African Kitchen Gallery

This is a very small and very cute restaurant to have a great time with close friends, offering a very intimate atmosphere with about 5 tables and being completely unpretentious.

The host is very knowledgeable and gives good tips what to eat - Savannah Chicken is becoming one of my favorites already! All the food has been very tasty and displayed a lot of flavour. Overall a great meal, excellent value for money and a pleasant atmosphere.

I have to warn however that this restaurant is not necessarily good for first dates, business dinners etc. - it can be better described as an extended take away with a fridge filled with juice and beer next to one and the "kitchen" directly in the same room. Mind that most of the food is ready made and will just be heated up.

Therefore a strong recommendation and the excellent score based on quality of food, friendliness of the host and value for money - all outstanding.

A nice touch: The "Gallery" in the name hints to all the African masks, sticks etc. which are on display in the whole room and can be bought for reasonable prices.
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Christoph - View all reviews by this user
9 Overall rating
Food 9 | Service 10 | Atmosphere 7 | Value for money 10
Sunday, December 27, 2009

I visited the African Kitchen Gallery with my boyfriend on Monday 12th December. This is my review.

This restaurant is a true hidden gem. With just a few tables and one other couple dining, we were made to feel immediatley welcome. What I found wonderful about this intimate little place, was the hospitality and genuine care and consideration shown by our waiter, who was also the owner and cook for the evening, Antonio. The atmosphere was so relaxed and welcoming, it was almost as if we'd been invited into Antonio's own home. And the food instantly matched the atmosphere. Homely and comforting - and extremely tasty!

After taking our coats, bringing our menus and serving the smooth and sweet Nigerian beer we had ordered, it was then time for our food order to be taken. As an African food virgin, I asked Antonio to bring us his own recommendations and after discussing the types of food we usually enjoyed, he recommended the fish and lamb dishes. The food was brought to the table promtly in serving dishes accompanied by rice and beans, in order that we could share the food between us. Antonio kindly removed the bones from the fish for us, before wishing us an enjoyable meal... and boy was it enjoyable! The rice and beans were a lovely accompaniment with aromatic flavours and sprinkled with cinnamon, they were sweet, but not overpowering. The fish was cooked to perfection, soft and light and full of flavour - just be weary of the extra bones. The sauce and the beans worked extremely well with the dish, powerful in taste yet not too rich or heavy on the stomach. And last, but certainly not least, the lamb. Oh the lamb! Cooked in a delicious savoury-sweet sauce with soft red and green peppers, the meat fell from the bone and melted in my mouth and I couldn't help but groan with delight! It was truly scrumptious and I would have eaten a bucket load of this dish if my body would allow it!

Once we had eaten every scrap of the main courses, we then ordered a dessert - but only one as we were already pretty full! We chose the banana flan and Antonio brought us two spoons, so we could share it. The taste was quite unusual. It had an almost smoky flavour, which hit me straight away, with the lovely banana flavour coming through and was served with a deliciously sweet treacle sauce.

Throughout the meal Antonio made sure we were happy and enjoying ourselves. When we had finished and asked for the bill, he brought us some wonderful mango and coconut balls, with cinnamon to roll them in if we so desired. I thought this was a really nice touch and finished off the whole culinary experience very well.

I would definitely say this was one of the nicest meals I've eaten in a long time and with a total bill of only £33, you couldn't possibly ask for more. An incredible place, with delectable food and impeccable service. 10/10
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Catherine Bebbington
10 Overall rating
Food 10 | Service 10 | Atmosphere 10 | Value for money 10
Wednesday, October 14, 2009

I ate here on two separate occasions a few months ago when I was on a weekend vacation. Both times, the meals were fantastic and the staff were truly exceptional. The second time I ate here, I was the only person in the restaurant, and one of the owners sat chatting with me for hours and gave me extra portions of his fruit/coconut dessert (which is delicious) and wine for free. Outstanding service!

They have a great range of African dishes; the various stews and savannah chicken were particular favorites. They also serve excellent home-made ginger beer, and they sell Star Beer from Nigeria, which is good as well. Although the dishes are pre-made, they tasted very fresh and I probably wouldn't have realized this fact if not for the intimate environment where I could see into the kitchen.

The atmosphere is truly unique; there is art everywhere and it's all for sale; they sell it on behalf of African artists, or so the owner told me anyway. It's very good quality and the prices are reasonable -- I bought a marble hippo for my girlfriend, made in Kenya (possibly), which was a nice and quite different kind of souvenir.

