Whitehaven’s Bala’s Bistro reopened on Wednesday at a new, larger location, and the customers were happy. So were the employees, the old ones and the new ones, like Brittny Bradshaw, who goes by BB.

“I just started but I’ve been knowing Bala for a while because we always ate at the old place,” she said. “When he said he needed help, I said ‘Well OK, I’ll help you out.’”

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The new place, formerly Yum’s on Elvis Presley Boulevard, is more than double the size of Bala Tounkara’s previous restaurant and will have about three times the seating once the patio is completed.

It also has something folks are already digging: Cafeteria-style food by the pound.

“I’ll be here at least once a week,” said Shelby Wilson of Lake Cormorant. “Now that he has that, well, color me happy.”

No more choosing egusi soup, spinach saka saka or goat curry; get them all. Add okra stew, chicken maafe and roasted lamb. Don’t forget the jollof rice.

Wilson, who was introduced to Tounkara and his restaurant by some of her students from Africa at Sheffield High School, is just talking, though. She’ll be there every week, but she’s almost certainly coming for something that’s not on the point-and-order line. 

Wilson likes the fish attieke, pronounced sort of like ah-check-AH, and for good reason.

She insisted I take a bite of her dish when it came from the kitchen and look, sometimes there’s no point in letting your manners get in the way of an experience. It was a whole tilapia, though Tounkara said he usually has red snapper too, served on fermented cassava root that has a similar texture to couscous.

“And it comes with the best relish you’ve ever tasted,” she said.

I’d already eaten lunch and was smitten with the savory and mildly sour onion, cucumber and tomato relish, so I ate the offered bite and said thank you.

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I can’t stop thinking about it. Cassava is yuca, which you’ve probably eaten (and it’s not related to the yucca plant that you think of as a yucca), but I’ve never had it processed like this. It has heft more than flavor, but that comes with the relish, the spicy pili pili sauce and the tender deep-fried fish. One bite wasn’t enough, but it also wasn’t my meal so it was enough for that moment. But I texted Tounkara after I left: “I’m coming back for the fish attieke.”

The fish, by the way, isn’t on the menu, which is pretty extensive and includes many dishes that will be unfamiliar to you unless you know about West African food. Tounkara is from Mali and decided to move to Memphis in 2003, after visiting a cousin here.

“I knew it was the perfect place for me,” he said.

He went to work at the casinos and ended up cooking, something he’d never done back home. He worked his way through the ranks and in 2019, he opened Bala’s Bistro on Raines Road, with his cousin Mady Magassa, also from Mali, helping him.

The menu is a mix of traditional African dishes, vegan food (some of which is traditional African fare; some items like “chicken” tenders), and a selection of burgers, wraps and sandwiches.

I tried a bite or two of all the African dishes plus an order of fataya, beef turnovers that came with the spectacular relish. My three favorites were spinach saka saka (the vegan version; there was also one with lamb), egusi soup and the spicy chicken curry. The menu will vary, and you can buy your favorites a la carte if you don’t want to sample.

A quick explanation: Egusi soup is thick, made with ground melon seeds and bitter melon, beef tripe, peppers, greens and salted fish, though on Wednesday smoked turkey necks stood in for the last ingredient. It’s hearty and thick, and I’m eager to try it with the fish.

Chicken curry is self-explanatory; it’s a chicken stew with vegetables and a fragrant and lush sauce with ginger, garlic, turmeric, cumin, clove and so on.

The spinach saka saka and cassava saka saka are about the same, though the cassava green is mildly bitter. They’re smooth and savory, a bit salty, savory with familiar flavors of pepper, garlic and onion.

“Saka saka means pounded,” Tounkara said, pointing to two large wooden mortar and pestles. Before he can be asked, he shakes his head. No, they don’t use those in the kitchen.

“We use food processors,” he said. “This is 2021.”

There are fresh drinks made from punchy ingredients such as ginger and lime, hibiscus and tamarind, and desserts that customers, like Shehlemyah Yisrael, rave about.

“That vegan strawberry cake is great. I take one home almost every time I come. Sometimes I take two, but don’t tell anyone. The vegan food I’ve tried here is just as good as his other food. Some people think vegan and they’re like ‘um, no,’ but this is good.”

Bala’s Bistro, 4571 Elvis Presley Boulevard, is open 11 a.m.-9 p.m. Monday and Tuesday; 7:30 a.m.-9 p.m. Wednesday and Thursday; 7:30 a.m.-10 p.m. Friday; 11 a.m.-10 p.m. Saturday and 11 a.m.-10 p.m. Sunday (brunch is 11 a.m.-3 p.m. on weekends starting Dec. 4). Closed Thanksgiving Day. Call 901-509-3024