akan afrofusion Restaurant — Restaurant in Hamburg

Can I be honest? I’m delighted there is a West African restaurant in Hamburg. There should be more in such a big city, I hope this is the first of many more. The restaurant was much nicer than I thought. There is free parking in the area and train stations in the area. When we were walking up we saw three groups looking for the spot which was a good sign. When we got to the door there were three couples in front of us. The person greeting us seemed overwhelmed. We had a reservation and I looked after being in line for 5 minutes and not being seated and I could see a number of tables empty that could be reserved for us. Despite all that we were waiting in line with no explanation. A simple, greeting and we will seat you shortly would have been enough. I eat out all the time and have created a few customer facing businesses. I don’t like to wait and feel isolated. If you just engage with your customer and explain the situation. Maybe it’s a busy day. Maybe you’re shortstaffed. Maybe you’re new. Maybe your table is being wiped down whatever the case may be. You shouldn’t have people at the front of your business looking at each other wondering what’s going on.

My opinion is maybe the restaurant is failing you or sometimes people leave as in waiters and waitresses and you get a bunch of younger new staff who are nervous and you so it can happen. The pressure is on in the food business and I understand that so it’s not a dealbreaker as I said I’ve heard positive things and hamburger is not an easy place to open a restaurant especially a restaurant that isn’t something like Italian or French food.

We sat down at our table and everyone around us were looks like to be local jams. They look happy. They looked well fed and relaxed. The general atmosphere was upbeat and positive.

I could tell they were shortstaffed at that moment in time and I get it at this point in the economy. It’s difficult to hire people who are dedicated reliable and will be staff in gastronomy but it took too long for me to get a menu and for someone to take our drinks. I didn’t notice as someone who has worked in hospitality that persistent of who would be responsible for what table wasn’t working seemed a bit chaotic and I’m sure that will change by the next time we come to this restaurant but one person sat down a different person took our drinks. A different person gave us a menu and a different person took our food order. A different person cleared our table and a different person asked for our d desert.

So once again, I really love African food especially West African food and I was looking forward to seeing the menu to try a number of things now for me personally as someone who has Caribbean and West African roots I was expecting more but for your typical German or European person, I’m sure the menu was fine, but I wanted more authenticity and more options at the time there was only one starter And in the main section there were a number of West African inspired burgers and West African inspired Italian wraps or European style wraps. I went for a rice dish with a side of meat and I feel the food was okay. The restaurant is very clean. The kitchen staff I mean the cooks looked very busy and happy. The kitchen is impressive but my food I was expecting more the rice for me didn’t feel as fluffy and fresh as it often does in West African restaurants it wasn’t bad. It was an old rice But I was expecting better and if I’m honest for the price I expected more meat if I would guess I would say my plate was 85 or 90% rice 5% vegetable and the rest meet maybe something like that and I get it times are hard but I can make this meal at home quite well so when I go out and take a group of five people it’s an event and that’s what going out to eat as it should be an event again. I get it is expensive for restaurants but the pricing has to be right. I have no problem paying €20 for €25 for a Main, but I don’t want to feel cheated whether I have African food Asian food or European food.

I will come back...

Dear Sir or Madam,

I wish to express my profound disappointment and indignation following my recent visit to your establishment. As a resident of New York, owner of ten restaurants across the United States and two hotels in Europe and the USA, and fluent in seven languages, I have always valued and respected the rich diversity of culinary traditions and cultures.

Regrettably, this respect was not reciprocated during my visit. The Ghanaian chef, who is expected to uphold professional standards, took it upon himself to judge me based on my attire and the fact that I spoke French, showing blatant disdain towards both myself and my wife. Such arrogant and disrespectful behavior is utterly disgraceful, not only for your restaurant but also for the culinary profession as a whole. In none of my establishments have I ever tolerated such a lack of decorum, even under the most trying circumstances.

I urge you to seriously reconsider the professionalism of this chef, as his conduct severely damages your restaurant’s reputation and fundamentally undermines the very spirit of African cuisine, which should embody hospitality and cultural exchange.

Fortunately, two young members of your staff demonstrated true professionalism, warmth, and hospitality, which clearly highlights that the issue is isolated to the chef alone rather than your entire team.

