Jollof House Review- Nigerian VS Ghanaian Jollof Rice?

Last weekend I had the pleasure of visiting Jollof House UK, a brand new takeaway food service based in the heart of Brixton.

I had seen videos of enviable plates from some of my peers and heard great reviews. I knew I would need to visit as soon as possible.

I’m a huge fan of west African food and one of my goals this year is to master some of the delicious dishes that come from many of the continents dominant countries such as Nigeria and Ghana.

I prefer home cooked food that delivers passion with each bite. Paradoxically, I find that a lot of Caribbean and African restaurants lack consistency across the board because of this reason.

Jollof House is owned by chefs Mina and Cynthia who, combined, make a powerhouse of skilled cooking and intense flavours.

The Food.

Jollof House UK serves their dishes based off a multi choice menu where you can choose one or more types of meat that is then served with set sides.

I ensured I tried everything on the menu to give a full review.

First and foremost, the Jollof rice was delicious. I’m not a Jollof expert but I am an expert on flavours. One of the first questions I asked Jollof House UK was: “Is this Nigerian or Ghanaian style?”.

What makes them extremely unique is that their jollof rice is made combining methods from both Nigeria and Ghana, who both proclaim to have the best style of Jollof rice. Made with basmati, it was the perfect combination of spicy and flavourful. In the past I’ve found some versions of this dish to be oily and more heat than actual taste. I would have been happy to eat this by itself which is a great indication of good rice.

Next in my plate was a huge selection of meats.

I was one of the first to try a pilot of their lemon pepper wings and I wasn’t disappointed. The lemon wasn’t overpowering at all. The chicken was crispy on the outside and flavoured well inside. The barbecue chicken was also a great choice. It has a soft smokey barbecue flavour with a hint of sweetness.

I then got the opportunity to try two dishes I’ve never had which is ‘chofi’ and then ‘shaki’. Why did I not discover chofi sooner? For those unfamiliar with it, it is a dish of Ghanaian origin which is made with turkey tails.The meat was succulent and bursting with taste. The shaki was also really tasty. I have heard many funny stories from my Nigerian friends about shaki being tough and splashing into your eye. I don’t have any story to tell you apart from that it tastes wonderful.

I also had bbq ribs which were conveniently sliced to make them easy to eat. The meat slid off the bone and held the flavour well, a sign of great seasoning.

Finally, I got to try their version of jerk pork. I was surprisingly impressed. The pork was very tasty and flavoured well with a hint of sweetness. I have to mention here that I would personally refer to this as sweet and spicy grilled pork as opposed to jerk pork as the distinct jerk flavours that are unique to jerk, were too subtle to define the dish as this in my opinion. It was delicious nonetheless.

Besides the plethora of main dishes there were also complimenting sides.

I love their Ghanaian take on fried plantain which is called kelewele. The plantain was diced and seasoned which was very enjoyable. As well as this, the meal included a side of mac and cheese.

The mac and cheese was subtle and had three different cheeses used throughout. The mac and cheese wasn’t as cheesy and moist as I’d like it but I feel a super cheesy mac and cheese would have been a little too heavy with everything else going on. I also have to add that I like my mac and cheese super cheesy as a personal preference and not everyone does.

Final Thoughts.

I literally ate the whole meal in silence because of how amazing the food was. If you know me well, you’d know that I’m actually a very harsh critic of food so to hear that coming from me is a rare deal.

At £10 for two meat choices and sides of £12 for three and sides, this was great value as the portions were huge.

The meal was delicious, well thought out and even better executed. Minus some minor tweaks to the mac and cheese, this was virtually a flawless meal for me and they have made a loyal customer in me. Despite them being in Brixton, I urge you to visit, even if you don’t live in the area.

It was absolutely worth the journey and I can’t wait to try what else they have on the menu. You can check out their menu and order from them on Twitter or Instagram at @jollof_houseuk.