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Akosombo - CLOSED
Category: Restaurants African African [Edit]
613 K St NW(between N 6th St & N 7th St)
Washington, DC 20001
(202) 408-1133
- Nearest Transit:
-
Mt Vernon Sq/7th St-convention Center (Green, Yellow)
Gallery Place Chinatown Metro Station (Green, Red, Yellow)
Metro Center Metro Station (Blue, Orange, Red)
- 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:
- No
11 reviews for Akosombo
11 reviews in English
-
Review from C J.
Arlington, VA
10/10/2007
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!Listed in: Wait... This is DC???, MMMM My bestest, Best West African Food
-
Review from Corbo E.
12/3/2010 10 photos
Think of Kushi.
Kushi, that newly famous, ultra slick restaurant of the foodie crowd that has reshaped the landscape of Japanese cuisine in DC...
Kushi, with its acclaimed food, bulging reputation, insatiable hoards, and its foothold near or atop the DC dining hierarchy...
Think of that Kushi. Okay, hold that image in your head. Now, just as quickly, think of the complete and utter diametric opposite.
That would be Akosombo, a West African restaurant that is, in every way, everything that Kushi is not...
Akosombo, which is a mere BLOCK AND A HALF east of Kushi on K Street...a mere block and a half that might as well be the thousands of miles that literally separates Japan from West Africa...the unforgiving "thousands of miles" that separates the lofty from the humble.
Akosombo is undeniably and unquestionably a humble place. It is a hole-in-the-wall of epic proportions that shatters commonly held notions of what a restaurant is, of what a "business" is.
The building that houses the restaurant is dilapidated (with its facade in complete disrepair). Along the face of the building, each of the second floor windows is broken or boarded up in some way. One, the furthest on the right, is completely boarded up (its plywood exterior now worn to a dull gray by the elements). Above the front door is a long rectangular frame that looks as if it may once have displayed a proud sign (perhaps, announcing the name of the restaurant - AKOSOMBO) but that is now falling down sadly from neglect.
There is, now, no indication whatsoever that there is a restaurant inside, that there is a business of any kind therein. That the building is still occupied by human beings defies its outward appearance and common sense.
But, inside, there is, indeed, a restaurant. There are tables and chairs set up...tables and chairs that have the appearance of cast off furniture from a chain hotel, the kind of tables and chairs that might have been used in a meeting room where a convention of accountants might have taken place.
Along the back wall on the right, inside the long interior space, is a converted bar counter where the cash register is kept and where various plastic utensils are grouped in a bin next to what looks like a Coleman water cooler. Along the back wall on the left, across from the bathrooms, is a long, battered old steam table with ill fitting lid pans and hot food poking out in want of attention.
There, if you announce your presence, Pat, in her hairnet, will walk out to serve you as she did me. She will serve you (as there is no menu to speak of); she will serve you whatever it is that she has cooked. And, this will take your discerning taste buds on a trip thousands of miles away from Japan and Asia to a whole other place altogether.
The egusi (peanut soup) is creamy, oily, spicy, and nutty. It tastes hugely unfamiliar and refreshing in the strangest way. To exacerbate the newest of it and confound adjustment to it, there are lumps of goat skin in the soup as well...resting on the bottom of the bowl like gems or rocks on a river bed.
The smoked tilapia, with bones, is stewed and served with two kinds of West African hot sauces with which the fish is intended to be dipped and poked. One is a blend of pureed habanero peppers and onions. An intense reddish orange, this hot sauce, packs what must be an outrageous and blinding Scoville rating. The other hot sauce, which carries the rather unfortunate name, "shito" and is made from dried peppers and shrimp, has a more robust but less spicy delivery. It is dark red, the kind of red with a callous intent.
Its taste reminds me somewhat of spicy Korean bean paste or an Indonesian sambal. That is what comes to mind, but it is not really that at all...but, something altogether its own (but that can't be properly named).
The combo of stewed black eyed peas and fried plantains, called "red red," is closer to home and combines the tastes and textures of the African diaspora (namely, the food of the American South and the Caribbean). It is not hard to see the roots of these cuisines in West African "red red."
Fufu, a pasty ball of cassava, is the staple food of West Africa. It is served in a huge lump, about the size of two hamburger buns pressed together. It has a soft, doughy texture and is rather without taste by itself (a lot like the familiar white rice of Asian cuisine). It is meant to be partitioned out and soaked in a bowl of egusi (or some other soup) and eaten as a moistened mass along with the accompanying meats.
This is what I ate in the company of regulars...a mix of cabbies and van drivers from Ghana, Nigeria, and Cameroon.
