LDNGuide
Our Favourite Black-Owned Restaurants In London
From West African brilliance in Brixton to East African excellence in Islington, and lots more in between.
You'll never run out of amazing Black-owned restaurants to try in London, but the places on this guide are our mainstays. From Nigerian ‘tapas’ up in north London, to sensational Guyanese home cooking down in south, to outstanding Caribbean cooking all over.
THE SPOTS
Chuku’s is a Nigerian restaurant in Tottenham that will make your jolly little mouth troopers—formal title: taste receptor cells, thank you GCSE biology—very happy. The red pepper zing of the moi moi makes it the ultimate dinnertime entrance snack. The suya rub on the prawns and meatballs is a masterclass in steady spice and nuttiness. And the caramel kuli kuli chicken is the kind of crunchy peanut surprise that will make you say ‘hello poultry legend’ out loud. It’s a feelgood, bright pink space where locals full-body hug the host as they enter and the playlist is as strong as the Ginger My Swagger cocktail. Hot intel: you can also swing by for a plantain waffle brunch at the weekend.
Few restaurants have both food and feeling that makes you feel all warm and fuzzy inside, but there’s no doubt that Kaieteur Kitchen does. Owner and head chef Faye Gomes’ cooking and neighbourly hospitality will have you coming back to the excellent Guyanese restaurant in Elephant and Castle again and again. Staple dishes like oxtail and curry chicken are delicious enough, but it’s the specials you want to look out for. Pepper pot is a slow-cooked meaty puddle of brown deliciousness, with meat so tender it gives up before your plate is put down, and a sauce so rich with cloves, cassava, and cinnamon, that leaving even a drop is a crime.
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There is something so innately satisfying about sitting in front of the tiny open kitchen at Chishuru that we could easily spend hours here. And we have. Hour upon hour dipping fluffy waina in a lip-tingling squash sauce, eating a barbecued cauliflower with a peanut sauce that is the texture party everyone should want an invite to, and quietly hoping that the head chef, Adejoké Bakare, might let us live here if we continue to flutter our eyelashes in her direction. It’s a teeny tiny West African spot in Brixton Village and the £48 evening set menu is permanently popular so be sure to book ahead.
Tatale doesn’t have a single thing on its menu that we wouldn’t order again. And we’ve tried everything on the menu, from the spicy chichinga buttermilk fried chicken wings, to the mashed rice and creamy groundnut soup that’s more comforting than a bedtime story. There isn’t a single dud coming out of the kitchen of this pan-African restaurant in Southwark. It’s relaxed and inviting, with more cushions than you probably need, and huge plants all around. Bring your family for a stress-free dinner, come here with friends for a chilled two-hour catch-up, or just pop in for a bowl of creamy ackee croquettes and a satisfying black eyed bean stew.
You don’t go to JB’s for frilly service or a fancy environment. You go for one thing and one thing only, and that is the food. The best jerk spot in Peckham is an in-and-out kind of place, even though its portions are never anything less than generous. A jerk chicken meal here is enough to silence even the most persistent of monologue deliverers—the char is present, the marinade spiced and fruity, and the plantain a satisfyingly sweet accompaniment. Go on the weekend or a Wednesday and you can share some of their excellent jerk pork as well.
Wolkite’s godin tibs—sizzling lamb ribs with crisply rendered fat—is superb. Especially with a few spoonfuls of spicy awaze sauce and a cold bottle of St. George lager. In fact, it’s this combination that has got us through a few years of paying to enjoy distinctly less fantastic stuff at Arsenal’s Emirates Stadium that’s a hop and a skip away from Wolkite. The Ethiopian restaurant is a true great little place, tucked away on Hornsey Road, making generous and delicious food that insists on big groups tearing at its injera with reckless abandon.
We have no idea how the lobster tails at Trap Kitchen got so large and in charge. Presumably they’re hitting the gym twice a day and squat the juicy bang bang prawns in their spare time. The seafood at this slick and rum slushie-serving restaurant in Balham tends to be supersized and super satisfying. From smoky mac ‘n’ cheese and barbecue chicken wings to those XXL lobster tails, the food here arrives on a foil-covered tray that has convinced us Rihanna’s ‘shine bright like a diamond’ has many readings. Outside of red banquette seating and intimate little two-person booths in the back dining room, Trap Kitchen is also home to London’s most glamorous accessory: disposable lobster gloves. It’s called fashion baby, look it up.
The Somali lamb shank from Brothers Cafe doesn’t need much help falling off the bone. Its proximity to the Tottenham Hotspur stadium means that collapsing is in its DNA, but the vital point of difference between these two things in N17 is that the dish at Brothers is actually worth travelling for. The lamb and rice are both fragrantly spiced, mixing star anise, turmeric, and cinnamon with melt-in-your-mouth fat. Throw in some basbaas—a sharp Somali chilli sauce—and you have an enormous meal that’s easily fit for two people. Or one who likes a second dinner.
And the award for the London restaurant with the best name goes to… well, you can probably guess. Fish, Wings & Tings is a 'does what it says on the tin' situation down in Brixton Village. The fish is of the salty fritter variety, the juicy wings come smothered in a sweet tamarind jerk sauce, and the ‘tings’ include huge portions of curried goat and a potent guava rum punch. It’s a one-stop serotonin hit with casual service, reggae tunes, and bright multicoloured benches that are perfect for those rare bursts of London sunshine.
Sharing is caring and there’s no doubt you’ll be doing lots of that when you eat at Zeret Kitchen. The Ethiopian favourite in Camberwell has excellent options for vegans, vegetarians, and meat eaters alike. Warming shuro wot (roasted and blended chickpeas in a hot berbere sauce) and awaze tibs (lamb chunks marinated in peppers and berbere sauce) are regular orders from our side, but whatever combination you get, you’re bound to enjoy tearing and scooping with their excellent injera. It’s a roomy, casual space, just as good for a few mates as it is for a low-key date or a solo dinner.
Known for being Rihanna’s go-to Caribbean spot in London, this Shepherd’s Bush takeaway has everything from fish tea soup, to curry goat and oxtail, and excellent Jamaican patties for £2.50 a pop. There are a couple of seats inside, but the move here is to get some jerk chicken (with extra sauce) and a couple of the peppery, warming meat patties for the road. You’ll always find a queue, but the wait is usually short and the food is definitely worth it.
Al Kahf is a low-key Somali restaurant off Whitechapel Road, not obvious to the eye and nor to Google Maps but a quick search will tell you it’s very much known about—and you’ll be able to taste why. Their lamb shank is so tenderly cooked that a cursory glance at it will cause the juicy meat to fall from its bone. Pair with a sharp whack of basbaas (Somali green chilli sauce), a tear of smokily charred flatbread, and a scoop of sweet and lightly spiced bariis iskukaris. The room itself is big and basic, clean, brightly lit, and made for focusing on what’s in front of you. Which will likely be a 10/10 meal for around £10 or less.
This casual Goldhawk Road spot combines two godly creations. The fried dumpling and jerk chicken. The dumpling is so fluffy that you could very well eat a whole batch of them alone (which they do sell), but the Caribbean jerk spiced chicken inside is saucy and full of flavour. You can add more fillings to the dumpling burger like fried plantain, avocado, and cheese, or you can keep it simple. It’s a popular (and small) spot with limited seating, so if you’re in a rush taking it away is the better option. And get a bottle of their homemade fruit punch while you’re there.
