Mama Shee takeaway review: an incredible taste of home-cooked African food

What’s on offer?

Edizemi Onilenla moved to Ireland from Nigeria more than 18 years ago. She worked in the healthcare sector and qualified as a social worker before, in 2018, deciding to set up a food business to bring a real taste of Nigerian food to Ireland. Seeing that no one in Ireland was making kilishi, a beef jerky made in the Nigerian way, she set about producing it and suya, a grilled beef product under her own brand, Mama Shee. She joined the SuperValu Food Academy and is now stocked in a number of its Dublin branches and in African shops.

The Mama Shee food stall has been operating since 2018, and is trading from Merrion Square and Moore Street markets. Large pots of jollof rice, beans, Nigerian fried rice, beef stew, and egusi soup are displayed on the counter when we visit Moore Street Market. Mama Shee is busy frying plantain and puff puffs, which she describes as Nigerian doughnuts.

What did we order?

Jollof rice with spicy beans and plantain, spicy goat with jollof rice and puff puffs.

How was the service?

The service here is wonderful and you can chat to Mama Shee and the others working on the food stall about the various dishes.

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Was the food nice?

The small black beans with the jollof rice have been cooked slowly so that they are soft and tender. There’s a real depth of flavour to the spice. It’s not hot, but cumin, cayenne, and other spices come through. The golden deep-fried plantain is substantial, as is the terracotta jollof rice, which is mildly flavoured but gets a real kick of heat from the spicy sauce on top, which includes Scotch bonnet chillies. The goat comes slow-roasted on the bone, the dark crust on the outside adding flavour. The Scotch bonnet sauce adds spiciness. The puff puffs, straight out of the deep fryer, are like mini doughnuts with a gentle touch of cinnamon.

What about the packaging?

The food comes in rigid plastic containers that are recyclable and can be reused. It is packed in a paper bag.

What did it cost?

It cost €33 for lunch for two people: jollof rice with beans and plantain, €13; spicy goat, €15; and puff puffs, €5.

Where does it deliver?

Open for takeaway in Merrion Square market on Thursdays, 12pm-2.30pm and on Fridays and Saturdays at Moore Street market, noon-4.30pm.

Would I order it again?

Most definitely. There is so much more on the menu that I’d like to try.

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