Nigerian Food with a Little Times Square Glitz | The New Yorker

"Set on Seventh Avenue near Forty-eighth Street, a block from the TKTS booth and across from the enormous M&M’s store, this three-story Nigerian restaurant–cum–nightclub has an overwhelming, partylike energy: a ground-floor dining room wrapped in royal-purple panelling flecked with gold, an unexpectedly long bar lined with gold stools, a faux-greenery photo wall for influencers, enormous TVs showing soccer, cricket, and football, and an upstairs scene with guest DJs, bottle service, sparklers and a bouncer on party nights. The food often skews authentically West African rather than bland Times Square concessions: a note-perfect pepper soup arrives as a thin, opaque, sultry broth with tender goat—spiced with things like uda pods, grains of paradise, uziza and a whisper of bouillon—prompting Komolafe to say, “This is the real thing.” There’s proper suya—grilled beef tossed in a nutty peanut spice and served with raw onion, cucumber and dressed cabbage (our server promised it would burn but it was milder than expected; Komolafe’s own recipe is hotter)—and a thrilling jollof rice, sunrise orange and sweet-smoky with tomato and pepper, served with enormous hunks of tender, saucy goat. An enormous ofada stew is thick, caramelized and aromatic with peppers and irú, slicked with red palm oil and studded with stewed beef, tripe and chewier pieces I guessed were cow’s skin; sides of sweet plantain and a good moi-moi soften the heat. Drinks include Nigerian beers like Gulder and Star, an Ikoyi frosé, bottled Chapman and a Suya Margarita rimmed with a peanut-based spice blend. The menu does offer non-Nigerian items (cheeseburger sliders, fish tacos, Colorado lamb chops), but if you go for anything slider-like, the Akara version—fried black-bean cakes with a pot of red stew—is the smarter choice. Dishes run roughly $12–$90, and by about 9:30 p.m. on a weekday dinner can abruptly become full-on nightlife, complete with strobe lights, hookahs and a chorus of “wooo”s." - Helen Rosner