By SHAMLAL PURI

Bored with their own cuisine, the British are rapidly turning to culinary delights from the developing world, including Africa, writes SHAMLAL PURI

Fancy eating irio, githeri, sukuma wiki, ugali, nyama choma, matumbo or kienyeji in London?

You do not have to take an expensive flight to Nairobi. Just head for the Thatched House pub and Kenyan restaurant in Barking, East London, where Paul Njoroge and his team will tempt you with tantalising aromas and a blend of unique flavours.

Close by is the Club Ambassador, an entertainment venue with a Kenyan touch. It is gaining popularity among young Kenyan, Ugandan and Tanzanian Londoners who love their nyama choma and matumbo downed with a cold Tusker.

Across the city, in the vicinity of the world famous Wembley Stadium, is the Le’Ro Lounge Bar, a popular venue for grilled fish, nyama choma and ugali with kachumbari.

New delicacies

There are around five restaurants serving Kenyan cuisine in London. And it is not just Kenyans who frequent them; the British are also discovering African delicacies.

Britain is a nation of takeaway foods, and the average Londoner spends £222 (about Sh28,675) a month on ready-made food.

When many Britons are asked their favourite place to have a meal, they name a Chinese or an Indian restaurant as easily as their local fish and chips shop. African food has yet to join the top league, but it has a following among members of the African communities living in the UK and a growing number of Britons.

Office worker Paul Baxter says, “After working the late shift, it takes a lot of effort to prepare a meal when I get home. On my way home, I pass by this African restaurant and pick up a takeaway, and it tastes really good.”

The only major African food outlet here is Nandos, with 255 restaurants in the UK — 65 of those in London. It is a South African-owned chain with a menu originating from the Mozambican-Portuguese community.

However, the UK is also home to more than 1,500 smaller African restaurants offering finger-licking, authentic dishes from all over the continent. Apart from Kenyan restaurants there are many offering Ugandan cuisine, and there is a Zambian restaurant called Fredor in East London.

In addition, some Kenyan Asians have established restaurants offering menus with an Indo-Kenyan fusion.

From London to Manchester, Wirral to Glasgow, these culinary delights are exciting the taste buds of Britons in search of exquisite blends of unique African spices, meats and staples. As this food gains popularity, it is helping to develop a positive image of the continent.

In the 1970s, African food was served at the Calabash Restaurant at the Africa Centre in Central London, but it closed down. However, a new African restaurant opened at the centre two weeks ago§. The African Tapas by Waakye Leaf, which specialises in West African food, offers freshly brewed African coffee, teas, nibbles and tapas.

There are an estimated 100 African eateries in London and its outer suburbs. The most popular serve cuisines from North Africa, Nigeria, Ghana, Ethiopia and Somalia.

Africa is renowned for its hospitality but some of the smaller restaurants offer great food alongside poor service and have rude staff, judging by comments from their customers. These give a bad impression of the continent.

Joseph Gatonye is definitely not in this category. This chef has worked with five star hotels including The Hilton and Four Seasons. He promotes East African food on the BBC and runs Joe Catering Services, offering outside catering to Kenyans in the UK. 

“I enjoy cooking authentic Kenyan food and sharing it with people from different backgrounds because of its delicious old flavours,” he says.

However, he admits that starting an African restaurant in London is not easy.

UPHILL TASK

“You have to find a good location, and running costs are high because of the bills, wages and overheads. The other challenge is where to find some of the East African products, which are usually expensive because they are imported. You also have to ensure consistency and customer satisfaction.”

Finding the money to get a new business off the ground is also an uphill task. In the early years, banks turned down loan applications from potential African restaurateurs, citing their projects as ‘risky’. Now, some banks are willing to offer bridging loans, provided the investors have their own funds.

Most African restaurants in Britain employ African staff, and the cooking is mainly done by the owners or their family members because good chefs specialised in this cuisine are hard to find.

It is every African restaurateur’s dream to see their continent’s cuisine being recognised abroad, but they have to offer top-notch food and service to succeed in cosmopolitan cities like London.

Gatonye says it is important to market through advertising and social media. This is lacking among the small players.

Kenyan restaurants have a long way to go before they become a household name here. They need to form a professional association with other African restaurateurs, improve the quality of their eateries and work in a unified way. This way, one day, African cuisine will join those in the top league of foreign cuisines in London.