Nigerian Kitchen

Compared to other Nigerian Restaurants in the area, I like Nigerian Kitchen! Their Jollof rice is AMAZING! They give you so much that I had some for three meals. Their Goat Meat is also really good. They have a huge eating area.

I love food. I love Nigerian food. I was sick for 2 days after eating here. The incubation time for food borne illness is usually 24– 72hours. If you want to play Russian roulette with your bowels go ahead and eat here.

I love Nigerian Kitchen. My favorite is the yam porridge with Goat meat stew and plantains. Life just doesn’t get any better than this. Don’t go for the décor or the service, go for the great food. I am hungry thinking about this now. Just try it.

It’s hard for me to review this place accurately because I am torn on so many fronts. The food was amazing, I mean it just was really great! The portions were large and the prices were so reasonable. On the other hand however I left this place because the service so was poor only to find out that the place I was heading to was closed. I was then forced to return to this place as to not have my friends driving all over town trying to find a place to eat.
But I’m glad I stayed. Wisconsin doesn’t have one West African restaurant. Not one! So you can imagine my delight when I took my first bite. Everything was really really good. What surprised me the most was the price of rice. They have this huge plate of rice with plantains for $ 1.50. I had one at the restaurant and took some home. As I write this review however I want to punch myself for not taking two for the road. Oh well! It gives me an excuse to go back to the windy city.
One of girls at our table got this yam porridge with palm oil that was really good. I had never had it before but I loved it. The taste is almost hard to pin point but not in a bad way. I got the egusi with goat and pounded yam. Delicious. No complaints. Really, not one. All I can do is recommend it.
If I lived in the area I would only order take out and spare myself the frustration. But I don’t live in the area and have no choice but to dine in. You know what though? The food far out weighs the service so I’m not too worried about it!

After buying my first car, I wanted to take the beau out to celebrate. I decided I try some Nigerian Food. First stop was Iyanze. No Parking. So we ended up at Nigerian Kitchen. Like actual Mama-​Put (local) restaurants in Nigeria, this «kitchen» was Dimly Lit with Poor Décor but unlike any decent Mama-​Put, the food was blah.
I had Garri and Efo (Spinach) soup with goat meat, beef and tripe. Though the garri was nicely portioned, the soup was burried in tomato stew (I rather it wasnt), –tasted more like stew than Efo. Service was just ok, goat meat was tough yet oily. The waiters looked bored and uninterested.
I did notice the printed images of post-​Independence Nigerial Leaders that began the dysfunctional experiment we call a government. Well thats a conversation for another day and forum.

Garbage!!! Waste of money!!! I ordered my food. Took 2 bites. LEFT!!! Yes! I paid for something I didnt even eat. GARBAGE!!! Im not picky either!!!

FYI — If you don’t understand or know Nigerian food, you probably have no business commenting on the food. You can comment on the cleanliness, the service, the ambience, and whether or not you got a diarrhea subsequently, but that’s it!
For me, the food is decent, but other aspects, not so much. The inside is bare, the furniture is dirt-​cheap [keyword: dirt], there is barely any lighting (i.e. atmosphere is dingy), the walls and flooring are old/​disgusting. As such, it makes you skeptical about the cleanliness of the food (even though I’ve ordered here 3x and never had diarrhea). Also, while I have never eaten there (always take-​out), the service is slow. It takes forever for the food to get ready. They make a lot of things from scratch when you order.
Food: I can’t really complain. I’ve never tasted anything that’s bad here. It is always decent in taste. Not the BEST you’ve ever tasted, but definitely tasty (like, home-​made for the average person). Things I’ve ordered: moin-​moin, jollof rice, fried yam/​omelette, fish stew, fried plantains.
Having said all this, I will not be going back. Because I don’t think I should take one more chance on the diarrhea business. Maybe I was just lucky past 3 times.

