Cafe Baraka — Restaurant in England

Visited with two of my good friends. All first timers here... and first timers with African food!

On stepping foot in the café we were instantly greated by the owner and chef Oumar. A huge, warm welcome and love was showered onto us all.

The café is decorated with African colours and culture in mind. Very informal and fun. We arrived just after opening.. so very quiet.. but it does get much busier later on. In fact it would be a great place to grab a bite to eat after a night out.

The atmosphere was very relaxed and thanks to Oumar we all had a great experience.

Now... the food.

Clearly made with passion and love.

We chose three different mains and were given two complimentary appetisers!

Fried dumplings - sweet, crunchy outside and soft on the inside. Similar to seaside donuts... but no hole in the middle, not covered in sugar and far more tasty! Quite dense and filling!

Fried, caramalised plantain - slices of sticky, slightly burnt (on purpose!) caramalised plantain.. similar to banana.. but not the same! Very tasty and a real treat.

The mains...

Lamb dibi, chicken yassa and jerk chicken.

The dibi and yassa are very similar. Ingredients are peas, carrots, beans, potato, sweetcorn, caramalised onions and dijon mustard to name just a few! The meat is seasoned and gently spiced with flavour. Both dishes are mild, yet very rich and flavoursome. Served with a mixed rice that had red beans in it too, made for a great accompaniment. All tasted fresh and were very filling! Luckily the food is served in a cardboard takeaway box... so we took the leftovers home!

The jerk chicken - marinated for 24hours... so the chicken has absorbed all of the flavour from it's seasoning... a deep, smokey and rich flavour. The option of melted cheddar and chips made this a guilty pleasure! The chicken was cooked perfectly - juicy on the inside.

Varied soft drinks are available from the self service fridge. All chilled and ready to go!

Summing up. An African café that delivers amazing, authentic food coupled with one of the friendliest hosts I have ever met which equals a superb evening.

For three of us the bill was £42. Well worth it. None of us were left hungry and we will definitely return... and probably some takeaways/deliveries too!

Thank you Oumar. Much love to you brother....

I can't believe I missed this little gem...

We got a warm greeting when we walked in, our host/chef for the night was friendly and welcoming to the point we automatically felt at home which just a common occurrence when eating out. It felt more like visiting an old friend for dinner which I absolutely loved.

The food is homely, filling and absolutely gorgeous. I found the flavours so addictive that I could stop myself eating even when I knew I was full.

We had the Jerk chicken, Lamb Dibi, fried dumplings, Mac and cheese, and fries (side note- I don't rant and rave about fries normally cause I don't generally like them, but these were the nicest chips I've eaten in a very long time)

I've lived in the area for a while and I can't believe I'd not been here before.

If you're thinking about visiting, I couldn't recommend it enough. And I'm really looking forward to visiting again.

In summary, food vibes and...

I’ve ordered using JustEat a few times and went over for a takeaway for the first time yesterday. Omar is an absolute gent who treats his customers like family. The food is impeccable. Oxtail was fall off the bone, chicken was cooked to perfection. The mac and Cheese might be the best I’ve had in a long time, and this is coming from someone who thinks mac and cheese itself is an over rated dish. Omar has converted me. He threw in a few dumplings and pair that with the chicken Yassa and you’ve got a medley in your mouth. Would recommend...