BE Foodies

I had lunch at AKOKO last week. It’s one of the few African restaurants in London with a Michelin star. AKOKO is essentially a food spa. The decor is minimalist yet warm and inviting. They even wash your hands with essential oil scented salts before your meal.

I got the set vegan menu. Overall I liked most of the small tapas style dishes but the stand outs were the Ojojo yam fritter, MoiMoi and Maitake Mushroom with Spinach sauce.

The Jollof Rice, which is their signature dish, was , I’m afraid , a disappoitment. However, the presentation was beautiful and the rice even came with a book about its history. The rice was really smokey and flavorful but it was dry and the crispy puffed rice that was added made it feel even drier.

But overall, I love that they didn’t dumb down the flavors to appeal to a broad…

Last week I had afternoon tea at Mollie’s Lounge in the Ned Hotel. I was excited to learn that Crumbs and Doilies bakery had partnered up with pastry chef Darian Schmidt. I opted for the vegan menu which was pretty good as far as vegan options go. For sandwiches: red pepper and watercress, avocado, vegan cheese and tomato and cucumber. Next tier : Scones with strawberry jam and vegan cream. Top tier - Lovely petit fours by C&D - Raspberry Delice (amazing), citrus sponge with Earl Grey cream, Vegan rice pudding, Caramel and Chocolate cheesecake and a blueberry mousse tart.

I was expecting Mollie’s to be a tearoom. It isn’t. It’s a bistro. Finance Bro types next to me eating steak and drinking beer. So it wasn’t the atmosphere I was looking forward to. But that said, it’s worth a trip to The Ned if only for drinks as it’s…

We back on the grill, today it was a skirt steak, end result fajitas!