Ikoyi — London’s first Gourmet Nigerian Food Experience
Ikoyi offers an innovative take on traditional Nigerian cuisine, despite ever so slightly missing the mark.

Co-owners Ire Hassan-Odukale and Jeremy Chan have clear ambitions to go into uncharted territory and elevate the Nigerian cuisine to that of a fine dining experience; an ambition I am delighted to finally see. Amidst some healthy press coverage, visiting Ikoyi has been keenly anticipated as it the first of its kind, placed in the prime location of St. James Market.
The name takes after the affluent private community of Ikoyi, Lagos making no subtle indication as to the type of crowd it wishes to attract. A few days before dining, I jumped onto the website to get a clue of just what this place is offering:
“We combine bold heat and umami with the highest quality products we can find in a warm and welcoming environment. We explore ingredients such as Grains of Selim, a smokey peppercorn with the scent of eucalyptus, wild black tiger prawns and scotch bonnet chillies, which we ferment, burn and pickle.”
Admittedly, this was met with hesitation and concern. The only thing which stood out as ‘Nigerian’ was the mention of scotch bonnet chillies. ‘Grains’? Pushing it. Still, with an open mind, I considered perhaps Ikoyi is only Nigerian-inspired, reflecting a fusion cuisine, rather than a traditional one. I felt the oncoming challenge — just how fresh and unique could my several years of experience with Nigerian food become?

Walking into the hazy amber lighting of Ikoyi sets the tone immediately. Discreetly tucked away in a side street, the space is compact and intimate, all giving an air of exclusivity. The ideal Ikoyi guest; this is where Nigeria’s high-flying business crowd and internationally renowned art elite would choose to dine. Our waiter soon eagerly spills the gist informing us that Chiwetel Ejiofor was in the premises just the night before. No biggie.
The bar is set – literally.
We are presented with the bar menu and I am happily met with cocktails that display true Naija influence. Each drink has a standout flavour taken directly from Nigerian cuisine. Palm wine, Zobo and Chapman are flavours that are familiar to the Nigerian experience. Also offering Guinness and Star lager, the experience is complete. Other drinks present a more ambitious take with flavour direction, notably the Paradise Martini, which features an Okra Vermouth. I opted for the Ikoyi Chapman, a non-alcoholic and safe. Very enjoyable, it proved to be easy-on-the-palate with a delicate sweetness which did not disturb the flavours of the main meal that followed.
Choosing dishes from the menu proved to be an indecisive feat. Already weary of just how well the Nigerian fusion would be executed, I ended up going for what looked like the most traditional dish on the menu, Garden Egg & Spinach Efo – though there was the tempting Wild Nigerian Tiger Prawn & Banga Bisque I am currently kicking myself for not trying. All these flavours again are synonymous with the standard Nigerian experience. (For those unfamiliar, ‘Garden Egg’ is what Nigerians prefer to call resto favourite, Aubergine). Spotting this dish on the menu brought the sweet memory of eating Garden Egg for the first time at my grandmothers home in Akure, Nigeria. Since then, this set the pattern of a preference for Aubergine-based dishes whenever I come across it. Teamed with Efo, I anticipated the Garden Egg to taste sublime. Efo is well loved amongst Nigerians of every tribe, an all-rounder dish that pleases both at home and at parties. Choosing this almost felt like the safe option however, the true intention was to see just how well Ikoyi could elevate this staple soup.

To the eye, the Efo appears well cooked and substantial. First bite in, the familiar heat of scotch bonnet chillies hit me. I wait for the heat to subside but there is no flavour. I am immediately disappointed. Having plenty of experience with Efo, as well as many other Nigerian soups and stews, I know all too well that where there is an imbalance of weak salty umami flavour next to an overpowering spicy scotch bonnet heat, this is a recipe for disaster. A few more bites gave the same experience. All heat and no real Efo flavour. To my dismay, all I could taste was wilted spinach. To prove to my friends dining beside me that I was not being picky, I offered them to try my dish. They too agreed that it simply did not taste like efo. There was a grittiness immediately indicating that the spinach was not washed well. This tell-all sign in an Efo dish is enough to put any Nigerian housewife to shame and is a real letdown coming from Ikoyi.
Wasting no time, I asked for the dish to be returned and instead requested the Chicken, Benne & Okra dish that two of my friends seemed to be enjoying. Hassan-Odukale had come to inform that the chicken had unfortunately run out. Not such a big deal, given that closing time was soon. With a usually high tolerance for scotch bonnet heat, I simply could not be modest and stomach through the spicy-bland spinach.

Next up, the complementary dish of Jollof Rice & Smoked Bone Marrow on our table. I immediately notice that the grains of rice lack the bright, orangey red hue of Jollof and instead have a somewhat barbecue brown tinge. The rice had that same scotch bonnet heat, smokier and drier than expected. The smokiness of the dish was reminiscent of ‘party jollof’*. The bone marrow did not do much for the rice, even after scooping out and mixing into the rice to make ‘juicier’ and infuse more flavour as recommended by our waiter. The texture however was not the most pleasant.
The rice, not particularly offensive, was more characteristic of a Ghanaian jollof rather than a Nigerian one, which was also the consensus of the table. I’d like to think that the Nigeria vs Ghana Jollof Wars are so 2016 and that really no cares anymore, but this dish might just prove to have a similar polarising effect amongst guests.

Despite not tasting the Beef Suya Blade for myself, this dish got rave reviews from my friend who finished it promptly. The beef was perfectly sliced, rare to medium rare, served next to a delicate pile of Suya pepper alongside sliced tomato, both labelled as traditional condiments. A deconstructed take of everybody’s favourite suya, it seems this is the star dish of Ikoyi’s menu. However, with the suya pepper simply sitting beside the beef rather than being marinated and cooked into the it as is done traditionally, it is hard to imagine getting this interpretation wrong.
Not particularly tempted by the desserts on offer, we eventually paid our bill following a little mix up of tables and incorrect totals. Clearly, it’s early days for Ikoyi. Many of the dishes in my humble opinion need more testing. I look forward to visiting Ikoyi again in the future once it can decide on an all-round winning menu given the higher price point, and perhaps next time with more direction of Nigerian flavours from the Nigerian side of the restaurant’s partnership.
Verdict :

*jollof rice cooked in big batches with a base that is usually left burnt due to the no-stir-until-finished-cooking method, affecting the flavour of the whole pot of rice.
Ikoyi, 1 St James Market, London, SW1Y (020 3583 4660 ikoyilondon.com).
**it is my regret that I did not take more original photos the night I dined. All but the Efo photo are sourced from Instagram.