Easily one of my worst meals ever — and I have eaten in pre-​democracy Moscow. As you might know from reading my reviews, I am most partial to ethnic eateries in (relatively) under-​trafficked areas of the city. One of the things I like best about Unilocal is how it democratizes the multi-​chain big brand stores with the small mom & pop. Everyone has an opportunity to shine and let the world know what s/​he can do. It’s one of the reasons I first started doing Tours and Spotlights.
But for every string of gems, a dud must creep in. Such was the case at Nigerian Kitchen. My group sauntered in on a rainy Saturday, full of hope and optimism. We walked into a dark, dank place with nary another soul. Hmm, now that I think about it, don’t most horror movies start like this? Rainy Saturday. Diverse group of giggly folks. Empty (abandoned?) house. Upon further reflection, we might have asked for this. Going forward… we waited for a waitress to tell us what to do. Even in an empty establishment, if custom is to wait for seating, I prefer to wait for seating. Our server comes from out back, directs us to a table, gives us some water… and leaves.
That’s fine. It’s been a while since I’ve had Nigerian food and I could use the time to refresh myself on the menu offerings and chat up the folks at the table. After waiting for a spell, we spy the waitress and call her over. We’re ready. They were not. Item after item was unavailable for purchase. Keep in mind, we were the only party in the place and came shortly after it opened. How in the world were they already out of food? After striking out, twice (including asking for a fruit juice/​soda — «No. We out.»), I finally settled upon the jollof rice with goat. To the surprise of no one, almost our entire table ordered the same meal. Not for want to do so, however, it was one of the few options we had. Determined to have SOME choice in what I ate that day (and a little turned off by the water/​glassware), I opted for some ‘authentic’ Malta… from Nigeria, right? Wrong. It was from Denmark… and it was horrible. Imagine raw barley mixed with water and a touch of carbonation. Thirsty?
My appetizer arrived to the table shortly after I gagged on my beverage. I ordered the moi-​moi. It was a gelatinous bean cake with a spicy finish. Surprisingly, it took some of the stank off my beverage and made it more palatable. So, while my app was a little o₀ at least it wasn’t traumatic. That honor fell to my tablemate who ordered the escargot. Rather than an abundance of small, cooked snails, though, the dish is ONE GIANT snail. Due to the shrieks and tears, I refused to gaze upon the beast. I mean, I guess that six snails could = one, big snail but I’m guessing most people would rather eat six small ones. After I finished snickering at the mighty mollusk, I soon got mine. My goat with jollof rice was inedible. The rice was fine but the goat was brown fat with small shreds of protein. I got the booby order because everyone else’s goat was leathery and tough. The vegetables that came with the dish were those frozen peas and square carrots you might have tried to block out from your elementary school days. Somehow, I doubt these were authentic examples of Nigerian cuisine.
We had zero chance to voice our confusion/​displeasure because our waitress disappeared again as soon as she delivered the food. It was a very creepy experience. After we pushed our food around on the plate, we caught a glimpse of her and asked for the check. She disappeared again. I wondered how long we would have to wait for the bill. I shouldn’t have wondered. Seems the delayed came from her doctoring the check. Each item was priced at 1 or 2 dollars higher than it was listed on the menu. At that point, we were too tired, beat down and traumatized to fight back. I just considered it her tip and kept it moving. With service fluctuating from indifferent to rude to nonexistent and food ranging from bland to nasty to debilitating, we were all too ready to get the heck out of dodge. Horrible.
And, I didn’t even mention the bathroom. I can’t relive that. I just can’t. My advice? Hold it… or, go outside. Seriously.

