Akara

4.5/5 Akara has been on my list for about a year so I was so excited to go and try it out. It really did live up to the hype! Everything I tasted was delicious and what elevated the experience was getting to try so many new flavour combinations. I haven’t had a meal as intriguing as this in a long time. The service was also great, our waitress was so friendly and able to help us decide what we wanted to order. We had the prawn Akara which came with a rich spicy Senegalese sauce that paired beautifully together. We also had the lamb dibi (if you love lamb this is a must try), beef yaji, Lagos chicken, grilled pork and efik rice. The pork was so tender and with the yam sauce, I was fighting myself to slow down and enjoy the dish properly. The rice was moist and flavourful, if you’re hungry I would recommend getting a portion each. We had the warm plantain cake for dessert that tasted like a lighter sticker toffee pudding. I only wish the portion was bigger, it was gone too quickly My only negative points would be it was cold in the restaurant! I was admittedly in a backless dress so bring a cardigan if you’re planning to dress up. I also found it a little noisy due to the chatter reverberating off of the high ceiling. Other than that, I’ll definitely be back in the future to try the other dishes.

5 months ago · via Google

We had a fantastic dinner at Akara on a Saturday evening. The restaurant was completely full by 7 p.m., so I would strongly recommend booking in advance. Between the two of us, we ordered a wide selection of dishes, including the beef fataya, prawn akara, beef akara, beef kuli kuli yaji with onion, chicken alata, roasted aubergine, Efik rice, steamed rice and cassava chips, along with an ilara and a caipirinha. Everything was full of flavour, but the Efik rice and the beef kuli kuli yaji were the absolute highlights for me. The plantain cake was also amazing and is definitely worth ordering. I would strongly recommend all three. The dishes are served as relatively small plates, so it is worth ordering several to share, especially if you have a good appetite. Although our table was not particularly large, the staff cleared empty plates promptly, so it never felt crowded. They also regularly refilled our water, which was a thoughtful touch. The atmosphere was lovely, with Afrobeats playing in the background at just the right volume. It added to the experience without making it difficult to have a conversation. At one point, a fly briefly landed on my rice and then flew away, which put me off eating the small area where it had landed, but this did not detract significantly from an otherwise excellent meal. Overall, the food was amazing, the service was attentive and the atmosphere was warm and enjoyable. I would definitely return.

a month ago · via Google

Delicious food, full of interesting and well balanced flavours. Everything was cooked excellently and portion sizes were certainly reasonable (when you consider the location of the restaurant and the quality of the food). The sauces were all wonderful and really elevated the dishes. I would particularly recommend the cod fillet moqueca, efik rice and lamb dibi. Service was good- very professional and gave excellent recommendations. Not particularly smiley but I didn't feel that detracted from the experience.

3 months ago · via Google

This was our first time trying African cuisine, and it was a wonderful experience. At first, it was a bit difficult to understand what was in each dish, but the waitress was very kind and happy to explain everything to us. One of the waiters even knew a few phrases in Latvian, which was a lovely and unexpected touch. Since we’re not used to spicy food, almost every dish felt quite spicy—but that’s exactly what we expected from this cuisine. We ordered a variety of appetizers to try as many different flavors as possible, followed by a main course each. Everything was delicious, although a couple of the sauces were incredibly hot and definitely set our lips on fire! Thank you for such a unique and memorable dining experience. Highly recommended!

a month ago · via Google