Bayal Restaurant, Pawtucket

In Wolof, Senegal’s most widely spoken language, the word “bayal” means “meeting place.” This is an apt description of the goals of Bayal Restaurant’s Senegalese owners, who strive to make their eatery a meeting place for the different cuisines they encountered while moving around Africa and Europe. There, they serve the Senegalese, Togolese, Beninese, Malian, Ivorian, and Mediterranean recipes that they loved best, both in lunch and dinner buffets and by the plate.

Using fresh ingredients, the chefs prepare an eclectic mix of dishes as richly colored as the dining room’s pumpkin-hued walls. They stew lamb with various fixings, including sweet potatoes, cabbage, and a groundnut sauce. They spoon herb-stuffed whitefish in a tomato stew over a choice of jasmine rice or really tender forks. And for the dinnertime buffet, they add in a few signature dishes, such as rack of lamb and cornish hen. Desserts end meals with sweet tastes such as couscous pudding with tropical fruits and beignets sprinkled with orange-flower water.