Let me tell you a little story about how a potential 5-​star review ends up as a 1-​star:
5 stars: JT is doing a Neighborhood Spotlight here! Ethnic eats on a lazy weekend? How could I not love this?!
4 stars: I arrive earlier with some folks. Tables are put together, we are seated, and brought pitchers of water for our large party. Pretty good start.
3 stars: The rest of the party arrives. We start to look over menus. Internal dialogue: «Aren’t these menus a little dirty? Why is it so dingy looking in here? Someone open a window and turn on some lights!» Orders are placed and the appetizers are brought out. I sampled some of the moi moi and it was pretty good — maybe like a spicy tamale with bits of Spam strewn within it?
2 stars: The «escargot» that someone ordered was the biggest snail I have ever seen in my life. The faces of those who sampled it will never be erased from my memory. Then, most of us started to Google pictures of «Nigerian snail» on our phones. DO NOT DO THIS EVER. Even now, in the safety of your home. Now convinced that there were hundreds of these snails hanging out in the backroom, our entrees appeared. I had the goat stew with jollof rice. The rice was edible, basically a huge plate of orange-​hued rice. The goat on the other hand, was so old/​overcooked/​leathery, that I couldn’t palate it. This was also the same goat that was served to someone who ordered chicken stew because she didn’t like goat. WHAT?!
1 star: Up to this point, 2 stars is being pretty generous. I had to accompany a friend to the bathroom in an even dingier room and stand guard. Then when the checks came, this place had clearly decided that it didn’t want any repeat business. The prices were all between $ 1 – 2 more than stated on the menu (and the prices of the same dishes varied BETWEEN menus too). What on earth? I mean, I hate to stereotype people by country of origin, but really? NIGERIAN Kitchen… you want to try and scam a large party like this? Completely unacceptable. We almost ran out screaming.

If you care about life, please do not eat at Nigerian Kitchen.
There is so much wrong here, you can’t even find a map to get back to right. The interior and overall mood inside Nigerian Kitchen is reminiscent of a horror movie — the ones where a group of vibrant, attractive, wide-​eyed travelers start off on what they think is going to be the camping trip of a lifetime and then take a wrong turn somewhere and end up getting massacred. No one lost any limbs during our meal, but is that fact worthy of another star?
Even though Halloween has passed, I’ll tell y’all a little scary story. I came to NK super excited to try some Nigerian food with a good group of people (*ahem Unilocalers*). First thing I noticed, the inside of this place is dark as hell. And I’m not using the simile «dark as hell» in the way that people use it to say something like «that train ride was slow as hell,» but in the way that I imagine hell, and the interior of NK is probably as dark as it. Judging from my friends’ reactions from seeing the bathroom, I now believe NK is probably one of the circles of hell and its bathroom is the actually the epicenter.
Next, I have no idea how long the glasses on our table had been there, but they were pretty dingy. The menus were sticky. The one waitress ignored us until we called her over to tell her we were ready to order. Still, we stayed optimistic. We ordered a bunch of stuff a lot of us had never tried before, because hey, go big or go home right? We should have gone home. I ordered jollof rice and chicken. The waitress asked me, «goat?» and I repeated «no, chicken.» I’m not a huge fan of goat, so I prayed she got it right. Check out what I rated NK and guess if she did.
We wait, and wait some more. Another person in our party arrives late, and she goes and puts in her order. The waitress who had ignored us earlier informs her that they hadn’t even started our food yet. Oh yeah, did I mention we were the only people in the restaurant. Yep.
The rest of the lunch follows suit. Here are the lowlights:
— A huge, completely black, prehistoric snail arrives at our table and a couple people are brave enough to try it. They say it’s inedible. I pass.
— Everyone gets their food except me. At that point I didn’t know I was the lucky one.
— I get my food, and a surprise! Unfortunately, that surprise is the fact that I have been given goat instead of chicken. The goat tastes like it was cooked a week ago. It’s dry, tough, and unappetizing. My rice is bland and also dry.
— After everyone has tasted their food, much of it is left on the table. We wait even longer for the waitress to notice us again and ask for the check. She gives it to us, and throws in some attitude for free. Another surprise — almost all of the items had an extra mystery dollar tacked onto them from what was on the menu. Now, I have not only had one of the sketchiest meals I have ever eaten in a restaurant, but I have to pay more than I expected for it. Whatever, just get me outta here.
Luckily, we all made it out alive. A little disturbed and visibly shaken, but we Unilocalers are a tough bunch.

