Sylla

Sylla sits under the Metro-North viaduct on Park Avenue in East Harlem, a modest brick-walled room where the trains rumble overhead and the Ivorian owner walks newcomers through the menu. Ivorian cooking leans on attiéké — fermented cassava grated into fluffy, slightly sour grains, like a couscous with a tang — and on stews layered with hot chiles, black pepper and smoked fish.

Order attiéké with grilled smoked mackerel, the kedjenou (guinea fowl slow-stewed in a sealed pot until it falls apart), or foutou with peanut or okra sauce. Add alloco, the sweet fried plantains with spicy red sauce, to whatever you choose. The food has a depth that makes the room's simplicity beside the point.