Jollof by Jara

33 Fola Osibo Road, Lekki Phase I | Instagram | 0808 061 0290

The first time I came across Jollof by Jara’s page on Instagram, I knew I had to visit. I love the idea of a restaurant dedicated to celebrating all forms of Jollof rice, in their individual glory — including Senegalese Jollof, which isn’t even a contender in the Nigeria-Ghana Jollof wars. When the opportunity finally presented itself, a couple of friends and I headed over there to see if these guys were doing anything worth talking about.

P.S. Jollof rice isn’t all Jollof by Jara does; they also serve a bunch of other mostly overpriced Nigerian meals. No really — how is a bare wrap of eba N1500? Stop playing.

We went on a Sunday afternoon and had to contend with a bit of a crowd there. With features like a kid’s play area, large tables and a kid’s menu, Jollof by Jara is clearly a family-style restaurant and there certainly were kids around. Nonetheless, I quite liked the vibe of the restaurant. I also liked the art pieces on display and up for sale; they elevated the otherwise simple aesthetic of the space.

We quickly realised that Jollof by Jara has a rather unique way of taking orders — a QR code is provided, which takes you to a website where you can select your table (each one is numbered), order from the menu, pay online and even specify your preferred spice level and state any allergies if you wanted to. It was all pretty seamless. They also provide physical menus, if you’re into “needing to feel the paper” and that jazz.

Note: You’ll end up paying a total of 15% additional charges because of taxes and the 2.5% service charge. You’ve been warned.

“Appetisers”, which really were snacks, came first — bowls of chin chin, plantain chips and popcorn, because Jollof by Jara doesn’t have a starter section in its menu. It would have been fab if they had a bit of an edge — like being made in-house or with a special twist but I swear we got served N500 Minimie chin chin. ‘Lucky’ for us, the popcorn tasted fresh, like it’d just been made, so there was that. Also, I ordered the Palm Wine Sangria, an instant hit. I thought the blend of the palm wine’s sweetness and milkiness, with the citrusiness of the juices, was genius and I savoured that drink to the very end. Please, Palm Wine Sangrias should definitely be more of a thing.

Seeing as my sangria was a hit, I was already in high spirits, so the kind of disappointment and shock I felt when our server turned up with the food was 🤯. We had ordered the 3 Jolly Friends, which was a sampler of Nigerian, Ghanaian and Senegalese Jollof, but what we were served was a rude awakening. The portions were unreal — so small it was clear they took that ‘sampler’ part very seriously. We had expected the portions to be larger because of the picture we saw online, but some depth-of-field stuff — or whatever the correct terminology is — must have deceived us.

Plus, there’s the fact that those tiny portions were all worth all of N10k and the menu description said “made to share”. I would call it stretching the truth if it wasn’t, in fact, more a case of daylight robbery.

After getting past our initial disappointment — at both the portion size and the fact that the food wasn’t served hot — we dug into our meals. The Ghanaian Jollof was authentic and really flavourful, and they did justice to the Nigerian Jollof as well. It was smoky and so good. To be honest, I couldn’t pick which one I liked more. As for the Senegalese Jollof or Theboudienne, it was rather underwhelming for me and the difference in the taste profile was stark, courtesy of the “broken rice” used to make it. It wasn’t bad per se, just not particularly exciting; plus, a more accurate sample of Theboudienne should include bits of fish and vegetables.

Thankfully, the Kelewele, grilled croaker fish and BBQ wings we ordered supplemented nicely (we also appreciated that we only had to wait 30 minutes for our food to come). The Kelewele was sweet and well-spiced, but it was my first time trying it, so I didn’t really have anything to compare it to. If the Jollof by Jara version was legit, then I’d say Ghanaians did a great job with this one.

The barbecue wings were good — succulent and flavourful — but I questioned the barbecue sauce they were made with; that signature barbecue sauce sweetness just wasn’t present enough. As for the grilled croaker fish, it was spicier than we requested for and I think ultimately, that overpowered the flavour — or maybe there just wasn’t enough flavour to boot. Our waiter must have noticed how much we were struggling with the spice because he came over to ask if we wanted some water, which turned out to be complimentary.

As for the rest of the drinks, my guests had hot chocolate and a Rock Shandy mocktail. I think the hot chocolate was just that Cadbury 3-in-1, if I’m keeping it a buck but I loved the Rock Shandy. Initially, my friend was convinced it had alcohol in it because of the bitter aftertaste, but we were told it was just the touch of bitters they added. There was also a sharp aftertaste which I suspected was courtesy of ginger. Either way, it was a really tasty drink.

On the customer service front, I really enjoyed Jollof by Jara. The restaurant is an offspring of Jara Beach Resort, and it’s evident that they take hospitality a tad more seriously. Everyone was warm and courteous and our waiter made sure we were well attended to. He even indulged in some unrelated questions I had about working there.

POSTSCRIPT

I’m not sure if I’d go back because that sampler ordeal really scarred me. Nonetheless, I’m in tune with the general vibe here.

verdict

DAMAGE

Chin Chin – N500

Plantain Chips – N500

Palm Wine Sangria – N4500

Rock Shandy – N2500

Hot Chocolate – N2000

3 Jolly Friends – N10000

Kelewele – N3000

Grilled Croaker Fish – N6000

BBQ Wings – N5000

PARKING

Should take 10+ cars