The world is certainly very different now to when Jikoni first opened its doors in late 2016. Now, diners have to wait outside until they are asked in, so as ensure appropriate social distancing is observed. Hand sanitation is also encouraged on arrival. It was into this strange new normal that Gourmand Gunno and his dining comrade wandered on Saturday night. We were not the only guests brave/foolhardy enough to do so. Jikoni was full, albeit with the caveat – as we were informed – that the restaurant was operating at just 55% of its usual capacity. The serving staff definitely tried their hardest to give the impression of business as usual, putting on a brave (and non-mask wearing, admittedly) face. In many ways, Jikoni is the perfect place to go for a meal in these strange times. Consider that the restaurant’s name means ‘kitchen’ in Swahili. The emphasis is – and always has been – on informality; almost as if one were stepping into the proprietor’s kitchen. There are no airs and graces here. The principle of style over substance is almost inverted at Jikoni – an appropriate mindset, perhaps, for the COVID-19 world.
Jikoni takes in influences from South Asia and the Far East, also journeying through the Middle East and East Africa. If there is an angle, then it is an appropriately contemporary one which should resonate with most Londoners: Jikoni is about mixed heritage, or borderless cooking. While such a line could almost come from a PR brochure and mean a-bit-of-everything in the kitchen, the execution of Ravinder Bhogal and her team is generally very good. What it perhaps loses in being truly ground-breaking, Jikoni certainly makes up for in terms of comfort.
Even in the pre-pandemic era, the menu was mercifully brief; currently it is even shorter, comprising four each of starter and main dish options. While considering, my comrade and I enjoyed some beautifully compiled chick pea chips: fat in aesthetic but light to taste and lifted by a zingy tomato and fenugreek chutney. My starter saw a courgette flower stuffed with crab. It was a lovely concept, but imperfectly executed, with the batter overwhelming the sadly sparse quantity of crab. Jikoni amply redeemed itself with my main: a wonderfully flavoursome smoked pomegranate quail, which tasted as beautiful as it looked (see photo). My comrade was somewhat less impressed with her butternut squash moilee; the dish comprising said vegetable served in a Goan-influenced coconut sauce. Despite being enjoyable, the dish had some of the hallmarks of a mid-week meal prepared by an adventurous student. Pricing throughout was at least very fair. When our dishes were combined with a couple of glasses of fizz and a decent bottle of rosé chosen from a thoughtful list, the all-in price came to less than £80/head. By Marylebone standards, this can almost be considered good value.