London’s best African restaurants

Joké Bakare's much-loved independent West African restaurant's set menu gives you the perfect collision of sweet, salty and peppery heat. This is prestige comfort food spanning Igbo, Hausa and Yoruba cuisines and the cosy, two story site offers up the overall feeling that you may have returned to the womb. 

Pulling largely from the cuisines of Nigeria, Ghana and Senegal, Akoko offers a ten-course tasting menu, which in the absence of à la carte is the only thing on offer, with vegetarian and vegan options. It might run to a lofty £120, but fiddly and teensy Michelin-star food this isn’t. At the end of this culinary voyage, you’ll be pleasantly stuffed with witty, inventive food, including chef Ayo Adeyemi's take on Ghanaian bofrot doughnuts, yam croquettes, lobster claw and scotch-bonnet pepper soup, and jollof rice. 

Diners come to the Old Kent Road's iconic 805 to eat Nigerian-sized portions of cowfoot, spiced chicken gizzards, fish pepper soup, jollof rice and peppered snails. Tilapia with fried plantain, grilled chicken with couscous and salad, and tiger prawns in a chilli and garlic sauce also feature. There's another branch in Hendon as well as Hyde Park, and more in Abuja, Nigeria and Accra, Ghana, should you really get the taste for it.  

An elegant outpost of Eritrean cuisine on traffic-clogged Brixton Road, Adulis has been serving since 1996. Artefacts, musical instruments and images of folk heroes adorn the place, while the menu majors on stews served with ubiquitous injera bread. Finish in style with traditional honey wine.

'The world's first Nigerian tapas restaurant', Chuku's first bricks and mortar site in Tottenham follows successful pop-ups in the capital and a crowdfunder campaign which bagged more than £30,000 in 30 days – even Beyonce has given them dosh. Run by brother-and-sister duo Emeka and Ifeyinwa, expect London-inspired twists on classic Nigerian dishes, from jollof quinoa to plantain waffles. 

Hollowayites can get stuck into injera in this unassuming spot, where the Mesi combo for two is a plate of serious joy for £31.45, featuring all of the very best from the menu such as yebeg wot, gomen and zilzil tibs. Fantastic.

A hip, two star Michelin fine-dining restaurant now based at the equally hip 180 Strand which deals largelt in Nigerian jollof cuisine, using it as a jumping-off point for cooking that transforms sub-Saharan West African food into boundary-pushing hyper gastronomy. You'll pay for it though, with the tasting menu a whopping £300 per head. 

Destination neighbourhood dining in Peckham – that’s the schtick at Kudu, a good-looking restaurant specialising in South African-inspired small plates. It may be named after a species of antelope, but don’t come here expecting exotic decor: instead, the dining room has the vibe of a sleek, vintage lounge bar, while the kitchen shows its rainbow nation allegiances with several dishes arriving in traditional cast-iron skillets (as in the old country).

A local landmark, the Queen of Sheba offers up authentic, delicious and dramatically portioned Ethiopian platters. If you're on your own, then the one-person veggie selection of misir we't (red lenti stew), atkelt we't (sauteed cabbage with potato and carrot) and kik alich'a (split pea stew) should be plently, but any more of you, then it's time for the Queens Special Vegetarian Platter for two to three. For £35 you'll find extra dishes of shiro we't (roasted chickpeas), gomen (spinach), fosolia (green beans) and the house Sheba salad. There are also chicken, lamb and fish dishes versions available. 

Dining at Le Chamerel, the self proclaimed 'top Mauritian styled bistro' in north London, is a vital chance to experience an under-explored cuisine. The family-owned restaurant uses in-house recipes going back decades. Don't miss the range of biryanis and mine frites, a Mauritian-Chinese fusion dish of fried noodles with veg, cooked in a soya sauce.

By day, Adams Café is a redoubtable greasy spoon with a menu to match; by night, it morphs into a cosy North African bistro with exotic Moroccan and Tunisian flavours taking centre stage. Mix ’n’ match from a great-value menu that moves from crisp little savoury pastries to tagines, couscous and grills. Complimentary appetisers and optional BYOB add to the feel-good vibe.

An exceptionally pretty and homely little spot that aims to demystify the little-known delights of Algerian cuisine, Khamsa is a labour of love for its owners. The interior looks gorgeous (think colourful pillows, hanging drapes and handmade crockery) and the kitchen generally makes a good fist of things – we particularly liked the marvellous meze selection. It's unlicensed, but you can BYO (£2 corkage).

It’s tough finding tagine for under a tenner in London, but this Moroccan caff regularly comes up trumps. Our fish tagine was spot-on, likewise a succulent couscous royale. Finish with pastries and a cup of mint tea poured from a beautiful brass pot.

A mosob is a handwoven table around which Eritreans gather to eat – the owners of this namesake restaurant are keen to promote every aspect of their homeland. Spicy stews are the headline acts, with an impressive choice for veggies and vegans, plus the obligatory injera bread for scooping. 

Billed as serving a fusion of Algerian and French cuisine, this Crystal Palace bistro is a cool family-run outfit festooned with mismatched furniture and massive mirrors on colourful walls. Starters of harira soup, merguez sausages and halloumi salad give way to couscous, tagines, grills and a whole host of delicious North African dishes. 

Opened by South African owners in 2003, this sprawling venue is dedicated to Cape wines but also offers a full international menu with some noticeable rainbow nation overtones. A vast walk-in cheese room and champagne fridges tell their own story, while the blackboard menu runs from artisan charcuterie to biltong-crusted kangaroo steaks.

The scent of frankincense and the aroma of roasting coffee beans hit you as you walk into this charming Ethiopian restaurant, where flavoursome stews, curries and house specials will impress vegans as much as meat-eaters. 

If you’re looking for quality Nigerian food in London, Enish is a brilliant bet, with branches across the city including in Lewisham, Brixton, Camberwell. Enjoy some of London’s best jollof rice alongside other staples of Nigerian cuisine such as Asun (spicy roast goat) and a variety of suya (meat skewers). For vegetarians there's jollof with beans, and plantain, as well as yam and okra.

Just a short walk from Arsenal's Emirates stadium lies Wolkite, one of London's premier Ethiopian restaurants, known for its doro wot - a spicy chicken stew - and kitfo; a raw beef dish made with luxurious spices. Established in 2011, Wolkite serves a wide range of dishes and has extensive options for vegetarians and vegans, including shiro wot chickpea stew and gomen collard greens.