African
Non-veg
Serves meat, vegan options available. Cameroonian and Gambia cuisine in a homey setting. Most dishes can be adapted to be vegetarian. Offers a ginger drink, several veggie dishes. BYO. Open Wed-Thu 11:00am-9:00pm, Fri-Sat 11:00am-10:00pm, Sun 11:00am-9:00pm.
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1212 Royal St, New Orleans, Louisiana, USA, 70116
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Last update on 13 Dec 2021 by Guest
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Added by mommacat on 01 Aug 2007
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60 Reviews
First Review by kilgore
Charlie Behrens
Points +627
Delicious! - Edit
Had lunch with friends here today and loved it! The Black Eyed Pea Fritters and Kone Ni Makondo were especially great. It's so good to be in a place that really understands both vegans and others. Definitely a good place to return to.
Read moreGuest
Alliyance
Points +26
Excellent - Edit
There's around 4 options to choose from as a vegetarian or vegan which they are fantastic. Tasty and healthy.
Read morePros: Friendly staff, Good price , Clean cozy place
Cons: none.
Guest
ashwinn
Points +787
least bad option? - Edit
New Orleans offers slim pickings for veg*ns. So we need to call it as we see it and hope that a restaurateur opens a pure veg*n place one day. There's a lot to love about this place: the staff and cozy vibe. But the food isn't top shelf. I get the sense that people love it because it's the least bad option in the French Quarter. The only thing worth mentioning is the black eyed pea fritters and the black eyed pea plate that comes with rice and plantains. Honestly nothing else. And the pricing for these? Way more expensive than they should be.
Read morePros: fritters
Cons: not pure veg, not cheap for the lack of ambience , one over worked server for the whole place
Guest
jennamelanie
Points +120
Yum! - Edit
Great food. Very unique. A lot of vegan options. Big portions. Well priced.
Read moreGuest
Cathd
Points +18
Poor and the same experience someone else had in 2011! - Edit
My review is disappointingly the same as Posted by s_k_ on 31 Jan 2011.
Read morecheck this out nothing to add!
Pros: Has vegan and veg options
Cons: Bland food
Guest
MNTucson
Points +100
Wonderful! - Edit
I would give this place 5 stars. Great place for vegan food in the French Quarter, which has limited options in general.
Read moreGuest
nafanc
Points +1615
fantastic - Edit
Cameroonian and Gambian food? Yes please! Bennachin is fantastic. They offer tons of veggie options, and everything I tried was nice and flavorful. I enjoyed the atmosphere as well. It is low-key and relaxed, and it feels like you are in someones home. They also allow BYOB.
Read morePros: delicious, many options, BYOB
Guest
gardeningone
Points +301
African food, veg options - Edit
Interesting French Quarter restaurant with mostly meat menu from Cameroon and Gambia. Good service. Small, quaint, dimly lit and well maintained room seemed clean to me. Several vegetarian choices. The black eyed pea fritters and ginger drink were very good. No alcohol. Not pricey.
Read morePros: uniquely seasoned african food, small but pleasant atmosphere, good service and prices
Cons: limited veggie options
Guest
syl
Points +114
Very Good Food! - Edit
Respectful of vegetarians and vegans. No alcohol. Cheap and delicious!! So much flavour!
Read morePros: Cheap, Like Momma Makes , Delicious
Guest
JulieEA
Points +2691
my favorite restaurant EVER!!! - Edit
We ate here twice in 24 hours, because it was so good we had to grab it to go again on the way out of town. The vegan food here is incredible! I've never had West African food like this before! The plantain fries are fabulous, but the cabbage with rice dish is something out of this world!!!!! I miss you Bennachin and New Orleans!
Read morePros: incredible West African spice, creative dishes, huge vegan variety
Guest
thelittlemeremaid
Points +32
Very good! - Edit
I visited Bennachin while shopping in New Orleans. I was anxious about how the food would be because of some of the reviews, but my mom convinced me to give it a shot. It is a very small restaurant, but the waitress was lovely and definitely knew what she was talking about. The food was amazing! We had the fried ripe plantain appetizer. So good! We ordered more of the sauce it came with later! The food was delicious, and lots of the meat dishes could be made without. We had a lovely time and would come again!
Read moreGuest
JeffGrippe
Points +92
I really wanted to like this place but - Edit
The two veg. dishes that we ordered were not well prepared. Both of them tasted like soggy overcooked vegetables over couscous. I give them props for making the effort to serve veg. folks but I have a feeling that they do a much better job with meat. I'm glad we made the trip to check it out but there is no way I can recommend that you do the same.