I came here one sunny Saturday afternoon with a group of Unilocalers. And now I’ll never be the same (just kiddin’).
I am choosing to give this restaurant 2 stars because the food was not awful, but something about it made me not want to eat it. There was no one else in the place the whole time we were there, but a few people seemed to come in to get food to go. Those people appeared to know exactly what they came for, home cooked food in the style they knew.
I arrived late, the victim of a CTA re-​route, and picked up a menu with pictures. I asked my lunch partners what they were having, and they were all stunned to see that I had a menu with pictures! They had been stuck with smaller menus with only written descriptions. So you might say they «ordered blindly.»
The restaurant is kind of typical of a neighborhood dive, which never bothers me, because I have had some fantastic meals in places like that. But this was a bit different. Perhaps it was partly because we were the only ones there — I don’t know. But the place seemed very dark and gloomy. The huge fan billowing hot air at me didn’t help, either. Had the food been wonderful, I could have overlooked all of that. But it wasn’t, so I can’t.
The people in the group were adventurous, one ordering escargot, which was completely tough and therefore, inedible. It even looked quite awful, and we all agreed it was one of the largest snails we’d ever seen.
I stuck with a chicken/​yam whipped okra dish. I love okra and the fact that it is slimy doesn’t bother me. But this whipped okra was a bit too much for me to handle. I don’t know what I was expecting and I’m a bit embarrassed to even say that it was a pile of whipped slime, but that’s what it was. The reason I hate to say it is because I know full well that okra is slimy, so I guess that’s what it was supposed to be. But that doesn’t change how I felt about it. I think if it had some kind of distinct flavor — a spice of any kind, it would have been an improvement.
The food had no flavor — and I doubt that adding salt and pepper would have changed that. Then it would have just become salty flavorless food, which, to me, is even worse. The huge lump of white yam it was served with almost made me laugh. I love yams, but I’ve never seen one served like that. It just kind of added to the blandness of the whole meal. Truly tasteless.
After our plates were served, we never saw another member of the wait staff again. I did notice when I went to the front to place my order late — everyone was on a cell phone and despite my smile and apology for being late, the woman at the front seemed bothered that she had to interrupt her phone call to attend to me. I also understand that the check was padded, which makes the entire experience not worth having again.
I wouldn’t recommend this place to anyone, really, unless you know the dishes and are familiar with exactly what you want.
I’ll be trying another Nigerian restaurant, because I don’t want that experience to color my view of Nigerian food, which, like most ethnic foods, will have some great dishes to experience.

My instinct is to give this place three stars. Most of the people in my group were really unhappy with their food, but my food was a good solid «meh;» edible, inoffensive, bland. Unfortunately, it became clear that the restaurant had absolutely no interest in enticing us to come back, padding a bit on our check and taking their time with the service. Our jaunty friend took a risk and ordered the escargot, and it was completely inedible. My menu was very, very sticky, which disgusted me — it was plastic, so it would have been easy to clean it with soap and water. I would not be surprised if the menus had *never* been cleaned.
My experience with Nigerian cuisine is minimal; I had a Nigerian roommate who has taught me her recipe of jollof rice, which I frankly say I’ve perfected. She also shipped an entire 20 lb bag of spicy fish flakes from Nigeria, which she used as a seasoning for practically everything she made. It’s unique and fishy and peppery and spicy, and I’ve been unable to find it anywhere, so I was hoping to taste it here.
The dish I ordered was the whipped okra with ground crawfish and chicken. The ground crawfish was the stuff I love which I referenced above, but the waitress said they were out — in fact, they were out of most of the things in the menu. They were even out of coffee — who the hell runs out of coffee? The waitress suggested I substitute goat for fish, which was fine.
Well, my okra was certainly whipped. I love okra, and don’t even mind the gooey quality it gets when it’s prepared in any way that doesn’t involve a fryer, but this barely tasted like a vegetable. There was no bite or taste — it just tasted like nothing. It was served in a basic tomato and onion purée with unseasoned chicken and goat dumped into it. Chicken skin grosses me out, and pretty much all of what they gave me was skin, so I just picked it all out. The goat was fine, but clearly was not made fresh — I imagine they made it a couple days ago, and it was delicious then, and then microwaved the leftovers for our group. This dish was edible, but it was NOT made with care.
It was served with a big lump of yam on the side, which was sort of cool — but the meal was difficult to eat with a fork and a knife. You’re supposed to eat it like this
which I now know, after googling. Of course, the grossness and the darkness of the restaurant had killed my sense of adventure, so I probably wouldn’t have tried it.
Overall, an unfortunately negative experience, but I’m not letting it influence my opinion of Nigerian food.

