It was fun to enjoy Nigerian culture! Nikki, the owner-waiter-chef was kind, super personable and proud to serve her native country's menu. Food was tasty. They have only been open for a year, and it's tiny but have indoor seating along with to-go ordering. Simple atmosphere, small and staffed by one person. The seating area is lined by wall of Nigerian groceries. You can purchase ingredients used to make the items on the menu.
We started with appetizers: PLANTAINS were sweet and super delicious. We also tried the GOAT MEAT which was good with lots of savory flavor. It was a little chewy, but this is typical for goat.
Majority of menu is a choice of flavores rice, and a meat. We ordered:
WHITE RICE WITH "DESIGNER SOUP"
This was my favorite. It was savory, spicy and the flavors were deluctable.It's called "designer soup" because it contains many different things, and can be made with whatever is on-hand. I learned afterwards their version is made with goat, heart, tripe, liver and kidney. Honestly, I am glad I didn't know this until after I ate it. I may have missed out on my favorite of the night since I normally wouldn't eat organs.
JOLLOF RICE WITH JERK CHICKEN
Jerk chicken was a little spicy and delicious. The Jollof rice is tomato paste based seasoned rice. It was good but had a slight sour flavor that I wasn't sure about.
NIGERIAN NOODLES WITH CHICKEN
The Nigerian Noodles were essentially Raman noodles made from instant noodle package. The chicken was very tough. Nikki had described this ahead of time, saying it was how Nigerians preferred their chicken, but it was tougher than we expected. Very dry.
FUFU WITH EGUSI SOUP
We really wanted to try FUFU, which is a doughy, starchy ball that is sticky like uncooked dough. The FUFU was flavorless but had a sticky texture. You break off a piece and use it to pickup some sauce, in our case, EGUSI soup. I was glad we tried the FUFU but not sure I enjoyed it. The EGUSI soup was my least favorite of the night. It had a strong smell of pungent cheese/rotten fish. Internet says the dawa dawa beans in the dish are fermented which creates this 'interesring' aroma. I didn't like it but was glad I was able to experience this common Nigerian dish.
TIP: order a different plate for each person and share with the party so you can experience many menu items. read more