Latest news with #Chishuru
Irish Times
10-07-2025
- Entertainment
- Irish Times
Chishuru London restaurant review: This is the most exciting food I've eaten in years, and the head chef is Irish
Chishuru Address : 3 Great Titchfield Street, London W1W 8AX Telephone : N/A Cuisine : West African Website : Cost : €€€€ It's not often a tasting menu floors you – but Chishuru has been top of my London list for good reason. Adejoké Bakare made history as the first black female chef in the UK to win a Michelin star , which she got in 2024 – and her head chef is Christine Walsh from Tipperary. Walsh comes with real pedigree, having worked at Enda McEvoy and Sinead Meacle's Loam, Galway's Michelin-starred restaurant that was one of Ireland's most influential until it closed in 2022. She was subsequently the chef behind Éan . Her move to London is typical for Irish chefs keen to build skills – but here there's the thrill of working with spices rarely seen outside west Africa. Chishuru in Fitzrovia is Bakare's first permanent restaurant, built off a Brixton pop‑up she started in 2019. She was born in west Africa – not a generic 'Nigeria' but a region of kingdoms. Her father is Yoruba, her mother Igbo, and she grew up in a Hausa area. Those influences run through her food – Yoruba heat, Igbo spice and Hausa fire‑cooking. You don't need a primer on west African cooking to eat here. Bakare shows you – offering a sharp, modern take on overlapping traditions. The £105 (€123) tasting menu opens with a snack that sets the tone: a delicate tartlet of puréed celeriac, smoke and spice drifting out in a single, tight note. READ MORE Bakare isn't playing at concept. She cooks what she knows: Yoruba, Igbo, Hausa. Photograph: Harriet Langford Nothing looks familiar when it lands. Abàchà – a cassava salad – gives little away at first: shredded dried cassava over plantain ash, pickled daikon and a dressing of ehuru – African or Calabash nutmeg – for a lightly pungent lift. It's all about texture and control – a quiet smoke that doesn't swamp but lingers enough to let you know it's there. Then Ṃóínṃóín – a dish that wrecks your sense of what beans can do. A soft, steamed black‑eyed bean cake sits on a bean milk salsa with anchovy‑red pepper sauce, touched with a gentle funk. On top is a scallop and monkfish boudin blanc – classic technique, clever spice – and then you're hit with toast soaked in beef fat, rich with that aged tang you would normally find under a dry‑aged rib cap. We pass on the £68 wine flight and choose from a list that's short but serious – mostly Jura, Loire and Alsace, low‑intervention, fair prices, good by‑the‑glass options. A lightly chilled Brouilly – Domaine Crêt des Garanches (£47.50, about €56) – does everything you want with all this spice and depth. Chishuru's interior. Photograph: Harriet Langford The pepper soup is another highlight. It's more broth than soup – spiced with uziza peppers and finished with torched line‑caught mackerel. There's a clean heat – restrained but persistent – in a stock built from chicken, beef and fish bones, layered for depth without weight. Vegetables are sliced to near invisibility – radish, apple, maybe squash. It is, perhaps, the most intricate thing on the menu. [ Maneki restaurant review: A showy start gives way to a muddled menu Opens in new window ] Then the main courses; you get a choice, which is rare. We go for both the monkfish (mbongo tchobi) and the hogget (ayamase). The monkfish is poached, served with a blackened tomato and spice sauce that brings slow, earthy depth, balanced by pickled greens and confit plantain. There's heat, but it's measured. Slices of hogget leg and shoulder, pink and yielding, sit on a green pepper and irú stew – thick, savoury, tangled with fermented locust beans, crispy tripe and smoked lamb's tongue, all deepened with fat and a steady heat that grows as you eat. It's an unfiltered expression of technique and place. Dessert is egúsí ice cream – melon seed, usually found in stews – with meringue sponge, caramelised brittle and a soaked blackberry. It's refreshing and textural. The ice cream is subtly nutty, not too sweet, and the brittle has a delightful crack. It's a smart, well-judged finish. Chishuru calls itself 'modern west African', but that barely covers it. Bakare isn't playing at concept. There's no forced nostalgia or claim to purist authenticity. She cooks what she knows – Yoruba, Igbo, Hausa – with discipline learned outside the system, using ingredients hauled from Brixton or Dagenham when the big suppliers fall short. It's personal. This isn't one of those bloated tasting menus that lose the plot halfway through. It's lean, alive and narratively sharp – each plate knowing exactly when to stop. The €45 lunch is a steal – different dishes, same jolt of energy. Dinner is the full tilt; it's refined, original, and brilliantly creative without ever showing off. It's a sharp, precise record of where she comes from and where she's going. A thrill to eat. Dinner for two with a bottle of wine and 12.5 per cent service charge was £289.68 (€339). The verdict: The most exciting food I've eaten in years. Food provenance: Seafood from Bethnal Green Fish Supplies and Fin & Flounder; meat from HG Walter, Billfields and Farmer Tom; and vegetables from Oui Chef, Shrub and Albion. Vegetarian options: Vegetarian tasting menu available. Wheelchair access: Accessible room with no accessible toilet. Music: Afrobeat, Amapiano and Fela Kuti.
