african kitchen

o and i wandered onto drummond street the other day. i was in search for asian food but strangely landed up at the african kitchen. this is a tiny establishment whose walls are home to a wealth of african masks. the space is tiny and often the warmth of the food and those eating it cause the window to fog over.

 be warned that the food is well spiced. o’s continuous love affair for all things fritter and fried gave us the starter of banana and rice fritters. i was more interested in eating the accompanying dip with a fork. a creamy green concoction of avocado and cilantro.  our main course was savannah chicken, black beans in bonnet chili and jollof rice. savannah chicken is an incredibly tender dish – jointed chicken that is broiled and then baked with ginger, lime, seville orange peel and herbs. the orange peel can at times be a bit bitter but the tenderness and mildness of chicken compensates for it. the black beans came in a dark maroon sauce that gains its color and its flavor from bonnet chili. jollof rice is a popular west african dish. once again a dark brownish-red it is a mix of tomatoes, onions, spices and more chili.

rather spiced and full we were presented with fresh balls of coconut with a mound of cocoa powder in which to dip them. they were soothing and refreshing. helped in the recovery of our taste buds o decided it was time to have a little sweet. he did jokingly ask whether there was chili in the sweet.

the mango flan that we ordered was a deliciously smooth and seriously fruity dessert that had a texture akin to baked custard. it had no dairy in it thought and came with a trickle of thin dark caramel. i will be sure to try the guava one on the next visit as well as make sure that we order one non-chili main.