Favorite Cheap Lunches Part 6: Grilled Beef Sandwich at Maashaa'allah Restaurant

[Jeremy Iggers]

I was sad to see the closing of Tam-Tam's African restaurant at 605 Cedar Ave. - it was the only restaurant in the Twin Cities serving a pan-African menu, and owner Steven Kaggwa was a warm and welcoming host. But I was curious enough about the restaurant that replaced it - Maashaa'allah, that I decided to stop in for lunch. The restaurant advertises "African and Mediterranean cuisine," but the menu seems to be mostly standard Somali fare - a choice of goat, beef, chicken or fish, served with the traditional accompaniments of rice, spaghetti or ugali, a corn mush (or a combination of all three), with most dinner entrees priced at $8-$10.

I opted instead for a grilled beef sandwich, a generous serving of marinated grilled meat in served in a baguette with lettuce and tomato. At $5 it's quite a bargain, but what makes this a real deal is the accompaniments: the price also includes a bowl of soup - a thin but flavorful meat broth, plus mango juice and a ripe banana. The server, who didn't speak much English, also brought me tastes of the rice pilaf, ugali and a vegetable stew, but I don't think those are ordinarily included with lunch.

By all appearances, I was the only customer who was not East African, but I was made to feel very welcome. Among the cultural novelties - a digital clock which played a recording of the Muslim call to prayer at about 2:15.
There are several more items on the menu that I would like to try, including the fish dinner ($10), and some Somali breakfast dishes - which I gather are made with beef or chicken and the Somali version of injera, the Ethiopian flatbread.

Maashaa'allah Restaurant, 605 Cedar Ave., Minneapolis, 612-333-3776.

[Marjorie Magidow Schalles]

Missing Tam Tam and Steven's wonderful hosting!