I lived in Ghana for two years in my early 20s. As well as being an incredibly formative experience, I also fell in love with the food there - the beans, pulses, rice and meat. Since I came back to the UK I have spent years trying to find an authentic Ghanaian restaurant that can replicate the flavours and textures I had in Africa - the great news is that Flavourz of Ghana does just that. It could have come from the streets of Accra.
For those of you who haven't tried Ghanian food - it's usually made up of starchy, slow-cooked carbs served with (equally slow-cooked) meat and vegetables, either in the carbs or served with/on it as a stew, curry or sauce. The main ingredients for the vast majority of soups and stews are tomatoes, hot peppers and onions. You may also be familiar with jollof rice; rice cooked in a stew consisting of stock, tomatoes and spices. A lot of the food is oily, filling and has plenty of fire!
We grabbed some kelewele (sweet, spiced fried plantain - you must try), peanut soup, waakye (a black eye bean dish), fish and jollof, and a lamb curry with rice - plus some puff puffs for dessert. We were feeding three people and it comfortably fed us and we had it for lunch the next day - all for £53.
Flavourz of Ghana is, in my opinion, phenomenally authentic Ghanaian cuisine. As such, a large part of this review and how you will use it to, hopefully, become a customer of Flavourz of Ghana, is based on whether you would like Ghanian cuisine or not. Nothing here was anglicised (although some spices were tuned down for C who is a total spice wuss). It was cooked and flavoured as it would be in Ghana. When we chase great food, authenticity is on my mind when we review it. Some of my favourite places we have tried for the blog have been unapologetically true to their roots. The Keralan food at The Cochin, the Punjabi family recipes at Khana Cookery, and the familial feel of Dallings' tapas spring to mind. So for me I was delighted to find something that, for better or worse, was true to its roots.
With that in mind, those adverse to spice should approach the very friendly Flavourz of Ghana team and ask for the spice to be taken down - as Ghanaian food is naturally very hot. I love it, but I get that it will blow some people's heads off. If you love your spice, make sure you tell them you want nice and authentic! It is also pretty stodgy - these are meals designed to fill you up for a while. Light bites, these are not!
Onto what we had: waakye (pronounced wah-chay) was my favourite in Africa. It is a dish of rice and black eyed beans, along with red dried sorghum leaf sheaths or stalks and limestone. It's usually served with shito - a very spicy pepper sauce (go easy when you mix it!). It's a stodgy, carby dish, which is incredibly filling and comforting. It comes on a spaghetti base (which was odd) - and carries a good kick of spice even without the shito.
The peanut soup comes with a sticky rice ball that should be placed in it (or go full Ghanian and rip bits off and dip it in the soup and eat with your fingers). The soup is pretty oily, but has a nice creamy note to it. It feels like a curry sauce broth and has the rounded flavour and heat of that too. It comes with chicken on the bone, which falls into the soup. The rice ball soaks up the soup beautifully and was again very filling.
The jollof was made milder on request - but it was balanced well. Although I do like my jollof more moist - when it comes out in clumps. This was more like your traditional rice texture (separate grains), but still had a great flavour of tomato, stock and pepper. It was topped with grilled fish - the traditional Ghanian fish of tilapia (a small, meaty, boney fish) and some mackerel. I think Ghanaian food doesn't do delicate fish that well (nothing against this particular meal), it tends to be more meaty, rugged and tough. As such, I think there are better things to order... Like for instance the lamb curry; the lamb was soft, spiced beautifully in a rich, thick, smokey sauce and went with the jollof and plain rice exceptionally well.
I would throughly recommend Flavourz of Ghana - the menu will be hard to get your head around if you haven't experienced the food, so I would recommend saying hello (or Eti Sen in Twi!) on their Insta page and letting them walk you through the options. The opportunity to have truly authentic west African food in Hemel is a real joy. Ghanian food isn't for everyone. It is heavy, spicy and in places oily. But if you want to discover a new cuisine, with a friendly guide to help you through it - give this a go.
Me? I'll back very soon!
Service:
Really great service - they modified several dishes for C who couldn't handle the spice. It is available on Uber Eats - but do try go to them directly if you can. Also it came in almost no plastic, yay!
Quality:
Authentic Ghanaian spices and flavours. It has a street food feel to it, so don't expect gourmet quality in things like the meat, but it totally works.
Value & Price:
Ghanian food is very filling. Remember that when you order! You can easily feed two people for £25.
Overall:
EXCELLENT - Flavours plucked straight from Accra to your doorstep. The hearty, filling, spicy meals are a real treat if you want to experience some authentic food from Ghana.
Komentáře