Jambo Cafe

Review Highlights

Guy Fieri returns to Jambo Cafe in Santa Fe, New Mexico — 13 years after his original 2013 Triple D visit, when he told chef-owner Ahmed Obo the feature was going to change everything. He's back to see what happened after the cameras left: did the Triple D effect play out? The answer is visible before he even sits down — the restaurant has blown through the wall and expanded, the line still snakes out the door, and Obo now has a cookbook, an adjacent spice shop, and a foundation providing healthcare to children back in his hometown of Lamu, Kenya. Guy settles in to revisit the oxtail, goat stew, and island-spiced mahi mahi that put this African Caribbean spot on the map in a town dominated by New Mexican chile.

• ·Banana Leaf Wrapped Island Spiced Mahi Mahi — a wet spice paste of fresh ginger, chili powder, thyme, coriander, allspice, garlic, cinnamon, jalapeño, black pepper, brown sugar, and paprika is rubbed onto the fish and left overnight. Wrapped in banana leaf and steamed for 15 minutes, then served over black rice with sautéed baby bok choy and coconut tamarind mango sauce. Guy, self-described as not a fish eater: 'I'm not a fish eater except when I come here. The fish is cooked exactly right, the sauces, the spices just taste delicious. Very soulful dish'
• ·Berbere Chickpea Stew — a vegetarian stew built on onions, garlic, carrots, red bell pepper, potato, sweet potatoes, and banana squash, seasoned with berbere spice blend (coriander, black pepper, cumin, ginger, allspice), tomato paste, chickpeas, and coconut milk, simmered 45 minutes until the vegetables are soft and the flavors meld. Served over rice with sautéed garlic collard greens. Guy: 'Hearty. Berbere spice is a nice balance of sweet and tangy and spicy. There's like a little sweet potato in there and chickpea — it's just bright and lovely'
• ·Goat Stew — goat seared then braised with onions, garlic, tomato paste, beef stock, chicken broth, carrots, and potatoes in the oven for 2½ hours. Guy: 'That goat is so tender and so rich — if that's the only dish you sold, I'd come back every week.' He adds: 'Goat stew, red rojo — I love the goat stew, bursting with flavor'
• ·Oxtail — marinated overnight in a jerk-seasoning paste of thyme, jerk seasoning, garlic, allspice, cayenne, coriander, rosemary, cinnamon, green onion, and olive oil, then braised with garlic, onion, tomato paste, beef and chicken broth for 5 hours at 400°F. Guy: 'It's not falling off the bone to where it's in the bottom of the bowl, but you've cooked it down enough that you get that creaminess, that silkiness from it rendering down the fat. The flavor goes all the way through — it's got a little spice to it. It is a hardy meat-eater's deluxe, it's super tender, it's delicious, it's comfort food'

Guy is visibly moved by what Ahmed Obo has built since that first visit in 2013. The food is as strong as ever — the oxtail earns particular praise for its creamy, rendered-down sauce and spice that 'goes all the way through,' and the goat stew is so good Guy says he'd 'come back every week' for it alone. But the deeper win is the community Obo has built: a packed dining room, a blown-out wall to accommodate demand, a cookbook, imported spices sold next door, and a foundation providing daily healthcare to children in Lamu. Guy's closing lands on what sets Jambo apart: 'When you're making food like this, this is about the ingredients, it's about the technique — but in your particular situation, it's about the love. You really love the customers, you love the food that you make, and people love you.'

About

Jambo Cafe is an African Caribbean restaurant in Santa Fe, New Mexico, opened in August 2009 by chef-owner Ahmed Obo. Obo grew up on Lamu Island off the coast of Kenya, the oldest of 11 children, learning to cook in his mother's kitchen at the crossroads of Swahili, Indian, Arabic, and Portuguese culinary traditions. After coming to America in 1995 and working his way up from dishwasher to chef, he brought those layered spice traditions to Santa Fe — a town dominated by New Mexican chile-based cuisine — and built an institution that has won Best International Cuisine from the Santa Fe Reporter for over a decade running. Obo was nominated for a James Beard Award for Best Chef: Southwest in 2022, published The Jambo Cafe Cookbook, and opened a food truck and a second concept alongside the original strip-mall location.