Divine

> Location : Chungking Mansions, 4/F, Block E, 36-44 Nathan Road, Tsim Sha Tsui, Hong Kong
> Cuisine : West African / Nigerian
> Tel. # : N/A
> Website : N/A

I'm excited! This is my first time trying any type of African cuisine. However, before I start, I would like to say that Divine is more of a secretive restaurant. There are no advertisements for it of any sort just like another African cuisine restaurant in Chungking Mansions. Anybody is welcome but it's always best if someone take you for your first time =D From what I heard, prices can vary daily.

First of all, Chungking Mansions is a very interesting place (where Divine is located). As elected in the May 7, 2007 issue of Time Magazine (yearly feature: Best of Asia), Chungking Mansions is the best example of "Globalization in Action." Every year, there are at least 120 different nationalities that have passed through this building. It is very culturally diverse in a building that has been around for about 40 years.

Before you attempt to go, if you don't get use to being around a culturally diverse, very old building and physically unattractive environment especially when you go up to any of the floors in any of the blocks, I don't recommend you going. But if you're a open minded person like me, please give it a shot!

Now onto the restaurant facts! First of all, please be patient with me because I've tried my best to ask the chef and do some research on what he served me. First of all, Divine has no menu and the place is very small. It seats about 15 people max, a television for viewing and kind of a dim/old atmosphere. Divine is like a family diner if you want to put it that way. Strictly for the food and not the environment =D

What's served and available each day all depends on the chef so it has come to a point that this "restaurant" review will more be educational than a possible experience for you if you're not one of those desperate, open minded person. So the chef had three notable things I would like to share with you...

The first item is what's considered "rice" to an African person. Especially when it comes to Western and Central Africa. "Semo," or more popularly categorized as "fufu," is a big dome/ball-like starch heavy (carbohydrate) soup/sauce compliment. In Western Africa, semo or fufu is generally made out of a mixture of plantain, yam, potato or even maize. The combination varies depending on what's available for the chef to use. In central Africa, cassava is even used (the root portion is used). The type of semo I had felt almost like mash potatoes but more firm and not easily broken when you hold it in your hands. It doesn't have much taste to it but just very starchy in flavor. Don't worry, it's not not like eating a hand full of wheat flour =D

So what do I get to eat the semo with? The first dish he served was the "egusi soup." This is a native dish to Nigeria. Egusi soup is largely made out of grounded shelled seeds (pumpkin, gourd, melon, squash all could be used depending on which the chef desires) with a mixture of other ingredients such as bitter leaf (or spinach), peanut oil, tomato paste, onions, peppers, and stewed meat (for my case, it was fried fish). I've done a lot of research on egusi soup and most of them used pumpkin seeds over the other types. The finished product is this thick, orange looking dish that is perfect for your semo!

Do you eat with your hands? Yes, it is African culture (at this for our case right now) to eat with your hands. There is a specific method of grabbing your semo. You grab about a handful of semo and shape it into a ball. Afterwards, use your thumb to make an indentation into the middle so your sauce or soup can flow into it. Dip it into the sauce or soup, pick it up, the liquid gets trapped and you place the delicacy into your mouth! There's always a bowl of water for each individual to wash their hands whenever they want with some soup and paper towel.

So how does it taste? Egusi has a semi-salty taste to it a little bit of sweet sensation. It is spicy but not so much you have to be drinking water every 10 seconds =D It is notorious to Western African cuisine to serve some spicy dishes. My egusi was also mixed with some "bitter leaf soup" (which I will discuss next) on the side with a piece of fried fish. The fish was flavorful and most likely have some simple seasoning on it. Tender for the most part. Very interesting indeed.

The next dish is bitter leaf soup. The chef told me it's "Betleev Soup" but as much as I researched the internet, I had no luck finding the same name. The closest from what I could find is "bitter leaf soup" or another dish is called "palaver sauce." From what I can tell, they should all be the same thing. So what is it? It's a dark brownish sauce that's largely made out of "bitter leaf" or a substitute for it would be spinach. Bitter leaf is a scrub or small tree that is used throughout Africa. It can treat and prevent various health issues. As the name tells you, the leaf is bitter. But most of the time, the chef soaks it in water for a few hours to wash away most of the bitterness. The other ingredients to this dish, traditionally speaking (because I'm not sure what I ate is exactly like it), are dried/salted chopped fish in tiny pieces (definitely it was in mine), onions, tomato, pepper, chili and okra (sadly, he didn't have any okra prepared yet that day). The taste was very distinct most likely coming from the bitter leaf. It's saltiness was stronger than the egusi soup but just by a little bit. It was spicy too like the previous. The bitter leaf sauce was served with a huge piece of chicken which was fried and very tender. After eating it for awhile, the bitterness tends to be more obvious to your tongue than initially tasting it. Yet, the unique taste that comes from the bitter leaf is what makes this dish so special.

One little information before I continue is, fish and chicken always tend to be fried and beef and pork are usually stewed when cooked. I'm not very sure of the reason but this is something I was shared with.

Did I get to try anything else? The chef actually gave me a piece of Ox stomach and a piece of beef to try. The ox stomach was actually very good with the bitter leaf sauce and the beef was very stiff. I asked my friend who took me there if it's suppose to be that stiff and she said that every time she tried it, it's stiff. So just something to share.

In the end, I had a great experience with Divine since this is my first time eating any sort of African cuisine. It was definitely interesting and delicious on a different level. Throughout my research before I typed this, I found out there are more famous Western African dishes that are worth trying. Perhaps next time I go there, I can ask if they have it so I can report back here! I had a fun time definitely and was introduced some totally unique cuisine to my life! Pictures from top to bottom: bitter leaf soup with beef, semo/fufu, egusi soup with a little bitter leaf soup on top of fish, and bitter leaf soup with chicken.

< 4 out of 5 >