Steve A.
Yelp
How would I rate my experience? Unique. 9ja is a Nigerian place but they are fine with English so you can visit and ask as many questions as you like. Do ask. Please ask...
First impressions: Small urban place. Free Wi-Fi a plus. Smoke alarm battery going off a minus. Family setting a plus (toddlers roaming the dining room and kitchen).
You can get your order in or to go. I got mine in and watched as they hand-washed and cleaned bowls and utensils. Some of those became mine. I got a mix of efo elugusi and efo biro, which were two of the three starters they had today. I watched as they assembled the bowl and... put it in the microwave. No no no. Sigh.
As the dish neared completion I perused the fridge, grabbed a bottle of Nigerian imported palm wine, and dug in.
What looks like bread is probably the pounded yam. You tear off a bit and dip in the spicy yummy starter. I found there was a perfect proportion - my last bite of each came together. Well executed. Less well executed is the Assorted Meat. That is Nigerian for "large pieces of inedible cow parts, not actual cuts of meat". (I heard people saying no meat with their order, now I know why.) I ate the tripe (not cooked tender, but passable and unique), passed on the cow skin and couldn't eat the tendon if I tried. But otherwise, nice and flavorful and spicy.
Do note that it's spicy here.
All done, I washed my hands in the washing bowl (what's a "sink"?) and paid. Verdict: Probably really really authentic. Not the ingredients I expected but I love authenticity, so I'll give it 4 Yelp stars instead of random Unique Stars.
Next time I'll work on the fish entrees instead of "assorted meat".