Adventurous is not a word I would use to describe myself. I’m risk averse. I drive the speed limit, and signal when no other cars are present. I say excuse me after I sneeze, even if I’m alone. I love CDs and conservative mutual funds. I love sports, but don’t gamble and am the only one if my office who doesn’t play in the NCAA basketball bracket pool. However, when it comes to food, I love getting out of my comfort zone. If there is something on a menu I’ve never heard of, chances are I’m ordering it. I find I enjoy more than I don’t when trying something new.
Which is why I was excited to try Sepelas in Urbana. Sepelas is a family-owned African restaurant that offers authentic African dishes including fish, chicken, goat, beef, pork, and vegetables. I decided to order many dishes for take-out, so I could share the adventure with my family.
The first thing we tried was the grilled chicken leg ($9.99). The chicken is marinated, then grilled with assorted vegetables and served with a tomato and raw onion garnish. Everything at Sepelas was cooked to order, and I could tell as everything is fresh. The chicken was succulent and moist, and the bold flavors were rich and tasty. The vegetables also had a great robust flavor. The leg was a generous portion with the thigh attached. The marinade penetrated deep into the meat, and the grilling offered a nice crisp on the skin.
Next up was grilled pork ($9.99). The pork was prepared (as far as I could tell) same as the chicken. This was my favorite dish simply because I prefer pork to chicken. The pork was very moist and had the same wonderfully bold flavors and vegetables as the chicken. It was topped with some raw onion.
We ordered two steak kabobs ($4.99 each). The two steak skewers were served with grilled vegetables and raw onion garnish. They were accompanied by two dipping sauces and a dry spice on the side. Those who are heat averse should not try the dry spice. It was great, but it was super spicy.
The red sauce was also on the hot side, but not as much as the dry spice. The white sauce was great and offered a nice freshness and cool contrast to the rich steak. I even dipped some of my pork in the white sauce. I’m not sure exactly what is was (besides great), but it reminded me of a mild aioli.
We had a side of fufu ($4.99) which is billed as bread, but it was much more. It was extremely dense and is more like polenta. Thanks to the Google machine, I now know that fufu is a pounded meal originating in West Africa. It can be eaten by itself or dipped in soups and sauces. We cut ours up and used it as a base like rice would be used in a Chinese dish.
To cap off our African food adventure, we had plantains ($4.99). The plantains were expertly cooked with a nice caramel color and flavor on the outside, and tasted nice and sweet on the inside. Sepelas has desserts that looked wonderful, but this would be my choice to end every meal to contrast the bold rich entrée flavors. Next time, I’ll make sure to have some vanilla ice cream on hand because I think plantain a la mode sounds awesome.
Sepelas can be hard to find. It’s tucked behind the Walgreen’s in a strip mall close to Five Points in Urbana. It’s at Suite 8, which is in the corner of the mall, and the inside was much larger than it appeared from the outside. As I waited for my to go order, I found the inside extremely roomy and comfortable.
The restaurant had a great vibe with some cool art on the wall and fun music being played.
The host was extremely nice and helpful as I tried to figure out my order. If you appreciate trying
something new with big bold wonderful flavors, treat yourself to Sepelas.
Sepelas African Restaurant
510 N Cunningham Ave
Urbana
Su 3 to 10 p.m.
M-Sa 11 a.m. to 10 p.m.