Kalakutah Republic Grill — Restaurant in Indianapolis

Unlike the other two African restaurants I have reviewed in Indiana, Kalakutah’s food was okay. I ordered pounded yam with Egusi and Shaki (Tripe) and Pomo (cow meat). I enjoyed it. I did have some unique taste. I think the melon seeds (Egusi) was roasted. I also tasted my husband’s order, which was Ofada rice (local rice) with Ayamase. That was a disappointment. After trying it for the first time from another restaurant yesterday and liking it, today’s at Kalakutah’s was nothing to write home about.

Pros:- The restaurant is somewhat spacious. There was a nice lounge/sitting area. Overall, the food was okay. The Pounded yam and Egusi was 4.5 out of 5 but Ofada rice was a 1 out of 5 for me. They could also do better with the meat portioning. I understand that they allow you an option of up to two varieties and any addition would be an additional cost. So, the options for meat were 1) Goat meat, 2) Cow meat, 3) Tripe (Shaki), and 4) Fish, I believe. Anyway, I ordered cow skin and tripe and literally got one of each 😊. It could have been cut in smaller pieces or something so it does not look so rigid. They were setting up what looks like an outside seating area with Suya (Nigerian-styled grilled meat) but I never got to taste it 😞

Cons:- The service was mediocre for me. Though I personally did not have a bad service, I observed the hostess rolling her eyes as my friend, who was before me, placed her order. But it was not as bad as another friend who called me when I stepped out for a few minutes to tell me that the hostess was snappy and very irritable. I appears that this hostess may have been a little high. Such an individual should not be in the restaurant business and certainly not in the frontline for customer service. Not all the tables were stable. The bathrooms are the worst among all restaurants I have been to. Aside from being dirty, which is typical of public restrooms in general, one of the bathrooms was missing the cover of the toilet tank, another had an exposed outlet that was connected to the dryer. Though they both had a baby changing station, it was not inviting at all. The bathrooms were simply a disaster. I’m curious how they even became like that in the first place.😬

I’m noticing this pattern among Nigerian restaurants and it’s a pity. I think you can make a ton more money if you took the time out to maintain the restaurant. It will market itself to not only Nigerians or other Africans but to other ethnic groups willing to have a taste of Africa. It will also be nice to do...

I ordered food from here for the second time ever last night, and it was just as good as the first time (minus the fried plantains). I got Egusi and pounded yam, Efo Riro and pounded yam, and fried plantains. The fried plantains tasted old and like they were reheated in the microwave, they were soggy and hard if that makes sense lol, but the Egusi, efo, and pounded yam were delicious like the first time I ordered from here. I don't know if this makes a difference or not, but the first time I had it delivered the portion sizes were really small, not even enough for 1 person (one of the reasons I hadn't ordered from here in awhile) but this time that I chose to pickup my order (still ordering via Grubhub), my portion sizes were huge, like enough for more than 3 people and I ordered the same exact thing, so I won't have it delivered anymore, just in case that may be the reason. I do wish the Efo was spicier though, after growing accustomed to eating West African food over the years, particularly Nigerian, I got used to the heat lol, so now when it isn't that spicy I feel like something is missing lol but it was still very delicious. I will say that this is my second favorite West African restaurant in Indy, and D'Islanders is #1, but the only reason I didn't go to D'Islanders was because they ran out of food. This is a great restaurant though and I...

Before we got here we called to make sure it was ok to order food. Whoever we spoke to on the phone assured us that as long as we get here before 11pm we would be served. We just got into town and were very hungry for some African food and kalakutah seemed to be the place open at the time. Long story short when we got here, The sign on the door said it was open. But when we tried to open the door it was locked. We got here 15 minutes before it was closed. When we got here at 1045pm we could see the lady in the serving area. We knocked the door she turned and looked at us and went inside the kitchen. We stayed outside for 15 minutes knocking the door. The funny thing is she was in the kitchen and peeking through thinking we could not see her. I Hope management does something about this. I highly doubt she’s the owner of the restaurant. She is out to crumble this business. We are truly disappointed. She peeked so many times and ignored the customers. This happened...