Read morePros: Atmosphere, Friendly Attentive Staff
Cons: The food
Guest
mollyolaf
Points +21
Excellent food! Reasonable prices. - Edit
Several of my friends and I were visiting for a conference and decided to try Bennachin since there were a number of vegetarian options on the menu. I ordered the veg dish with black eyed peas and my husband ordered a couscous dish with broccoli and cauliflower. We shared and both dishes were great! The food came quickly, was hot, and fresh.
Read moreThey don't serve alcohol but you can buy wine or beer across the street to have with your meal. Would definitely recommend Bennachin!
Pros: Good variety, Fresh
Guest
alxsrbraun
Points +135
My first Cameroonian/Gambian food experience - Edit
A lot of vegan options - the plantain appetizer is amazing! My dish didn't quite live up to the expectations I had for it after trying the appetizer, but it was a good meal!
Read morePros: Unique food, Everything homemade, PLANTAIN APPETIZER
Cons: A little slow - 1 waitress/1 cook
Guest
steveveg
Points +2276
African vegan options - Edit
This restaurant offers very good vegan food with an African flavor. I had the Yasa with cous-cous. It was quite good. Service was excellent.
Read morePros: vegan choices, good service
Guest
Astonangel
Points +185
Not bad at all! - Edit
Just about the only place you can get a veggie jambalaya in New Orleans. We had the black eyed fritters - good but the sauce with them was excellent. The veggie jambalaya, and the beans and rice dish were both huge! Interesting to have sweet plantains with savory / spicy beans.
Read morePros: Cosy, Good food, Huge portions
Guest
serenity67
Points +39
good but nothing special - Edit
I would recommend eating here it is good but its not amazing food. The atmosphere is really nice but it is a little slow. I was on vacation so I really didn't mind. Go here later in the evening to take a break. Nice staff and they know what is and isn't began on the menu.
Read morePros: knowledgeable staff, nice atmosphere, different food choices
Cons: short staffed, good but not great food
Guest
JohnKeith
Points +144
Good Ethnic Cuisine - Edit
I read the other reviews and it almost seemed like I was in a different restaurant. We checked the place out last night, encountered very friendly staff, so we came for lunch today. In fairness, I suppose it is off season, but the staff was very helpful with suggestions and recommendations. Service was good, food was great, good sized servings. Never had West African cuisine, but enjoyed Ethiopian and East African food on several occasions. We will definitely return. Especially since there are not many vegan offerings in the French Quarter, this is a particularly good one.
Read morePros: Good food, Good selection, Large servings
Guest
s_k_
Points +616
Disappointing - Edit
The menu looks great. I got the black-eyed pea fritters to start and a broccoli, cauliflower, and carrot in light ginger sauce, over couscous, as my main. Mild, medium, or spicy, she asked, and I told her to go with spicy.
Read moreThe fritters were fresh, hot, fluffy, and fried. And that's about it. If you like that kind of deep-fried goodness, they were great. But about two fritters in (six a plate -- definitely not designed for singles) I was ready to move on. Props, though, to the marinara sauce that accompanies them, which was excellent.
That marinara prepared me poorly for the disappointment that followed. I got a plate of watery couscous over which were heaped a few chunks of boiled vegetables. (To their credit, they weren't boiled too much -- the broccoli still held their color and texture.) As for the spice, they'd sprinkled a chili power over the vegetables. And that was that. No flavor cooked in, no blending, nothing.
Oh, and there was a sweet bread roll on the side. Sadly, that had more flavor than everything else I'd eaten.
It's also not cheap, but I'd gladly pay these prices, or even twice as much, if the food were any good at all.
One of the joys of eating out is getting a whiff of flavor and trying to guess what it was. Here, even though I knew what flavors to expect (black-eyed pea, ginger) I never found them. Everything was bland, bland, bland. (I could complain that the chili power wasn't particularly hot, but that doesn't bother me much, and anyway, that was way down on my list.)
I went early, so didn't experience the service problems others report.
As I was leaving, I saw another person had ordered a dish that looked like a spinach sauce over rice. I sure wish I'd ordered that. Or anything else.
Pros: pleasant space, promising menu
Cons: very bland food
Guest
TexasVegan
Points +87
so good - Edit
I have eaten at Bennachin three or four times now. It's so great. I love the cozy atmosphere and African decor. The staff there are very friendly though they are usually short staffed. This is common in New Orleans so it isn't really that big of a deal to me. Yes, you may wait a little while for your food but nobody is in a hurry in New Orleans so you shouldn't be either.
