Niger Delta Kitchen, tucked away in City Garden, in Abuja’s Wuse II, is not a restaurant that’s fussy about aesthetics. It’s interior is a slightly updated buka-style do, with plastic chairs, loud TVs, and fans blowing warm air. However, it’s big on taste.
On the menu, are Nigerian restaurant mainstays like egusi, vegetable, Oha, and other soups, accompanying the usual suspects like pounded yam, eba, and semovita. There’s also rice and stew, with generously-sized, well-seasoned chunks of goat meat. With the number of clientele at any given time, it’s not hard to imagine the chaos behind-the-scenes in the kitchen, especially given the quality and consistency of the taste.
Take for instance the Niger Delta Kitchen’s signature dish, their ‘Fisherman Soup’. An epic delicacy, it is a thick, rich soup made from catfish, stock fish, shelled periwinkle, all cooked to perfection. A perfect companion is the pounded yam, which is a bit on the rough side and more of the Tiv style, as opposed to the softer, more consistent Yoruba type.
Native to people of the riverine areas of Nigeria’s Niger Delta region, the Fisherman Soup is also not a poor man’s dish. At N2,800 a plate, it’s certainly not cheap. But the value within is definitely worth the price. The price covers a choice of pounded yam or eba, including a bottle of water.
While I have, out of a need to try other items on the menu, sampled other dishes at the Niger Delta Kitchen, the Fisherman Soup is the absolute best thing there. And it’s also clear that many other customers feel the same, as most of the time, roughly half of all orders are for the delicacy.
The prices of other items are moderately priced, and nothing to make customers faint. For instance, a nicely-sized plate of white rice and stew with meat, goes for N1,500, while Okro Soup (another of the restaurant’s specialties, though not for pepper avoiders) goes for N1,500 with meat, and N2,000 with fish, of course accompanied by a choice of ‘swallow’.
In the final analysis, the Niger Delta Kitchen serves hot, well-cooked food in a clean, buka-style environment. I have encountered many families there on many occasions, as well as couples, and even a handful of adventurous non-Nigerians speaking impeccable French. The restaurant, not by any means posh, should be a regular expedition for anyone who has a soft spot for good food.