Elmina
African restaurant · U Street ·
Modern West African cuisine with Ghanaian classics & inventive plates
Modern West African cuisine with Ghanaian classics & inventive plates
"Top Chef star Eric Adjepong’s fine-dining Ghanaian restaurant rings in its first New Year’s Eve with a tasting menu, with a complimentary bottle of bubbles for every two guests. The four-course spread ($150 per person) features beet-cured salmon, warm halibut and mushroom pepper soup, braised short rib with Banga-tamarind demi-glace, and a rich sorghum-popcorn creme brulee." - Vinciane Ngomsi
"Chef Eric Adjepong’s new West African restaurant Elmina is one of D.C.’s hottest restaurants, and cooks can channel his cooking at home via Adjepong’s debut cookbook. Released this year, “Ghana to the World” includes recipes for everything from jollof rice to sticky tamarind-glazed duck legs." - Adele Chapin
"A casual takeout spinoff from the kitchen of Elmina channels Eric Adjepong’s West African flavors into debut bites like a Dawa smash burger crowned with caramelized Yassa onion jam and fries, plus ramen bathing in pepper soup consommé with a soft egg and peri-peri oil. Comforting mains pull from Elmina favorites—oxtail stew, slow-cooked suya short rib, tamarind duck leg, and jollof rice—alongside spiced fried turkey tails and plantains; lunch and dinner run for pickup or delivery." - Tierney Plumb
"Dawa is a new carryout and delivery concept from Eric Adjepong, run out of the kitchen atElmina. Open Monday through Saturday for lunch and dinner, the menu includes pepper soup consommé ramen (interesting), tamarind duck leg (very interesting), and oxtail stew (yes). Available for pickup or through third-party apps." - Omnia Saed
"Elmina is what happens when Ghanaian food shows up to DC’s fine dining scene in its Sunday best. The $135 four-course tasting menu blends deep tradition with sharp technique: think scallop crudo with citrus and coconut, rich palm nut stew with shrimp and octopus, and a jollof duck pot dripping with smoky, pepper-laced shito. The obvious move at Elmina, from celebrity chef Eric Adjepong, is to come for a birthday, anniversary, or some other occasion that warrants a nice shirt and planning ahead. And while it’s great for that, we also love to come here on a whim and sit at the bar for the more casual a la carte menu, where you can get bites like okra fries, octopus kebabs with a shito glaze, or a hamachi collar with plantain chips." - omnia saed, madeline weinfield, jonathan smith, mekita rivas, allison robicelli, omnia saed, kym backer