I strongly recommend that immediate measures be taken to ensure such unacceptable behavior is never repeated. Failure to do so will undoubtedly reflect a complete absence of professionalism that your establishment projects to...

Kurzfassung: Tolle Location mit Wasserblick, interessantes afrikanisch-europäisches Fusionskonzept - aber leider noch nicht zu Ende gedacht. Solide Küche trifft auf unerfahrenen Service und unklares Restaurantprofil. Hat Potenzial, braucht aber dringend Nachschärfung in Service und Konzeptklarheit.

Langfassung: Wir waren gespannt auf dieses neue afrikanisch-europäische Fusionsrestaurant in der HafenCity. Das Fazit nach unserem Besuch zu fünft: viel Potenzial, aber noch deutlicher Entwicklungsbedarf.

Das Positive zuerst: Die Location ist wirklich beeindruckend - moderne Einrichtung mit großer Fensterfront und schönem Blick aufs Wasser. Respekt auch für den Mut, ein solches Konzept fernab der Laufkundschaft zu positionieren. Mit U4/S-Bahn (Elbbrücken) ist es gut erreichbar, Parkplätze sind vorhanden.

Wo es hakt: Schon beim Empfang starteten die Probleme: Unsere Reservierung war plötzlich verschwunden, nachdem die ersten Gäste Platz genommen hatten. Wahrscheinlich ein technisches Problem. Unnötige lange Wartezeit bei der Platzierung.

Die laminierte Karte (Deutsch/Englisch) wirkt wenig wertig für das Ambiente. Das Konzept bleibt unklar - was ist afrikanisch, was europäisch? Die Gerichte (Bowls, Rolls, Burger mit westafrikanischen Zutaten) sind grundsätzlich okay, aber drei unserer fünf Bestellungen wirkten inhaltlich nahezu identisch, nur unterschiedlich präsentiert.

Service: Das größte Manko Hier liegt der Hauptkritikpunkt. Die jungen Mitarbeiter sind sicher motiviert, aber offensichtlich ungeschult und starren lieber auf das digitale Eingabegerät, als dass Sie Kontakt zum Kunden aufnehmen. So bleiben Fragen unbeantwortet, Bestellungen müssen kontrolliert werden, fehlende Eiswürfel kommen erst nach mehrfacher Erinnerung. Der Weiß- und sogar der Rotwein werden zu warm serviert, abgeräumt wird nur auf Nachfrage und wie so häufig, dauert das Bezahlen der Rechnung ebenfalls viel zu lange. Das passt nicht zur hochwertigen Location.

Timing und Portionen: Bei fünf Gerichten zeitgleich zu servieren - Fehlanzeige. Dazu kamen die Speisen nur lauwarm an. Die Portionen sind okay, wobei besonders der Eintopf in seiner winzigen Portion enttäuschte.

Wir hatten alle drei auf der Karte angebotenen Desserts. Keines komplett überzeugend, auch wenn man sehr stolz auf den Cheesecake ist. Der kam aber leider an dem Abend nicht klassisch, sondern nur mit Kinder-Bueno oder mit Franzbrötchen-Einlage daher. Auch die nicht zu Ende gebackenen Teigbällchen mit dem Vanilleeis und dem angekündigten Erdbeersorbet, das sich als Erdbeersoße entpuppte, konnten nicht überzeugen.

Fazit: Das Restaurant sucht noch seine Identität. Streetfood-Konzept, gehobenes Ambiente, aber Fastfood-Service - das passt nicht zusammen. Wer mit Peter-Pane-Erwartungen kommt, wird nicht enttäuscht. Für das gebotene Ambiente und die Preise darf man aber mehr erwarten.

Ich würde wiederkommen - aber nur für einen unkomplizierten Burger mit entsprechend angepassten Erwartungen.

Dem Küchenchef wünsche ich, dass er bei seinen Gerichten mutiger und vielfältiger wird.

Tipp: Platz am Fenster oder in den Sitzecken reservieren, Getränkeauswahl ist interessant (afrikanische Fanta und Cola), die Weinkarte gibt es...