Perhaps I came here on the wrong day. Or wrong time of day. Or something. (For the record, it was early afternoon on a Saturday.) My experience was distinctly different from most of the other reviews.
First, the positive. Though slow — «relaxed,» as we like to call it – the service was very friendly. We were provided with several pitchers of water for a table of 7, and server answered our questions as best she could. They were out of a few items, but she warned us about those in advance.
The food, on the other hand… Let me preface this by saying I am not a picky eater. I’m willing to try almost anything. And there were plenty of items on the menu I found interesting. i just wasn’t pleased with what came out to the table.
One of our party started with the snail. The menu says «Stewed Snails (Escargots).» Instead, it was one giant snail. I posted a photo of an uncooked snail. That’s what we got. The snail was inedible. I don’t mean that it didn’t taste good. I mean inedible. It was so overcooked that it was like chewing on a car tire. The sauce it was served in was very tasty, but hard rubber is hard rubber.
I got the moi-​moi — steamed bean cake — which I enjoyed. It wasn’t terribly appetizing on the plate — more glob than cake — but it was tasty. Some of my fellow diners found it spicy, and it did have a bit of a spicy finish, but it was fine for me. In fact, I didn’t find any of the food very spicy.
I got the jollof rice, as did several others. A couple got the coconut rice, and one got the okra with stew. The okra looked nasty, but the woman who ordered it liked it. The dish comes with crayfish, but they were out so they substituted chicken. The rice comes with chicken, goat, or fish, and most of us chose goat. Big mistake. The goat was really tough. It seems the only goat that wasn’t tough was fatty. I’ve had my share of goat, and it doesn’t need to be this tough. The goat came with a tomato sauce — again, a very tasty sauce — and had the goat been stewed in that sauce, it would have been fine. As it was, it was so tough that it was difficult to cut. The rice was similar to Spanish rice, and was good, if a bit dry. I could have used a lot more of that tomato sauce.
I didn’t try the coconut rice. It came with a side of peas and carrots that looked like they came out of the freezer. Again, not appealing.
On the plus size, the portions are very generous. We left most of the food behind.
Prices are reasonable, if a little too flexible for my taste. Everything was about a dollar more on the check than it was on the menu. Including that bad ass snail.
I hate to give this place a bad review. The people were very nice, and seemed to be doing their best. I was looking forward to lunch, and had planned to come back to try some of the other dishes. I don’t think that’s going to happen. I left full, but unsatisfied.

Lived two blocks from this place for two years and FINALLY am checking it out. Started with the Moi Moi, a spicy bean cake with hot spices and a hard boiled egg to balance out the heat. Delicious.
Course two: was supposed to be escargot, but turned out to be an unidentifiable animal cartilage. Turns out it was a type of snail we don’t know in the Americas… Kind of tasted like dirt. I couldn’t swallow. The tomato sauce it was served with was delicious.
Third course: okra stew with goat (other options were chicken or fish). Served with a white paste similar to whipped potatoes, the goat stew is a knockout! A tougher version of beef, for a comparison. The okra sauce was slimy deliciousness.
Also, we went with the Pollaf rice (apparently an earthy spice?) with goat (I guess we accidentally were really into goat and accidentally double ordered after being made aware that they couldn’t do the coconut rice). Also delish. Side of plantains were sort of uneventful, but good.
Service was low key, but courteous. Most business seems to be call in take out orders by cab drivers. The Afrotainment network was on tv and was fascinating. In spite of the misses, I’m going with 5 stars because it’s 2 blocks from my house, the ladies were sweet, and welcoming. The other-​worldly, convenient, inexpensive experience is worth checking out if you find yourself on the north side. We ate like kings for 35 clams.

