Welcome to our Hole in the Wall series, where we show some love to London’s best affordable eats off the beaten track. No fuss. No glamour. Just the good stuff.
Akwaaba kitchen is just opposite Camberwell Green on the north facing side of Peckham Road – a hole in the wall in the most literal sense. To say it’s easy to miss would be an understatement, but luckily the scent of steaming jollof will guide a nose like bread crumbs down the pavement to a small nook obscured behind a phonebox.
There you’ll find a window — maybe a square meter in size — and in it, a man named Richard. Then there’s the food: glorious, simple Ghanaian chicken dishes for prices as low as £2. Akwaaba means “welcome” in Twi (one of the dialects of the Akan language spoken in Ghana) and that gets to the spirit of Richard’s business.
This is comfort food for the worker on the go. Most of the menu consists of grilled spiced chicken on a bed of jollof rice, in a wrap with plantains and fresh salad, or straight off the bone, coated in a ginger glaze.
When I arrive to pick up a wrap and a box of chicken, Richard tells me that two customers that week had refused to pay the £2 for his Lunchtime Saver. They wanted to pay him more.
Richard first started cooking to raise money for another business of his in 2018, catering meals out of the back of a car during events. He was overwhelmed by the positive feedback and within a year, the side gig became the full time job.
In September of 2020, he moved into Akwaaba’s current location in Camberwell. It’s cramped and stuffed with kitchen appliances, yet watching him maneuver deftly between orders in all stages of prep, you can see why he doesn’t mind. A step to the left, a step to the right. Everything’s at hand.
I headed back to my flat to marvel at the chicken wings and their smart garnish of untoasted sesame seeds. Ten minutes later they were all gone.
Akwaaba Kitchen – Jollof Rice Done Properly is located on 342 Camberwell New Road, London, SE5 0RW. It is open on Tuesdays and Wednesdays from 12 noon to 10pm, and Saturday and Sundays from 12 noon to 7pm. The 35, 36, 185 and 436 buses all stop nearby.