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African Emporium

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Liam Hetherington
Liam Hetherington
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4 out of 5
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24) African Emporium - Bienvenue en Afrique Ouest

24) African Emporium - Bienvenue en Afrique Ouest

Côte d'Ivoire - 05/05/09

Downstairs at African Emporium there’s a whole lot of flavour going on.

Frankly, this place is a real find. Just off Piccadilly, by the Roadhouse venue, there is a flight of stairs leading down into what actually is an African emporium – a shop selling African staples and specialities. What Nimba, the Ivorian owner, has now done, however, is to set aside part of the shop to prepare and serve the sort of foods he sells. Not a large part admittedly – a small kitchen area, a preparation spot, and no more than three tables. But if you fancy a walk into the unknown and discovering some great West African grub, then I’d really recommend trying to grab one of those three tables.

I didn’t know what to expect of African food, but the cook swiftly assuaged any fears and talked Paul and me through the dishes they had to offer that day. The food comes from all across the continent, from the Volta to the Niger to the Congo. Knowing that the proprieter came from Côte d'Ivoire I went for an Ivorian dish – attiéké.

Attiéké is apparantly a staple food in the Ivory Coast. What I received was a massive plate of couscous. But this was tapioca couscous, not semolina couscous: it was made from grated cassava rather than durum wheat. This by itself was fairly bland, but I was provided with three further dishes for me to eat it with. The first was a fried fish. The fish (a yellow croaker, since you ask) was possibly slightly over cooked, and had very sharp spiky bones, but had meaty and flavourful flesh. The second was a large bowl of a simple tomato and red onion salad. This came in a very tasty dressing, the ingredients of which I couldn’t make out. And so I asked the cook what was in it. The answer? Oil (which was obvious), and… a Maggi stock cube! But hey! It tasted really good. There was also a freshly chopped chilli, but she had provided this separately for me to add according to taste. For this I was very grateful because it was an extremely hot chilli. The third bowl was a tomato sauce. Actually, it was more of a thick tomato soup – again with a little bit of fire in there somewhere.

All these three dishes were very nice, but the tastes didn’t really gel with each other. Adding the tomato sauce to either the salad or the fish would have overpowered the flavours. What I did was eat the fish with the cassava couscous, then ate the salad with the couscous, then finally ate the tomato sauce with it. And then I was quite full after eating all of that. The cost? A mere £6.50. What value! Add an additional 69p for a drink (a choice of canned or bottled pop – I went for a lychee Rubicon, which was actually a lot better than I thought it would be).

Paul had ordered jollof rice, fried West African rice mixed up with onion, tomato & pepper. Slices of fried plantain came on the side (an odd taste – too much like banana for our western palates to accept being part of a main course). He was also provided with a bowl of curried goat. Again, not dissimilar to lamb. All this cost him £5.50.

African Emporium is authentic and unfussy. The food they serve is tasty and filling. When you realise just how little you have paid for a full table of grub, well, that’s just the icing on the cake. This is a brill little place, and I’m just happy that I got before the crowds find it!

From journal Around the World in 80 Meals! (part 3)

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