I think a restaurant like this needs to be supported as much as possible. It's rare to find such a unique place, with such character and warmth, not to mention great food. I'm planning a trip back to London in a few weeks, and the top item on my list is to go for another meal here.
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Ryan
10 Overall rating
Food 9 | Service 10 | Atmosphere 10 | Value for money 10
Saturday, October 03, 2009

A group of us ate at the African Kitchen on Friday night. We had a wonderful time relaxing time. The african artwork is interesting and some things are amazing - including the hand carved elephants in the window.

I've never had african food before and it was so much better than I was expecting. The guys that run the place are friendly and fabulous.

Truly a gem in London.
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Nanuanu
10 Overall rating
Food 10 | Service 10 | Atmosphere 10 | Value for money 10
Tuesday, August 18, 2009

Serendipity is indeed a wonderful thing when you come across a gem like this. Having never eaten 'African' before i was taken by the amazing flavours of the food throughout my three courses and the homemade ginger 'beer'. Everything about this restaurant is spot on including the very modest bill. I'm looking forward to taking friends there next time. Wow.
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Mark Hardcastle
10 Overall rating
Food 10 | Service 10 | Atmosphere 10 | Value for money 10
Sunday, July 05, 2009

I've been to the African Kitchen twice now, on two separate visits to London, and am consistently impressed with not only the food, but also the service and hospitality of the proprietor. My partner and I just had a wonderful dinner of oxtail stew and a special spicy (without being numbingly hot) chickpea dish and the moyin moyin was excellent as well. The food is just a welcome change from the all too easy rut, but it's really the amiable host and his comrade who make this place such a joy. They both really made us feel welcome during a long bout of traveling. I should also note that our great dinner here was hands-down the most reasonably priced of our trip.
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Ryan Netzley
10 Overall rating
Food 10 | Service 10 | Atmosphere 10 | Value for money 10
Thursday, July 02, 2009

Now this is exactly one of these restaurants that make London such a nice place to live: you almost stumble upon it by accident (not some fancy website that is right in your face or top rankings in ‘google’, and seemingly been given more attention than the food), and when you get there it’s really a great and refreshing dining experience, at great value for money.

It’s a small restaurant and the owners have managed to make that work in its favour. It is decorated with not-presumptuous African art (as the name suggest), giving it a bit of a home-like atmosphere and a lot of character.

The restaurant is run by just a few people who genuinely seem to love what they’re doing and love their food. Very attentive and very much welcoming a chat, the owner was more than happy to advise us on the menu, how it was made and what the ingredients were. The food all seems to be made from very fresh ingredients, making it very tasteful, and therefore low on salt and spices that are otherwise necessary to unlock flavours (however you can of course get it as salty and spicy as you like).

I had the curry goat which was very rich in flavour and tasted great - my girlfriend had the Savannah Chicken which was unusually soft of flavour, mouth-watering tender and I was already looking forward to her not being able to finish the very generous portions they serve on her own…

Looking for something critical to give this review some credibility, I struggle to come up with something…

Great authentic food, very pleasant atmosphere and amazingly friendly owners – now just hope that people won’t take too much count by this review and I’ll still manage to get one of the tables next time I visit it!
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Rob
9 Overall rating
Food 9 | Service 9 | Atmosphere 9 | Value for money 9
Saturday, May 09, 2009

I would definitely agree with the above reviewer. It's a very small restaurant and that plays in its favour, as the services is so good, and it has an intimate atmosphere as a result. The decor is really interesting and different - as its name suggests, its an art gallery as well as a restaurant.

I had chicken with coconut, and it was different from anything i'd tasted before, interesting and delicious actually! The starters and appetisers were excellent - again unusual.

It's hard to even have one bad word to say about the place... very good value, excellent service from two guys who seem genuinely interested, and above all very interesting and good food.
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max
9 Overall rating
Food 9 | Service 9 | Atmosphere 9 | Value for money 9
Tuesday, March 31, 2009

Delightful, truly delightful place! It's tiny, yet very cozy. Service is impeccable: we asked for advice on the menu, and the owner took the time to describe every dish and to answer all of our questions. We ate there a few times, and were always impressed with the flavors and the originality of every dish. Not only we would recommend it to our best friend, we would also go out of our way to go back there ourselves!!
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9 Overall rating
Food 9 | Service 10 | Atmosphere 9 | Value for money 9
Sunday, March 22, 2009

Ate there last night; I was v embarrassed to have booked such a bad place for my friends. I'd booked in advance but they didn't seem to remember my booking; food was greasy and microwaved. Stay away from there at all costs!
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HappyEater
1 Overall rating
Food 0 | Service 2 | Atmosphere 1 | Value for money 0
Saturday, March 21, 2009