Beyond simple deliciousness, part of the allure of dining at Banaadir is contemplating how the varied dishes you’ll find on the tables have been carried by the winds of history — tangible examples of the seafaring, migration, trade and colonisation that have taken place across the Horn of Africa since antiquity. The recommended lamb Somali rice, for example — a pile of plump, oil-slicked, turmeric-stained rice capped with slow-cooked lamb — is scented with xawaash, a spice blend with roots in ancient Somali voyages to Arabia and India. You will likely see great big piles of Somali spaghetti, too — pasta with a chilli-infused tomato-based sauce that is an edible remnant of Italian colonial rule. Find specifically Indian influences in the sambusa, which in name, form and taste is akin to a samosa. The same goes for the shaah, which comes in a teapot and is comparable to chai. Everything is as fascinating as it is tasty. Do spritz a little of the green-tinged hot sauce called basbaas on your food (you’ll find it in plastic bottles on the table), but also heed our warning: it’s tremendously spicy.