Salaama

Salaama feels like a comfortably tatty roadside diner, except instead of ham in redeye gravy the server brings you goat, chicken suqaar (sliced and stir-fried with onions), or pasta alfredo. Somali spicing blends Arabic flavors with those of neighboring Ethiopia, but the cooks keep the dishes simple: Some meat (halal, of course). A few veggies. A choice of rice pilaf, spaghetti with meat sauce, chapati, or mufo (cornbread). Spicy green-chile sauce brings it all together, and mango nectar washes it down.