Oreoluwa Adeyoola and Max Ingleby
Peckham is home to the biggest Nigerian community in the UK. Walking down the bustling Rye Lane, you’ll hear a mixture of Yoruba and Pidgin English amongst the busy crowds, passing hairdressers, African grocers and beauty supply shops of ‘Little Lagos’. If there’s anywhere in London to try Nigeria’s national dish, it’s here.
Dating back to the 14th century, jollof rice is a staple across West Africa. It’s a simple dish. Rice is cooked in a rich tomato sauce and is full of spices, stock cubes, and oil. Many African nations have their interpretations of jollof rice. For example, Ghanaian jollof rice uses basmati rice, which gives it a fluffier texture, whilst Thiéboudienne, Senegal’s jollof rice, is incomplete without freshly roasted vegetables. With its smoky flavour and unique spice, Nigeria’s jollof rice is always a top contender in the ‘Jollof Wars’.
To help you navigate the dozens of Nigerian restaurants, here’s our ranked guide to the best (and worst) jollof rice in Peckham.
Tiwa “N” Tiwa
Cost per jollof: £5
Rating 5/5 for great atmosphere and rich in flavour
Finding Tiwa ‘n’ Tiwa was a challenge. Its Google Maps location will lead you to a barbershop, with no restaurant sign. But, around the corner, across from a large Aldi, lies Peckham’s best-kept secret. This family-run restaurant has a surprisingly lively atmosphere and some of the best jollof rice we’ve ever tried.
We instantly felt at ease at Tiwa ‘n’ Tiwa. It was packed full of people of all ages, from an elderly woman in the corner who carried an authoritative but pleasant presence, to babies asleep in pushchairs, despite the thudding bass of the afrobeats DJ set on the TV. Our jollof arrived promptly, and we switched it up with tilapia on the side. The rice itself was hard to fault. A slight hint of spice paired well with the sweetness of the Malta Guinness we bought to drink, and its dark orange colouring showed that the chefs hadn’t been rushed when stewing the rice in its tomato sauce.
The flavour immediately stood out from all the other jollof dishes we’d tried. Deep, rich and almost caramelised, it was masterful. Even though it was cold in the middle, we enjoyed the tilapia. Tiwa ‘n’ Tiwa makes no effort to hide their microwave; it’s right at the counter. Still, you’d be hard pressed to find a better plate of jollof rice anywhere on Rye Lane, and at £5 for such a generous portion, it’s an absolute steal.
The Flygerians
Cost per jollof: around £6 with additional plantain and sauce for £9.50
Rating: 4/5 for layered taste and fair portions
The most talked-about jollof spot in Peckham is steeply priced but worth the hype. The Flygerians was founded in 2016 by sisters Jess and Jo as a street food stall. It has recently found a permanent home in The Palms, a newly built arcade tucked away in the side streets off Rye Lane. Stepping through the door, we found ourselves in a poky, coffin-shaped glass box of a restaurant, with Nigerian and pride flags hanging from the walls and afrobeats blaring from a large speaker.
Slicker than the rest, in true hipster style, The Flygerians boasts a chalkboard cocktail menu, and the Supa Dupa Hot Wings (tasty but tiny, and disappointingly mild) are served on branded paper in a little plastic basket. But, as ever, the main event is the jollof rice. Topped with four lovingly arranged slices of plantain, the portions are nice and big, and come with two sauces, one sweet and one spicy.
The first bite hits you with a punch of pure smoke, a deep, delicious richness that the chef achieves by deftly charring the bottom layer of rice in the pan. At a fair £9.50 for a single plate of rice and plantain, it is decisive but not overwhelming and allows room for a hint of bitterness and some heat from the Scotch bonnets.
Cafe Spice
Cost per jollof: £8
Rating: 4/5 for authentic jollof rice
Just a few doors down from Peckham Rye station, Cafe Spice proudly displayed meat pies and puff puffs in its front window to entice passersby on Rye Lane. Inside, the young staff served egusi, efo riro, and a wide range of other West African staples beneath a shelf heaving with a thousand bottles of Nigerian Fanta.
We sat at one of the seven tables in the back and tucked into a tasty meat pie before starting on the oxtail and jollof rice. The slow-cooked oxtail was perfect – fatty, soft, delicious, and impossible to eat without making a mess. A healthy portion of the jollof rice had the kind of colour we were looking for, a deep orange, and it was well-cooked with a good chew. The spice cut through nicely; it was flavourful without relying too much on the tomatoes and paired beautifully with a cold bottle of SuperMalt.
Cafe Spice is a reliable pick for jollof, but at £8 a plate, you’re more likely to get your money’s worth at our number one pick.
Lolak Afrique
Cost per jollof: £5
Rating: 2/5 for food quality and disappointing service
One of the oldest Nigerian restaurants in London, it’s been a fixture on Choumert Road since 1996, with ownership passed down from daughter to daughter over three generations. The restaurant is big and crammed with tables and chairs, while a large TV in the corner flickers with static. Alongside our jollof, we ordered some stewed beef, which was tough but tasty and came fresh out of the microwave, swimming in oil.
There was nothing much to say about the rice besides a hair in the first bite. It had a little heat, chewiness and a mild flavour. The lady at the front who took our payment was a little vague with the pricing, and with no menus to cross-reference, we eventually coughed up an outrageous £17 for a plate of jollof and beef (although it is £5 for a single plate of jollof, eat in).
Come to Lolak Afrique to pay homage to a Peckham institution, but don’t expect too much from the jollof or the service.
Suuyar
Cost per jollof: £5
Rating: 3/5 for enthusiastic service, but questionable taste
A staple of Peckham High Street, Suuyar’s main offering is kebab—a style of gizzard meat smoked on a charcoal grill. If you’re looking for something more substantial, Suuya offers large servings of jollof in takeaway boxes for only £5.
Customer service expectations at a food stall aren’t as high as those at a standard restaurant. Still, we felt pleasantly welcomed by the staff at Suuyar. Three people were working the day we went there. A language barrier or the sound of a piano blasting from their speaker made it hard to converse, but the employees were cheerful and happy to serve us.
The jollof at Suuyar was spruced up with large pieces of charred onion and heated on a grill instead of a microwave. Still, these enhancements couldn’t cover its artificial taste. A sickly sweetness to the tomato made us wonder if some jarred sauce was used to create Suuyar’s jollof rice instead of fresh tomato. Perhaps an excessive amount of salt was used to hide this sweetness. We didn’t manage to finish our shared portion.
Our Peckham jollof expedition uncovered a thriving, family-run Nigerian restaurant scene. Every spot we visited seemed to have its regulars, and there was a sense of community. Our list proves that, even within Nigerian cooking, no two jollof recipes taste the same, and each place has its unique twist. Whether you like your jollof spicy with a lingering heat or smoke-infused with fresh bay leaves, there’s a place in Peckham for you.
Featured image by Lauren Miller.