African Kitchen

Nigerian-leaning kitchen on the Bijlmerdreef doing serious egusi, suya and grilled tilapia.

African Kitchen works the Bijlmerdreef with a menu that reads like a West African greatest-hits record played properly: jollof and fried rice, egusi and afang soups with fufu you tear and swirl, suya with real pepper heat, whole grilled tilapia flanked by fried plantain. The Nigerian backbone is obvious and welcome, this is food built for appetite, not for photographs, though the tilapia does photograph well before you demolish it. The room is simple, the music is on, and the kitchen runs until midnight most nights, which makes it a reliable landing spot after anything at the Arena or a long Bijlmer evening. Service moves at Zuidoost pace: unhurried, warm, occasionally philosophical. Bring friends who can commit to a table full of dishes, ask for the pepper level you can actually survive, and let the fufu do its slow, satisfying work.

Egusi soup with pounded-style fufu, plus a side of fried plantain; ask them to grill the tilapia hot.