Read moreAs for the food - I've loved everything I've had. I've had the Black-Eyed Pea Fritter poboy dish twice. I LOVE IT. I have also had both the plate with black eyed peas, rice and fried plantains and the spinach, rice and fried plantains plate. I know they sound sort of boring - they are not. Fantastic food. Also, I was told every non-meat dish in the restaurant is vegan as they use no dairy or eggs.
I highly recommend going here for lunch during the week as each of these dinners is only half their regular price of about 16 bucks (so 8 dollars). This is my favorite place to dine in New Orleans.
Pros: delicious food, great atmosphere, friendly staff
Cons: short staffed
Guest
sheepshrooms
Points +31
love love love it - Edit
Totally beautiful. They looked a bit short-staffed-- there was a full house and only one waitress/hostess/busgirl running around taking care of everything, and it looked like there was only one chef in the back, so it was definitely a wait to get our food. But it was completely worth it. Everything was absolutely delicious. Let me know if you find out the secret for the ginger drink/gingero; it was nothing short of divine. I've found my soul drink! It's very gingery and fiery but perfect if you love ginger. I also ordered spinach, coconut rice and fried ripe plantains. The spinach was glorious and the plantains were sublime. I wasn't entirely sure that the coconut rice was vegan though-- I assumed it was but then it tasted kind of buttery. I also tried a bite of the black-eyed pea and stewed tomato dish; it was a tad salty for me but still very tasty. Definitely the best place at which I ate in New Orleans. If I lived here I would be a regular!
Read morePros: YUM, gingero, omg
Cons: sorta out of the way deep in fr. quarter, long wait (but worth it)
Guest
jujutsuka
Points +546
Delicious - Edit
Great food and friendly service. I got the eggplant and mushroom with couscous -- wooo spicy but good. I will definitely return again to try the fritters (the neighboring table was raving after I had already ordered!)
Read morePros: comfortable, great food, nice decor
Guest
swaan
Points +42
Yummy! - Edit
I went with a bunch of friends, including one vegetarian and a few omnivores. Loved it! And most of the omnivores got one of the vegan options and were very happy. All the vegetarian options are vegan (and the veggie entrees have a whole section). Delicious, well-made, real food.
Read moreGuest
rvasquez
Points +243
AMAZING! - Edit
My stomach is growling right now thinking about their black-eyed pea fritters! They are soooo good! For my entree I had a black-eyed pea stew type dish with coconut rice and fried plantains. Everything was amazing and there was a massive amount of it. Probably enough to split, which helps because it's a little on the expensive side. This was definitely my favorite place that we tried while I was in New Orleans. You must try the fritters!!
Read morePros: Amazing food, large amounts
Cons: a little pricey
Guest
comahony
Points +336
Always delicious - Edit
I live in New Orleans and as a vegan, go to Bennachin often. There are several vegan options and they're all delicious. The service is super-friendly, too.
Read moreGuest
mylarobin
Points +37
OMG the plantains! - Edit
Bennachins is one of the best veggie-option restaurants I've been to in New Orleans. They have large portions and I love their food. It's very much comfort food, and it has interesting flavors. And ohhh, the fried plantains!
Read morePros: yummy fried plantains, friendly staff
Guest
Krutolow
Points +170
Bennachin Restaurant in New Orleans - Edit
I opted to start with the Black Eyed Pea Fritters as the vegetarian waitress at the Sugar Shack (veg friendly) spoke very highly of them.
Read moreI thought they were a lighter version of say, falafel with a more neutral taste but they were served with a spiced onion and tomato paste sauce which I couldn't get enough of.
My entree, the Black Eyed Peas in Onion and Tomato Stew served with Coconut Rice and Fried Ripe Plantains was what I went for. I thought it would more or less come in a pot as a "stew" but it was more a rice and beans variant with stewed black eyed peas. I liked the flavor, mild and tasty but as I'm a hot sauce kind of guy, it was better, (as I think most things are), with a few shakes. I was in New Orleans...how could I not think, "BAM!"?
The coconut rice was flavorful, subtle, with a smattering of veggies. The plantains were fried but not overly sweet. Almost like a taste of young plantains that had just moved into the ripe phase...but as tender as they were in the beginning of the meal they were more of a sweet tostones.
And then there was this roll. I couldn't figure it out. It's like a kind of white flour, sweetish, supermarket thing. Give me a hunk of dark peasant bread and it would have been the perfect compliment.
I would eat here again and ask many more questions. I think this is the kind of place you can feel really comfortable with the food after ordering it a few times and know what things are.
Read my complete review at http://martysnycveggiereview.blogspot.com
Pros: tasty food, calming atmosphere, moderate price
Cons: Menu needs better descriptions, Ask detailed questions
Guest
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