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 market. The dishes were proper spicey and flavorful. I won’t lie, some flavors were challenging for me, but the culinary adventure is what I was paying for. And, they threw in some extra dishes at no charge that weren’t on my set menu so that left me with a big smile.

Service is what you’d expect for a Michelin rated restsurant - Top notch. I’d rate it 9/10 and good value for money. AKOKO is definitely worth a visit.