The bus was the most popular form of transportation throughout Nigeria until the mid-1990s. Taking me to the back of the restaurant, Mashood proudly shows me a yellow bus, much like a minivan. (Not sure what effect it would have on me, a slight woman.) If it’s late enough, and if you are so inspired, you may want to try the African viagra, which is a combination of bitter herbs and gin. Made in-house, it is refreshing and does not interfere with the delectable flavors of the food. I love the fresh ginger juice, which is made with honey and ice. Also popular is the panla, a dried codfish dish served with fufu and your choice of sauce. The palava is a green leaf “draw soup” the gbegiri is a honey bean stew, originating in the northern part of Nigeria. Made with cornmeal fufu, it is served with palava and gbegiri sauces. I also had the efo, finely shredded spinach with sautéed onions and dried fish. Breaking off a piece, I dipped it in the egusi. It is the perfect accompaniment to all the delectable sauces. Fufu, a staple in Nigeria, is made with fresh white yams, and has the consistency of firm mashed potatoes. A colorful orange and green dish, the egusi is warm, lightly spiced and delicious. Understandable!) The rice is divine.įufu is served with goat and egusi, a delectable sauce made with ground melon seeds, spinach and dried fish. (Since there is a lot of competition among Nigerian chefs for the best jollof, Lookman declined to tell me exactly what blend of spices he uses. The jollof rice, a West African rice pilau, is a tomato-based dish made with butter, onions, pepper and secret spices. The spiced meat was delectable and grilled to perfection. I dipped the meat in a special blend of dried spices that were served on the side. Suya at Buka New York.įor appetizers, I sampled the suya, thinly sliced beef dusted with peanut, ginger, suya (a Nigerian spice), and herbs. Inspired by his successes, he opened up his own restaurant, Buka, on Fulton Street in the Clinton Hill section of Brooklyn.
“I pride myself on being traditional,” he tells me, in regards to his Nigerian cuisine. His cooking was so good that more and more people started showing up for his food. A self-taught chef and an admitted foodie like myself, he started working at small eateries in New York. (Very Brooklyn.)Ī bit tired from fasting during Ramadan, he nevertheless had energy to discuss his experiences with food, both in Nigeria and here in the United States. Outgoing and friendly, Mashood, owner of Buka, a Nigerian restaurant, is a handsome, bespectacled man with a salt-and-pepper beard, sporting a hipster-style thin-brimmed straw hat. "I wanted to experience things from the source,” he told me one afternoon. They also have hookah.Lookman Mashood went traveling throughout the southern states of Nigeria, searching for authentically prepared food. Oh and last but not least, they have another pretty big space aside from the dining room which I believe doubles up as a lounge with music/dancing on certain nights. So I would definitely only come here if you have time to waste or the wait may actually ruin ur visit. I saw the other patrons who came to pick up a large and she was there for at least 30 minutes. I believe you can call in your order and come pick it up. Definitely come here to eat delicious nigerian food, but don’t come if you’re in a rush. But she ended up bringing a small side of efo riro so I deducted. I thought this was pretty odd since it wasn’t like I was changing my order, but correcting it. And when I told her, she said once the dish has been brought out, it can’t go back. Secondly, 2 of us actually ordered the egusi and efo riro (spinach stew) mix… she brought both of us just egusi stew. For this extended wait, I had to deduct 1 star. But she acknowledged us with a big smile and «I’m sorry! I’ll be right with you!» everytime she passed our table. Because she was so busy, it took a while for her to come clean the table, then a while to bring the menus, then even longer to take the orders. We immediately sat down at the first table we saw which still had remnants from the previous guests.
Service was slow because there was only one woman who tripled up as the hostess, waitress and busboy and there were about 5 full tables so she was extremely busy. Like most international food restaurants, this place is family run. I ordered the egusi stew with assorted meats and pounded yam and it was perfection. In my head, if i was to peek in the back, there would be there’s a gang of village women in the kitchen throwing down wearing nothing but Rapa (wrappers) and cooking all sorts of delicious things. When you taste the food, you can tell it was made with love.
Being from Nigeria, I’m very familiar with how the food should taste.