Do you know your egusi from your abula? This reviewer certainly didn’t and had only once previously tried anything close to Nigerian food. That was almost four years ago in an over-priced and far from authentic restaurant in St James. Fortunately, this gap in Gourmand Gunno’s culinary knowledge was recently rectified after the kind offer of a Nigerian friend to take me to his ‘local’ in the far reaches of south east London. It’s certainly worth the ten-minute train ride to Lewisham from London Bridge for a taste of what Nigeria has to offer.
For the record, egusi comprises ground melon seed steamed with pumpkin leaves and spices, while abula is a blend of beans served with steamed leaves. One of the great things about Enish – a Lewisham landmark that has been operational for over a decade – is that its menu comes with a very helpful glossary. This is useful for the uninitiated, even if we had an expert to guide us through the menu appropriately. There is a very broad range available and no shortage of excitement, especially for the more adventurous diner; goat’s head or cow’s foot, anyone?
We began with a plate of suya, based on the recommendation of my friend. As the photo highlights, it comprises diced chicken and beef, served with hot spices. Beyond the marinated meats, there is accompanying dry spice powder in which to dip your food. The spice intensity was up the scale, but highly harmonious, more about subtlety of flavour (there was definitely some ginger) rather than just pure chilli heat. Our other opening dish was gizzard, or chicken’s stomach, combined with plantain. Not an obvious combination to my mind, but one which worked remarkably well with the chewy meaty texture contrasting nicely with the softer, sweeter sensation of the plantain.
Onto the main event and we partook in the classic dish of jollof rice, served on our request with grilled chicken and plantain. I am a huge rice fan in all its variations and this is a wonderful dish. The rice is slow-cooked in tomatoes, peppers, spices and herbs, but retains its integrity and gains a forceful intensity of flavour. Portion sizing throughout was generous, so much so that not all our plates were finished. Everything was rendered more pleasing by a couple of bottles of Star, one of Nigeria’s best-known lagers. Posh Enish is not, but highly satisfying it certainly is. With four other branches in London (including Brixton), there is every reason to pay a visit for something both novel and satisfying.