Delicious and spicy west African food at a good price. CASH ONLY and BYOB! Speaking of prices: taxes are already included in the price, so when you get your check at the end, you just have to add on tip.
I was in a party of 8 people, and though I made reservations, it turned out to be unnecessary on a Saturday night. The service was slow to the point of nonexistent, and the food took a while to come out, but I expected no less from a West African restaurant. They’re not in a rush, and neither should you be if you decide to eat in (set aside ~2h for dinner).
I had the egusi stew with fufu, and my friends had the coconut/​jolof rice with chicken/​goat/​beef. Everything we had was good, and their fried plantains were tasty.

Solid food. Never having had Nigerian before, I stared at the menu pretty confused for a long time until the lady running the place told me, «Get this, all white people get this and like it.»
True enough, I did like it, probably because I am indeed white. It was the #12 — Jollof rice w/​Goat and fried plantains. Jollof rice, it turns out, is a lot like Creole jambalaya. The goat was very tender and in a spicy, oily red sauce. The food is spicy — maybe too spicy for some.

This is such a great, unassuming place.
Come here for great food and a friendly atmosphere. It’s perfect for a student. The décor is old, but who cares? It’s clean, and the staff is so nice. If you’ve never had Nigerian food, you absolutely must come here! It’s very cheap, and they’ll help you pick something. The fried plantains are HEAVENLY.

Even though I typically do take out, it is my FAVORITE Nigerian restaurant. It’s been newly renovated; service can be iffy — so I try to call ahead; they’re portions are wholesome — as compared to other Nigerian restaurants. You can get a great plate for $ 10, and still have a lot left over. If you’ve never had Nigerian food, they’ll be sure to assist you with the menu.
So, give them a try!

This was my first time at Nigerian Kitchen. I stopped in to get my boyfriend something for dinner. I ordered him the coconut rice whit goat meat, plus ordered two extra pieced of goat.
First off the two extra pieces of goat were $ 2.00 a piece, when on the menu it states $ 1.50. Fine I’ll pay the $ 4.00. Then the menu states it comes with onion and peppers… when I get home it didn’t have onion and peppers but mixed vegetables of peas, carrots and corn which looked like something you would get out of a can. Though the Vegetables and coconut rice and the sauce to the goat meat were pretty good… the goat meat was very tuff and almost impossible to eat. I am glad we tried this place but we we will not be coming back.

4.5 stars so far, huh? Well, I guess when there are only 3 reviews that can happen to a place like Nigerian Kitchen.
Where do I start? Well… um…uh…snot stew. Yah… snot stew. Here we go. Apparently when you grind and pulverize melon seeds into a plasmatic state, they turn into this bright green snot like substance that tastes like vomit. Um… yah. What they did with this snot substance was poor it over a yummy spiced, tomato based talipia stew. Once mixed with the stew, its ok, I guess, but on its own… well it tastes just like vomit. Watching my friend eat it, trying hard not to get the snot all up in his beard was probably the best part.
You are offered an option of 4 different starchy squish balls to pull apart and dunk in your stew. If you’ve ever watched NOVA or perhaps one of those studies on African tribes on the Discovery Channel, I’m sure you can recall the tribesman pounding the shit out of a root vegetable with an enourmous morter and pestal until it turns into a big ball of doughy starch. Thats what it is. It sort of tastes like a super bland potato in dough form.
The goat stew was pretty tasty. It was in the same sauce as the tilapia stew and was served with fried plantains. Yum! I could live on fried plantains. The meat itself was pretty tough, but that is to be expected with goat, unless you braise it for hours. The flavor was quite good and not too spicy.
The place itself looks like an old YMCA youth hall with gray painted brick walls, dark matted industrial carpet, a pool table and a big ol’ projection TV with industrial fans. There were a handful of tables with plastic tablecloths and dusty fake flower arrangements. Not exactly the Ritz in there, but certainly an experience. Half the dishes on the menu contain something «ground», so you are constantly hearing a blender going in the background. I’m still dying to find out what the «whipped okra» was all about.
I probably won’t be back anytime soon, but I am glad that I did try it out. Certainly not for the picky eaters, Nigerian Kitchen is a experience for us adventurous diners and will definately earn you a notch on the «weird shit eaters» bed post.