I was quite excited at the prospect of going to Bantu. I've recently been learning about African culture and cuisine and was looking forward to tasting it.\n\nI can't say I'm happy with the results.\n\nThe location is decent; close enough to downtown to be convenient. Parking is plentiful.\n\nThe decor is not what I would call African. More an amalgam of all previous incarnations of restaurants at this location; Mediterranean, Italian, French.\n\nThe dining room is quite small. There are a few tables for four and one large raised table that seats approx. 10. The patio is quite spacious, but there is a considerable amount of traffic noise from 7th Avenue.\n\nThe waitress started me off with fried plantains and a spicy sauce for dipping.\n\nThe plantains tasted and felt like what I'd imagine a banana flavored potato chip would taste and feel like. Not at all unpleasant, and I ate several.\n\nThe sauce, while spicy, was more reminiscent of Latin America than Africa.\n\nStill, it was a nice complement to the plantains.\n\nI ordered coconut stew with chicken, and rice. It was quite tasty, but mildly unpleasant in that the chicken was almost as much bone as meat. Other diners I was with shared that complaint.\n\nThe rice was good; fluffy, properly cooked.\n\nI was quite disappointed when I ordered what the waitress said was an African beer only to learn that it was in fact a Vietnamese beer.\n\nAll in all the experience was enjoyable, but the food was hardly enough to draw me back.