work there but greeted with a pungent (slightly stinky) aroma of African spices which can make you frown but as you settle in, it becomes tolerable. This place is really a no frills diner type of place. You enter, grab a table to drop off your stuff (no wait service here so once your food is ready, you pick up at the counter, therefore no tips required), walk up to the counter to take a look at the large menu on the wall behind the counter and order your food with one of the Plump African ladies behind the counter. Since my Ivorian friend who’s now back in Ivory Coast have recommended that I get the Jollof Rice and the Grilled Tilapia Fish if I ever have chance to try West African cuisine, decided to order a small Jollof Rice and the Grilled Tilapia
After about 10 minutes, both of my dishes are ready to pick up at the counter. I was actually surprised to see that the SMALL order of Jollof Rice had HUGE portions and the Tilapia was a large WHOLE Fish and wondered if I was able to finish both items, but as always, having been blessed with a «HUGE appetite but never get fat genes» my parents passed onto me, I literally DEVOURED both dishes in less than 20 minutes.
Jollof Rice: ($ 8)
OMG, this wa AMAZING! Jollof Rice is a rice dish popular in many parts of West African countries like Ivory Coast, Ghana, Togo, Sierra Leone, Nigeria, and Liberia. It is made with either Easy Cook Long Grain or Basmati Rice loaded with Palm Oil, Cayenne Pepper, and Tomatoes. It comes with a side with of a Smokey Chile Relish that was so fucking amazing that I wanted to slather it over EVERYTHING that I was eating. It was just THAT good! The flavor of the rice was nothing like I’ve had before and the texture reminded me of Korean Kimchi Fried Rice, a bit mushy and sticky yet soft,
Grilled Tilapia (minus the Banku): ($ 10)
WOW, that was probably one of the best whole fish dishes I’ve ever had in my life! Sure I’ve had plenty of Korean Fried Fish, Steamed Fish Fillet, Fillet de Pescado al Ajillo, but this dish was just NOTHING like I’ve had before! I was also amazed that I was getting an entire WHOLE fish to myself!
The fish is grilled and served whole, blanketed with raw onions and fresh tomatoes and served with two home-​made Shito (or Ghanian Hot Pepper Sauce). The black version is more complex and made with a dried fish product Momoni while the red one was more like a ‘Ghanaian Salsa” was sharper and more fresh-​tasting but with a spicy kick while the heat slowly builds up (It was freezing outside and I was sweating). Nevertheless, both Shitos complemented the Tilapia dish wonderfully and my stomach was fully satisfied after the meal.
It’s not a fancy place but definitely NOT a hole-​in-​the-​wall kind of place either. Service isn’t OVER-​FRIENDLY nor unfriendly but just regular since it’s really a no frills type of place where you just place your order and pick up your food and eat. After you eat, you can leave the tray on the table and someone will come take the plates away for you. If you want to get something to drink, there’s a refrigerator near the counter so just go ahead and pick up a soda and bring it to your table.
For $ 19 including the soda, this was one of the HEARTIEST and HEALTHIEST meals I’ve ever had in a long time. And love that I didn’t have to pay TIPS lol
There’s a restroom and a hand-​washing station (sink) in case you would like to blend in with the locals and «Do as the Romans Do» and eat with your hands (which I’m still working on) and oh yeah, it’s CASH-​ONLY so bring cash or if not, withdrawal some cash from the ATM machine located inside the restaurant near the entrance.
Not sure if I’ll come back in the evening after dark (yes it’s still the BRONX but will stop by to grab lunch or something if I’m in the area! Those spices and sauces were just amazing!