A Foodie's Guide to the Flavours of Ghana

Little Havana is the newest kid on the Accra block and it is worth the wait. Exclusively sponsored by Havana rum, this is West Africa’s first Afro-Latino-inspired street food restaurant. Located in an old colonial house painted in Cuban colours, it offers a full Cuban menu that includes roast pork and tostones, as well as other Cuban dishes made with local ingredients with a Ghanaian twist.

On the majority of weekends you will find a food fair or outdoor market, which is a haven for amateur and small-scale businesses to showcase their treats and delicacies, from tasty versions of jollof to desserts and chocolates. There’s something for everyone.

Ghanaian flavours get a new imagining with the one-of-a-kind Midunu, which bills itself as a company celebrating Ghana’s culinary heritage. Private dining is on offer, with sample dishes including plantain gnocchi and mango creme brûlée, as well as their nomadic dining events that pop up across Accra, with a multi-course menu that enables you to mingle and make new friends among other foodies. A popular event, reservations are strictly first come, first served.

With so many tribes, there are many different types of traditional food to tuck into. Some of the most popular are soups, such as groundnut, palm nut and okro, eaten with varied starch balls, such as sweet-tasting fufu, or smooth and sour banku. Other popular dishes are kenke, the spiced plantain called kelewele, and the bean-and-rice-based dish called waakye. Street food, such as roasted plantain eaten with nuts and fried yams with pepper dip, are also popular and in the coastal areas you’ll find all kinds of prawns and oysters sold on spears, as well as other seafood.

Regional dishes can be found as you journey around the country, such as abolo (a steamed and sweetened corn dumpling) in regions where the Krobo tribe are based, and tuo zafi (a light, millet ball) in the northern region. Lots of this fare can be sampled at Buka or Country Kitchen, both popular lunch spots, and, if you can’t decide what to try, go for the buffet at Azmera Restaurant and sample a little of everything.

A number of international communities have migrated to Ghana over time and have opened highly rated restaurants. Simret Ethiopian restaurant is a small, six-table establishment that runs a selective and incredible buffet four nights a week. Reservations are essential. Some of the best Thai can be had at the only (slightly larger) establishment of Zion Thai in the popular enclave of Osu.

South Indian flavours, including dosas, can be found at Salt and Pepper, while at Tema you will find scores of Chinese, Vietnamese, Thai and Korean restaurants (as well as casinos), in this port city that’s had a large Far East Asian influx in the last few years. Japanese fine dining is at its best in Santoku, from the team behind the world-famous Nobu chain.