Euronews
18-02-2025
- Entertainment
- Euronews
London's African fine dining boom: How restaurants like Akoko and Chishuru are redefining the scene
In recent years, London has experienced a significant rise in the number of African restaurants. Among the standout names is Akoko, one of the few African restaurants in the UK capital to earn a Michelin star, and it's clear why. When I first entered, I was struck by the sophisticated atmosphere—this was not the typical African restaurant I had visited before. It is a place where fine dining meets West African traditions and the result is truly special. The founder, Aji Akokomi, envisioned a space where African cuisine could stand shoulder-to-shoulder with the world's best, and he's easily succeeded with his vision. 'I've been to Chinese, French, Indian, and countless other fine dining establishments, but I couldn't find an African restaurant that felt on par with the others. That's when I decided it was time to create something different,' Akokomi explained. Akoko, which means 'time' in Nigeria's Yoruba language, represents the moment to bring exceptional West African cuisine to the heart of London. The restaurant's menu is a blend of tradition and innovation, where African ingredients and time-honoured techniques are elevated with modern, Michelin-worthy finesse. From the delicate balance of spices to the unexpected textures in each dish, Akoko offers a dining experience like no other. The high-quality ingredients and the precision with which they're prepared set Akoko apart from anything I've encountered in African cuisine before. One dish stood out; a beautifully prepared beef served with uniquely cooked vegetables. The vegetables perfectly complemented the juicy richness of the beef. And, of course, the jollof rice—it wasn't just a side dish, but the heart of the meal. Spicy, aromatic, and bursting with deep, complex flavours with a crunchy twist. It's a dish that showcases just how bold and intricate African food can be when approached with creativity and respect for its roots. But Akoko isn't the only place where African cuisine is shining in London. Restaurants like Chishuru are also at the forefront of this movement. Chishuru was awarded a Michelin star in 2024 and its chef Adejoke Bakare was the UK's first female African chef to be awarded this. When I visited Chishuru which in Hausa means 'to eat silently,' I had the chance to speak with a waitress from Cameroon, who shared her perspective on the increasing trend of African food in the city. 'I'm from Cameroon, so I recognise a lot of the ingredients and flavours here. For those familiar with African cuisine, it's a comforting experience. But for newcomers, it's a chance to explore something completely new; exciting and fresh flavours they may not have experienced before,' she explained. It is exactly that mix of familiarity and discovery that makes African cuisine so exciting to experience in London right now. Back at Akoko, another memorable part of my meal was a unique course from the taster menu: Cashew crème on a plantain bellini, topped with caviar. It was a perfect example of the creativity that defines Akoko's approach, blending traditional African techniques with fine dining. I wasn't sure how the combination would work, but the creamy cashew cream paired with the sweet plantain bellini, balanced perfectly with the salty, briny taste of the caviar. It was refreshing and unexpected, showing just how far African chefs are willing to go in terms of creativity while staying true to their culinary traditions. It's not just about food; African cuisine in London is becoming a cultural movement. Aji Akokomi's success with Akoko is part of a larger trend in which chefs are making African food not only accessible but also refined, placing it alongside some of the best fine dining options in the city. 'We're seeing more West African restaurants open, and it's wonderful to see them thriving,' he says. 'The success of places like Akoko proves that the interest in African food is only going to grow.' As African flavours continue to make their mark, I can't help but feel that the culinary scene in London is richer and more vibrant for it. Whether through a refined, Michelin-starred experience at Akoko or Chishuru or a more casual yet equally exciting dish at Enish or Chuku which are Nigerian restaurants also based in London, African cuisine in the capital is here to stay, and there's no shortage of excitement around this evolving food culture.
