Buckhurst Hill, West African Restaurant Guide

“Exceptional value” Nigerian ‘tapas’ continues to win high marks (if from a limited fan club) for Emeka and Ifeyinwa Frederick’s West African legend in Seven Sisters, which has starred in the media since it opened in 2020. In September 2024 they launched a £500,000 fundraising campaign for a second London site: no news as yet on any follow up.

“Unbelievable! So interesting and packed with flavour” – that’s the overwhelming sentiment on the cuisine at Nigerian-born Aji Akokomi’s brave Fitzrovian venue: one of the first in the capital to attempt a “high-end African experience” (it won its overdue Michelin star in 2024). Chef Ayo Adeyemi moved on in November 2024, to be replaced by Mutaro Balde as the new executive chef and – with a tasting menu format at £125 per person – he “transforms very good ingredients into dazzling and original dishes” infused with spicing from around West Africa, all delivered by the notably “very friendly” staff. Allow two and a half hours for the experience: “you’ll never be short of things to talk about with your date, where the exceptional culinary surprises just keep on coming”.

“Superb West African food elevated to a fantastic level” and “presented as fine dining for Western palates is still unusual (for the UK) with its obscure ingredients and flavours” and – having scored huge success at its original site in Brixton – Adejoké Bakare’s transplanted Fitzrovia two-year-old quickly won a Michelin star in 2024 which many reporters feel is “well deserved”: it helps that “staff are genuinely passionate and more-than-willing to answer questions and talk through the sourcing and processes”. However, many reports note that the setting is “slightly basic” (“hard surfaces and close tables” that are “a trad cramped” make it “noisy”) and while fans feel “this is a minor issue when the main focus is the food”, ratings here are dragged down by a vocal minority who say: “this is a laudable effort to bring African cooking to a wider audience but price increases after the Michelin star make the experience feel overpriced”. Top Menu Tips – “delicious rice cake, the most amazing millet and sorghum pasta; and smoked eel”.

2022 Review: When it opened in April 2019, this heart-of-Mayfair restaurant aimed for a blend of British Modern cuisine with accents of West Africa, but nowadays a more confident Pan-African narrative is dominant, both in the styling and cooking. No survey reports as yet; online feedback has its ups and downs, but – for anyone interested in African cuisine – this is London’s most poshly located destination.

“Sophisticated and moreish West African food” – “lots of chilli heat, use of peanuts, onions, coconut and less familiar flavours” – is on the menu at this Borough Yards railway arch, the “amazing second restaurant of Akoko’s Aji Akokomi” (and “at a really great price” compared with his Fitzrovia flagship). “There’s some Brazilian influence” to the “scrumptious West African cooking” – and the “eponymous akara fritters aren’t even the best bit”, with “beef suya, lamb dibi and BBQ cod collar” taking the honours with their “strong, punchy tastes”. Top Tip – “dazzling Negronis, but not for the faint-hearted, and an interesting wine list: Moldova Chardonnay/Riesling anyone?”.

2023 Review: African cuisine has come a long way in London since Calabash – the capital’s first African restaurant in the basement of the former Africa Centre in Covent Garden – opened in 1964. On the site of the new Africa Centre, in a repurposed Southwark office block, this Summer 2022 50-seater is run by Ghanaian-British restaurateur Akwasi Brenya-Mensa. Named after a form of plantain pancake, it aims to reflect the spirit of busy African roadside ‘chop bars’. On the menu: omo tuo nkatenkwan sesame (mashed rice with groundnut, peanut soup); and buttermilk chicken burger topped with shito chilli, citrus yogurt and basil oil.

2023 Review: This July 2022 newcomer on Knightsbridge Green arrived well after our annual diners’ poll had concluded so too late for rating. It’s a debut from 26-year-old Nigerian-born London chef Victor Okunowo, a semi-finalist on BBC MasterChef The Professionals in 2020. The vibrantly decorated West African restaurant has a 22-seat fine-dining room, with more relaxed eating available on the first floor and 16-cover roof terrace.