Nkechi African Cafe — Restaurant in Inglewood

Most African restaurants in LA serve Ethiopian cuisine. Food from the Western regions of Africa are more difficult to find. Veronica's Kitchen and Nkechi African Cafe, both family-owned restaurants in Inglewood, are the only restaurants in LA that offer a taste of Nigeria.

Staples of Nigerian cuisine appear to be heavy flavored dry soups and very spicy meat stews, eaten with a starchy mound of yam dough called fufu. On a Friday evening, we ordered two very traditional Nigerian specialties: isi-ewu also known as a spicy goat casserole and an egusi soup which is a viscous soup prepared with ground melon seeds.

Nkechi's offering of isi-ewu was critical in my decision to try Nkechi instead Veronica's Kitchen, which only has nkwobi (cow leg) on the menu. I wanted to eat something exotic that night.

Isi-ewu is a unique and impressive stew for adventurous eaters. The main component of this dish is the goat head and the stew includes the brain! The preparation process is extremely tedious, as all the goat hairs have to be removed and the head needs to be thoroughly washed. The head is steamed/boiled, cut into smaller pieces, and then the meat stock is simmered in a sauce that contains a blend of chili spices and seasoning. This Nigerian delicacy is extremely spicy, and the sauce was a bit overwhelming compared to the flavors of the meat, so be prepared to order some water or a palm wine if you need to relieve the overwhelming heat.

On the other hand, egusi soup is more mellow. It is a viscous soup consisting of melon seeds, spinach, and a choice of meat (fish, chicken, mutton, cow leg). The preparation of this most popular Nigerian soup is also labor intensive, requiring melon seeds to be ground and made into a paste before the paste is mixed with spices stir-fried, and then the product is boiled with meat stock. We chose tilapia as the stock, which was dry and had bones. The taste was slightly bitter but also very rich, which was not expected for a soup with similar consistency of Chinese porridge. The soup is very nutritious and many Nigerians enjoy it with fufu, a firm white ball pounded from from yam flour. Fufu is generally flavorless so it is used to scoop up soup or stew (similar function to injera in Ethiopian cuisine, I think).

Portions at Nkechi are generous and two hungry diners can easily share a soup and meat stew, then bring home leftovers. Service was prompt and the server was extremely patient. Everyone else at the restaurant were native-Africans, so this seems to be the place to find local African food. The damage for this dinner was $45 not including tip, which is expensive for only 2 dishes but understandable considering the native spices and fresh ingredients used, as well as the amount of labor required to...

I actually got the food for my birthday, I got it early because of quarantine, I ordered ahead, and I will admit that the wait was long and I was kinda bored, but me and my family had really been wanting to go there for quite some time so I took my birthday as an opportunity to go. I called ahead and ordered the fish pepper soup (the picture below but like not as aesthetically pleasing, since this is a google picture). It took 22 minutes to be made in total, idk if that's a long wait for some of you. While there I got a family owned shop vibe, and the owner was very polite to me, (although the phone call was different, mostly because I can't understand accents that well through the phone in particular) he told me to sit and wait as it was still being made, I was nervous because I get very nervous in new places and around people whom I don't know. He finally came out with this very small container that cost $15 and I was livid because it was so small and yet so expensive. But I finally got home and ate it and the taste was immaculate, it was absolutely delicious, I couldn't have asked for a better soup ever in my life. It was definitely worth the experience. It was spicy though (obviously) but it didn't matter because I love spice and the taste was so good I didn't care, it had a strong bold unique taste, it was sour, salty, spicy, umami, and sweet, literally all the taste. IT WAS SOOOOO GOOD, even with my social anxiety I would 100% experience that again just for the taste. There were a lot of fish bones and like I hate fish bones but it was worth picking it out for that flavor. And I dislike fish skin, but once again, the flavor smacked. There is this african thing called fufu, I meant to get it but once again social anxiety, but I believe it would pair perfectly with this...

Yesterday was my first time going to this place. Sad to expect a certain kind of "Nigerianness" in the environment and customer service which left a whole lot to be desired. Your orders are taken and asked to sit wherever you like and no one asks or offers something to drink while you wait 30-45 minutes for your food. But truth be told, I didn't come here for the ambience or the customer service, I came for the food. My request was for bitterleaf soup and pounded yam. The presentation was perfect and I looked forward to devouring every bit of the food and licking the plate...HOWEVER, the soup was extremely too salty. So salty I was unable to eat the soup after downing the food(since I already paid for it). And since no one bothers to come ask you "how's your food", or "would you like anything else?" You know, the little things we take for granted in "American" restaurants and cafes, I could not tell them my soup was extremely salty. Time to pay for my meal, I stood in front of the counter for close to 5 minutes, and while they all saw me standing there after my meal, they ignored me and carried on with their conversations with friends after which I was kindly asked, "are you ready to check out?".. Men....that soup looked really good and well made..but...