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Akosombo
Rating Details »
- Nearest Transit:
-
Mt Vernon Sq - 7th St|Convention Center (Green, Yellow)
Gallery Pl-Chinatown (Red, Green, Yellow)
- Attire:
- Casual
- Accepts Credit Cards:
- No
- Parking:
- Street
- Price Range:
-
$$
- Good for Groups:
- Yes
- Good for Kids:
- Yes
- Takes Reservations:
- No
- Delivery:
- No
- Take-out:
- Yes
- Waiter Service:
- No
- Outdoor Seating:
- No
- Alcohol:
- None
7 reviews for Akosombo
Delicious food served from the steam table for take-out or for enjoying in the cafeteria-style setting (styrofoam cartons and plastic utensils). Friendly server, and a crowd of West African taxistas arguing good-naturedly about the news stories showing on the cable TV. Prices are several dollars less than at Sumah.
The restaurant is a little tricky to find because there is no sign outside, and the building looks pretty rundown from the outside. The building is on the north side of K St NW, just down the block from the west side of Mt. Vernon Square and across the street from the NPR building.
Great food..great service. Yes the building leaves much to be desired, as does the decor, but none of that takes away from the great food. This place is definitely a must!
Much better than Bukom. I have a place in my heart for Ghana Cafe, because the owner's unstintingly nice, and the bar is kind of fine in a weird way.
But Akosombo is the place for actual food. The best time to go is whenever taxi business is slow. Drivers come in to check on the news, etc. This is a place where recommendations can't reasonably be proffered. The best bet is to ask the woman at the steam table what's good. Help her along by asking for egusi or fufu.
Since most of my friends are way down on the adventurous eater scale and are regulars at places like Chili's and Applebee's, I had to make a solo visit to Akosombo on a Saturday afternoon.
If I hadn't been looking for the place, I wouldn't have ever stepped foot into it. There is a sign, but absolutely no indication that the place serves food. A little hint for those who may wish to find it: look for a bunch of taxi cabs out front. If what that guy on the Travel Channel says is true, about how going to the places where all the cab drivers go is a guarantee for good food, the number of taxis out front surely increased my anticipation.
I'm convinced that the owners of Akosombo want to keep outsiders... well... outside. Because in addition to the "you-have-to-know-about-it-to-find-it" aspect, the ambience is akin to a middle-school cafeteria whose maintenance staff has been on vacation-- for years. And like most DC restaurants, they did have a TV tuned to the news.
As mentioned, there is no menu. You have to wait until one of the kind ladies from the kitchen comes out to dish the food from the buffet line. And don't be mistaken, you will wait. Beverage choices? They have a water cooler.
But since the main goal of my mission to Akosombo was to eat the food, I told the lady who came out to give me food "I will eat anything, my lunch is in your hands." She proceeded to dish me some jollof rice, red-red with tilapia, fried plantains, and egusi with stewed goat. She tried to push some plain old fried chicken on me, but I was having none of that-- I can make my own damn fried chicken. I do think she was a bit taken aback by my presence, as I was the only non-Ghanaian in the entire place. Most of my fellow diners seemed to know one another as well as the ladies working the kitchen and were very adamant and discerning about the food they were being served. I took this as a good sign.
So after receiving my styrofoam container on a broken lunch tray, I grabbed some plastic utensils and napkins, filled up my styrofoam cup at the water cooler and pulled up to a table covered in a torn yellow tablecloth, all while trying not to fall out of my chair which had a broken leg.
The food: delicious. I always feel like a dork when I try to describe food (and people on the Food Network reinforce this attitude because they all come across like dorks when they eat food and give that open-eyed grunt/moan, nod their head, and then string together a bunch of swirling adjectives). I mean, I really don't know what to say. It was unlike anything I'd eaten before, yet brought about a strangely familiar satisfaction; in a little philosophical side-bar I had to wonder if this meal, being food from the land of the birth of mankind, had some subconcious attraction going back to the origination of our species. Whatever the case, it was damn tasty, and I am looking forward to heading back. Maybe the kitchen will remember me and I can become one of "the regulars."
The break down --
Do NOT go to Akosombo if:
1) You freak out around eating conditions are not pristine and sterile.
2) You are on a low carb diet (a large quantity of the food is grain-based).
3) You expect prompt and attentive service (that fifth star is holding out mainly due to this point; perhaps my next visit will be better).
DEFINITELY go to Akosombo if:
1) You want heaping portions of delicious, hearty, authentic, home-made food. At a great value, no less-- $11.50 with tax for 2+ lbs of excellent grub.
I can only hope that if more people do head to Akosombo, the owners and patrons will not be too upset at the increased number of outsiders in their establishment.
Now that I've FINALLY joined Yelp, I am so excited to talk about Akosombo!
I have been frequenting this place for the past 5 years, and it easily beats Ghana Cafe (anything does), and is a great alternative to Bukom. Last time I checked, the styrofoam dish was $10, and in that you get a large amount of rice, or kenkey, or banku, and meat and another dish (plantain, spinach...).
This is where all the locals go. Obviously it's not the cleanest, but who cares, the food is great, and it's all part of the experience. Moreover, your options in DC itself are limited, unless you wanna go wayyyy out in Maryland.
May 2009: Ghana Cafe is shut downnnn!! The place never compared to Bukom Cafe anyway.
If you want AUTHENTIC West African food, this is the place! Don't waste your time with Ghana Cafe and Bukom...
Warning # 1, if you are not familiar with Ghanaian/West African food you may have a hard time identifying what everything is, there is no menu only a bar with all the food on it.
Warning #2, come early, they close pretty early (we went at 8 once and they were closed)
The flavors are better and the prices are WAY better than the other Ghanaian food options in D.C.
I've never had anything bad here and I've sampled almost everything!
Everything about this Ghanaian restaurant is authentic. Even the service. There is no menu that I've seen, but they'll be happy to show you what they have that day. Everything is buffet style and you can get several different things for a very reasonable price.
This place seems to be frequented primarily by DC's Ghanaian population and the odd American who's been to Ghana and really wants some fufu.
Quick Ghanaian food primer
red-red: bean stew with fried plantains usually served with fish
waakye: spicy rice and beans
banku: slightly fermented ball of corn dough
fufu: ball of mashed cassava and plantain served with soup
egusi: stew made with the seeds of a pumpkin-like plant
I'd recommend the red-red or waakye(pronounced watchy) if you're not familiar with Ghanaian food. If you're a little more adventurous, try the fufu and soup or the banku. It'll be spicy. You've been warned.
