Review: Africana Restaurant & Adinkra Lounge adds a new option to the Delmar Loop

By STL Magazine

Hearty stews, vibrant rice dishes, and rich egusi soup provide a gateway to the cuisines of Ghana and Nigeria.

“African cuisine” is only slightly less descriptive than “cuisine of this solar system.” Africa cultures are so incredibly diverse, their cuisines so varied, it’s absurd to think that they could be corralled into anything even remotely comprehensive. So we entered the new Africana Restaurant & Adinkra Lounge (5860 Delmar) wondering whether we’d be able to make any sense of a menu that could have been some kind of regional free-for-all. 

The place is cool, with a backlit bar that affords almost a cocktail lounge feel. Covering an entire wall is a pair of enormous murals, abstract African savannah landscapes in muted blues, warm yellow, and red. Tables are spread nicely; lighting is diffused to a soft glow by wicker shades that hang across the ceilings, and there’s a small stage for a DJ, which was empty on our visit.

Africana shares the same owners as five-year-old House of Jollof (503 Paul) in Florissant. The new location is referred to as “the luxury brand … House of Jollof 2.0.”

Photography by George Mahe

Photography by George Mahe

Adinkra dominate the décor. They’re symbols from West Africa, most prominently from Ghana, which are a kind of hieroglyphic, each with its own meaning. The bar and one wall that separates the door from the dining room are both lined with these, glowing in the low light, and others decorate each tabletop.

Before dining, a staff member offers a pitcher and empty bowl—a chance to rinse your hands, as most of the dishes here are meant to be eaten with the fingers—though many diners prefer to use the cutlery on the table.

Africana’s food is concentrated almost entirely on the specialties of Ghana and Nigeria. Basically, that means lots of soups and stews, elaborately prepared, with layers of flavors. Jollof rice is to the cuisine of West Africa what BBQ is to Texas: Jollof defines the whole spirit of shared dining—everybody’s Mom has the best recipe. Reputations for restaurants specializing in Nigerian food have risen and fallen by the quality of their jollof. The closest that the U.S. has to it—and this is probably not a coincidence—is jambalaya. The similarities are pretty obvious. Long grain rice is added to a thick, much reduced paste dominated by a tangy tomato paste that’s been hopped up like nobody’s business with a whole kitchen of ingredients. Red bell peppers, Scotch bonnets, onions, garlic, ginger, along with curry powder, bay leaves, and thyme, are smashed into a slurry that manages to smell just as good as it tastes. Africana’s version, a sculpted mound, is lavish with a smoky redolence, and there’s a choice of what you’d like with it. Chicken or beef are most traditional, but you can order a side of goat, catfish, or tilapia, or uh, cheese steak. (Yeah, we didn’t go there.)