After my meal, I felt compelled to walk down to Kushi. I stood, for a moment, just beyond its front door.
A part of me wanted to go inside. A part of me didn't know what to do. -
Review from Zach G.
Washington, DC
10/28/2007
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. -
Review from Chris T.
Washington, DC
11/15/2008
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.Listed in: Offal-ly Delicious
-
Review from Minger M.
Washington, DC
11/13/2010
My friend and i were hunting for interesting places to eat not too far from downtown when I stumbled upon the listing for this West African place on Yelp. I can confirm that best review on the site for this place: it is a dive that serves heaping portions of tasty food.
I have a pretty broad palate but limited experience with West African food. Before this visit I had only eaten at Bukom. (I wasn't crazy about the food there but should go back and try more on the menu to give it a fair review.)
Akosombo is a run down restaurant with a decor that dates unchanged from the 70s or 80s. On the left is a hot buffet station and past that is bathroom that is clearly within view.
Making up for the D- ambiance is huge quantities of tasty food at a reasonably price. The Ghanan serving ladies are considerate in helping the uninitiated make choices. I hate fu-fu so I skipped that suggestion. I ordered Jollof rice, plantains?, greens?, beans? with spicy sauce and peanut soup.
Sorry if my recall of the exact food ordered is indistinct. They basically serve slightly less than 10 items from which you can choose ~5. The tab was ~$12
If I have complaint it is probably with Ghanan food. The beef is tough, especially for a stew. I wonder if the meat is subject to a dry aging or preserving process before cooked. The goat had bones and I didn't feel like fighting to get the meat off it. The rest of meal -- the sauces, starches, soup and vegetables -- made up for the proteins.
Four stars for Adventure. -
Review from Haol Y.
Los Angeles, CA
4/1/2010
This is the kind of gem that you'd literally never find except through Yelp or a friend's recommendation. I was pretty confused when we got to the address because, as other people have mentioned, the building looks condemned and there are no signs anywhere to be found. I'm very glad that we opened the door anyway and walked in.
My colleague and I stood for a good 5 minutes trying to figure out what we were supposed to do and who actually worked there. One customer who was seated and eating waved us in. Another who was watching Obama on the TV mounted over the counter occasionally gave us his opinions on the health care bill that had just passed the Senate (in a very good-natured way). Finally, a lady in a hairnet walked up from the back and said, "You want to eat?". I knew I was in for a treat. The lady led us to a metal buffet line toward the back of the restaurant and started explaining each dish. "Here's some beef, this is fish heads, beans and rice here..." Almost everything looked great. "You pick two items and a meat. I get it for you," she said.
I had the beef, beans and rice, and spinach. She put huge dollops of beans and rice on a styrofoam box with the rest of my order and threw in a fried plantain as a bonus. Everything was delicious; very strongly flavored and hearty just the way I like it. The spinach dish I got was exceptional and the dark red chili sauce was some of the best I've ever had. I've never had African food, but all the flavors were very familiar. It was like a mix of Pakistani/Indian and Cuban (the stuff I got at least).
Environment: almost literal hole-in-the-wall, dirty but friendly
Food: everything I got was great
Portions: large
Service: not good, but who cares?!
Cost: awesome value! ~10bucks for 2 sides and a meat -
Review from Aris F.
Miami, FL
10/13/2009
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. -
Review from John B.
12/23/2008
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. -
Review from Sonia A.
New York, NY
2/16/2009
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. -
Review from Mike F.
Alexandria, VA
10/21/2009
Tried this the first time today. You can't tell the building is occupied from the outside, but there is indeed a restaurant, right beside the auto detailer The cook came out and explained everything and gave a extra large version of everything. I won't try to spell the names correctly. The peanut butter soup with with fish and goat was outstanding with the wrapped rice balls. There was a spinach dish with ground melon seeds that was the most interesting vegetable dish I've had in years. All the food is mildly spicy but is great!
The restrooms were really old and worn out , but absolutely spotless and smelled super clean. It made me feel a lot better about my newest hole in the wall find of the year. -
Review from L S.
Atlanta, GA
2/14/2010
Finally a West African Restaurant that knows how to cook and give you the most for your money. The food was excellent but I can't give 5 stars because it would be a bit tricky to find where it was if someone never saw the pics on Yelp (a sign outside the door would be great), there was only one person serving so service was slow and she seemed to be real tired *not unfriendly* but she wasn't as perfectly hospitable as she could have been due to that. The food made up for the service though and I will be coming back whenever I get my craving :)
