Papaye

On a busy corner of the Grand Concourse at 183rd Street, Papaye has long been the gathering place for the West Bronx's Ghanaian community — the room fills for soccer matches, and families come from across the borough for the food. It is a large, plain storefront with a counter and a menu of numbered photographs of soups, mashes and meats, so pointing works fine.

Order the way regulars do: fufu — cassava and plantain pounded smooth — set in the middle of a bowl of spicy chicken or goat soup, eaten by hand (utensils are available). Omo tuo, mashed rice balls with goat in groundnut soup, is the other classic, along with whole tilapia, waakye and rice with goat. Food writers have been finding their way here for well over a decade, but the room still belongs to the neighborhood — come hungry, and come to share.