Afrobeat Kitchen – 1165 Bloor St W, Toronto, ON M6H 1M9
Country: Nigeria & West Africa
Must-try dish: Party Jollof
Dinner guests: Happy Hil, Pornstar Sam & Suited Sebastien
Seating: It’s a pop-up restaurant located in the back of a coffee shop. They have a few street tables, walk-ins only
The high: With the limited West African cuisine in the city, Afrobeat Kitchen brings a delicious flair to the region’s recipes in Toronto.
The low: The full dining experience cannot be enjoyed with a pop-up style restaurant. 

Afrobeat Kitchen is one of Toronto’s hottest new West African pop-up restaurants that operates out of the back of Caravan Cafe & Tea House on Bloor Street West. Afrobeat’s Chef and Owner is Nigerian born and his cooking is inspired from his home country. We ordered pretty much everything on the menu and enjoyed all of the dishes. 

• Party Jollof: Probably one of the more prominent dishes to come out of West Africa. Although many countries in the region dispute as to who makes it the best, all we have to say is that Afrobeat’s version is amazing. This dish is a celebration of spicy, smoky paella-style rice that’s slow cooked in a sofrito reduction with lemongrass, star anise and smoked crayfish. It’s served with tribe slaw, fried plantains and a protein – chicken was the meat of choice for the evening. 
• Fisherman Rice: The land and the sea collide in this coconut rice. There’s a generous amount of shrimp, plantain, chicken, smoked fish and scent leaf basil. The flavours are not overpowering, but you can add a kick with the hot sauce provided by the restaurant. 
• Buca Beef: This is a classic dish from a “buka”,  which is a restaurant serving the best Nigerian street food. These tender beef cheeks are braised in fiery tomatoes, peppers and accompanied with a boiled egg. This dish is served with fried plantains and coconut rice. The meat melts in your mouth and was one of the highlights of the nightl. 
• Ajebutter Garlic Butter Shrimp: Spicy garlic saffron shrimp brushed with ata dindin pepper sauce; served over thyme & ginger coconut rice, and refreshing tribe slaw.
• Egusi and Greens with pounded Yam (Fufu): Boneless chicken & mixed seasonal greens in a flavour packed egusi melon seed and palm oil based sauce. It’s filled with spicy scotch bonnet chili, salted stock fish, and smoked crayfish and is served traditionally with pounded yam, also known as Fufu. This was Andrea and Sam’s favourite dish of the night. Pornstar Sam mostly likes the tradition of reaching into the fufu with his hands to collect a generous portion.
• Mafe Stew: This is a rich peanut & miso-based stew with young jackfruit, eggplant and chickpeas, served with coconut rice. This is a perfect example of a vegetarian dish in which the lack of meat is not missed.
• yaaji CAULI-mari: The name seems to be a play on calamari, with a substitution of the squid with cauliflower. Although it’s missing that fishy taste, the caulimari is fried and tossed  in spicy yaaji (ginger peanut BBQ mix) and drizzled with peanut sauce.
• Kelewele Tostones: Twice cooked smashed plantain cooked with thyme and spices served with their spicy money mayo. This appetizer was an easy win before we even had a chance to take the first bite, who doesn’t love plantains? We could probably have ordered extras as fried plantains are always a hit.

You can order your food for pickup or delivery on their website which links you to their Ritual ordering platform. However, if you are like us, send them a message on Instagram to place your order ahead of time. This West African pop-up is a great introduction to Nigerian cuisine and should top your list of places to eat dinner in the coming weeks. Keep an eye out of their hours of operation as they are only open Thursday to Sunday.

Eat with you soon,

Mandrea Bike
(Mat & Andrea)