Guinea - Little Baobab

Restaurant:  Little Baobab

Address:  Unit 504, Peckham Levels, 95A Rye Ln, London SE15 4ST

Date of visit:  Sunday 4 February 2024

Time of visit:  6pm

When selecting an eligible restaurant to visit for each country I do have a certain amount of rules. Maybe more so than other people I know of in London who have also embarked on the same project as Elaine and I. We must pick something from the menu - if it's not on the menu we don't ask them to cook something specially. We want as normal and as an authentic experience as possible. We never let on that we're on any kind of mission, nor that we're going to write up the experience and post it online.

Another rule is that we will visit a restaurant of another country if it's the only place we can find that serves the national dish of the country we're trying to tick off. Case in point: Guinea. I could not find any specifically Guinean restaurants or food outlets in London. However, after identifying that the national dish of Guinea is poulet yassa, I discovered the dish being served at a number of Senegalese food outlets. This passes the critera our project!

Little Baobab started off as a pop-up outlet around London, led by Senegalese chef Khadim Mane. It now offers event catering, an online shop, and a food stall at the cool and quirky Peckham Levels - a former multistory car park now turned into a recreational and creative space, with food and drink outlets.

The stall is open Tuesday to Sunday, although the opening times are a little confusing. The website says it's open until 9pm on Sunday. Google said 7pm. Another website said 6.30pm. I was desperate to make sure we got there in good time, as the journey from home/work to Peckham is a long way to travel only to find it's closed and that we need to come back again another day!

I got a little lost trying to find the place. I arrived before Elle as we were travelling from work and home respectively. I actually ended up entering via the rear of the property, through the car park and out onto the rather attractive branded walkway that runs alongside the other side of the building. Through some doors, up several flights of stairs (all well signposted) and I walked into a fairly vibrant environment, past an indoor skate park and a few other food stalls before coming up to a bar. Obviously I took my opportunity to get a pint (from the one single pump that didn't have a glass hanging over it to say it was finished). A very short wander beyond that bar and I saw where the Little Baobab stall was. Thankfully still open, but very quiet. Elle was still ten or so minutes away, but I really wanted to make sure they would stay open.

I walked up to the stall and was greeted by a young girl. A woman, who I presumed was her mother, wasn't far behind. I said hello and clearly studied the menu before asking when they closed. "Seven". I made it fairly clear that I was going to come back in 10-15 minutes to order some food, which was confirmed to be ok. Some relief.

When Elle arrived, we went back to the menu. Slightly pointless as there was only one qualifying main course on their menu. But we also added some extras. We returned to the stall and gave our order to both the mother and child together. Two portions of chicken yassa, and one portion of lamb fataya on the side.

The young girl processed the payment, I made the payment, and we were handed a slightly battered flashing electronic buzzer. We stepped away to find a place to perch and continue our drinks, which we did on some high stools next to a bar-type area. Around us was a fairly sparsely filled space. A kids birthday party had clearly not long ended, and the hangers on remained there finishing their drinks. An English Premier League game was on a big screen just beyond them which a good few people were paying attention to. We both quite enjoyed being in what was a brand new space for us.

Five minutes passed. Then ten. Then fifteen. This was good. This meant the food was being cooked fresh.The buzzer went off and we returned to the stall. The food was ready and laid out, and the woman was adding the cutlery. She asked if we wanted some chilli sauce. The answer to this is always an empatic yes, which almost led to a bit of a smile on her face. The service was very friendly, but very subdued. Not much was said. Very practical and to the point, but also attentive and full.

We took the food to some free benches nearby. The venue was quite quiet by this point, but generally the eating spaces are communal and plentiful.

The presentation of the food was great. The chicken yassa was presented on metal bowls, and the lamb fataya on a wood-look paper plate.

First impressions were of a very substantial portion. It felt heavy, and that wasn't just the metal bowls! The bowl was essentially split into three - the chicken yassa, a side salad and rice. The chicken appeared to be from the thigh, boneless, topped with a sauce of caramelised onions, garlic and chilli. The chicken appeared to be marinated in, and almost somehow stuffed with, lime and some more spice. Everything was piping hot and very fresh. The flavours were fantastic. Hardly any words were said between the both of us as we were both just fully engaged in enjoying what was a very wholesome meal. We did try to involve the rice as we ate, but I think we may have failed with that as - towards the end - it ended up being a fairly dry, rice heavy dish. The added chilli sauce was such a great addition. Fierce and flavoursome, and apparently available to buy by the jarfull on the Little Baobab website! That was a seriously satisfying main meal, ticking all the boxes. The cutlery was wooden, which is the only real downside. I've never enjoyed the feel of dry wood against the lips.

The lamb fatayas were presented around a little pot of tomato and onion relish and a sprig of coriander. They were very much like little meat filled pasties. They appeared to look a little paler than maybe expected, but they were lovely. Made with really tasty lamb, with a spicy kick to boot, which topped off the meal nicely.

I imagine some people think it isn't possible to get restaurant-grade food at a small food stall. I completely disagree. This meal was very much an example of how good it can be. Plus not too expensive, and very decent value for many. The venue alone, Peckham Levels, is worth visiting, but a stop at the Little Baobab stall while there is highly recommended.

And hopefully the bar will have some more beer in!