Tailat Kitchen (Nigerian Cuisine) — Restaurant in Austin

Had quite possibly some of the worst african food I've ever had here in my life-- and I've eaten quite a bit of african food. Was holding out on posting because it's local and a black-owned business... but fck it, everytime I pass by it's a constant reminder of the poor quality food we received.

My partner & I came here on a whim one night a few months ago. I had been excited to try because as an african, there aren't too many places in austin where you can have homestyle african food. He ordered the egusi & fufu, while I ordered the fish & jollof rice.

What came out was a giant plate of jollof rice, and a SINGLE (I kid you not) small overcooked piece of dry, previously frozen or quickly reheated fish. The picture showed three pieces, but you actually had to order fish as a side to get more. This was deceptive. The 15.99 meal itself only had one piece. The jollof rice portion was great, but honestly it tasted more like a burnt, store-bought, quick-made rice. For the cost, I felt ripped off.

His food came out alright, but he realized towards the end that they had what looked like pork shank in his egusi. Fortunately, he is not muslim, but I cannot imagine how badly he might've reacted if he were.

One star for the actually decent fufu. The jollof rice wasn't terrible either, albeit a little simple. I still tipped to support a local business, but this restaurant needs to do better. It seemed like they were making many shortcuts with our meals. To feed someone pork without disclosing it is dangerous. Seems like most of their money comes from online orders, as very few people stepped in to eat that night. They also need to correct their house menus, as most of the food items were just a copy/paste so we couldn't check to see if there was supposed to be pork in any of the food options.

If you (the reader) are trying "african" food for the first time, then as an African, I would highly recommend you go somewhere else.

And since it seems the owner is quite hostile to poor reviews (oof), the pic is proof that I did, in fact, eat here. (Don't worry, I never...

For $35, here is what you get!

Egusi on the menus shows that alone, so I ordered fish to put with it, which in my mine would have been fine if it was a plate full of it!

The Egusi has about 5 tablespoons which tastes under cooked, one slab of bone, a tablespoon of tough meat and a hunk of skin/fat. The bone and gristle have no flavor. You’re not even able to chew whatever you’re able to get off the bone (zero meat) It tastes like it was boiled in water alone. The fish on the side. Which is smaller than my palm for $5. The taste of everything is terrible, the sauce taste with the fish is like tomato sauce! It was super tough and overly fried? on the outside. I’m honestly unsure. This food is unlike any Nigerian food I’ve eaten. This is by far the worst Nigerian food I’ve eaten, and I have been to many, many places!! I am extremely disappointed. The meal come with one swallow and I choose pounded yam (which was actually good, just small like all the other things) and ordered another to be able to share (because EVERY place I’ve been to the quantity is plentiful!!!) and it is literally in the trash!! I didn’t even take a picture, it had to be spoiled. My husband tried to thinking I was joking and nope, he spit it into the plastic. And just a heads up, this is NOT a restaurant. It’s a pick up place for Uber eats etc. but they are located in the back where they can have food ready. Do not plan on dining in, although on the website it shows tables and chairs giving the misrepresentation of being...

I really didn’t enjoy my visit; however, I heard the food was good. I was genuinely excited to try more authentic Nigerian cuisine, but my overall experience was extremely disappointing, mainly due to the service.

From the moment I walked in, the woman behind the counter was incredibly rude. She didn’t greet me, didn’t smile, and spoke in a very disrespectful tone. When I tried to ask a few questions about the menu since I wasn’t familiar with all of the dishes, she acted like I was a huge inconvenience. She rushed me and cut me off mid-sentence more than once, rolled her eyes, and seemed irritated just by my presence. It made the entire ordering process uncomfortable and awkward.

Even when I tried to be polite and patient, her attitude didn’t improve. She handed me my food without saying a word and didn’t even acknowledge my thank you. It’s one thing for service to be inattentive, but it’s another to feel like you’re being disrespected or even unwelcome as a customer.

The food itself was decent—definitely had some good flavors—but honestly, it was hard to enjoy it after such a negative interaction. The atmosphere wasn’t great either; the place felt uninviting and lacked warmth. Overall, no matter how good the food is, customer service matters. I don’t think I’ll be returning anytime soon, and I would hesitate to recommend this place to others based on how poorly I...