MAROX Grill - Togo

During my last tour of duty in West Africa, while driving through Lome we were looking for a restaurant called Morox. Back in the 80's, the French still had a steady flow of money coming into west Africa and Togo was far more modern than Ghana. As kids we would go across the border with our families to hit the beach and to sample fine French cuisine. Morox was an institution in its own right, serving up some of the best grilled meats on the coast, being most well known for their pork knuckle. Not a very fancy place but the food spoke for itself. I was not confident that Marox would still exist but my friend was persistent and hungry, so we eventually found the spot and were stoked to see the grill smoking.

Rather than wolf down the pork knuckles and continue on our 6 hour road trip, we opted to half grill the meat then get back home and finish them up on the BBQ pit with the rest of our mates. This of course meant having to smell the juicy pork all the way back to Accra. But we did fill up on their grilled beef and chicken steaks.

While sipping on some traditional Togolese beer called Awooyo.

It would have been awesome if I could have taken pictures of the pork knuckles when we finally got them home and finished them up on the grill. But in Ghana we have a saying, 'chop time no friend'... In American that translates to 'you snooze you loose'. With more than 6 hungry mouths drooling over the meat as it sizzled on the grill, there was no time to even click a picture before every pound of flesh was devoured.

If you pass through Togo and have no beef with the swine, you would be a damn fool not to seek out Marox and sample their menu.

Nespresso C120 Citiz & Milk

Nespresso is a brand of espresso owned by Nestle. I went past their showroom in London a while ago and was floored by their design concept and quality of coffee delivered through their own economical machines. So a couple of weeks ago, I picked one up in Hong Kong.

The unit is compact yet robust. It is relatively easy to use and clean. The water tank is on the back of the machine and can be conveniently removed and refilled. The capsules should be placed into the slot on the top of the machine and are good for one use.

This particular model comes with a milk warmer that has an optional insert to froth the milk. It heats up the milk in about 1 minute. The stirrer at the base of the milk heater is only attached my magnet and can be removed for cleaning very simply.

Nespresso offers a range of 16 flavors ranked by 'intensity' on a scale from 1-10. They include mixes that can be made into cappuccino, mocha-chino, and simple espresso.

Nespresso recently released a limited edition flavor called KAZAAR with a rated intensity of 14! This does not mean it contains more caffeine but rather it refers to the intensity of flavors.

Each capsule sosts around US$0.50, which is a lot cheaper than hitting Starbucks twice a day. And I got to admit, the Nespresso coffee tastes AMAZING!!!

The Kazaar in particular is my favorite this week. The espresso is extremely rich and creamy with distinct flavors. I actually look forward to getting to work so that I can fire up the machine and get my morning fix.

Babi Guling Bu Oka - Ubud

You can ask anyone on Bali, where the is the best place to go for the islands signature dish Babi Guling, and they will all say the same thing. It could be a cab driver, surfer bum, or manager of the Ritz Carlton, they will all direct you to Ibu Oka in Ubud.


I heard you have to wait ages for a table if you go at the peak of lunch, so we went early.


Not much apart from Bai Guling on the menu. So if you dont eat pork, you should have stayed on Java.


Traditional seating. There are a few rickety tables out front as well.


Babi Guling, literally translates to Pig/Pork Roll. But this dish is not so much of a roll as it is a combination of pig meat grilled on a spit, marinated in various ways, then served with white rice, herbs, and spices.

Definatly the best Babi Guling I have had on Bali to date.

Eba & Egusi

I visited Nigeria last month for the first time in almost 20 years. I grew up right next door in Ghana but have never felt the need or desire to visit Nigeria. It is much larger than Ghana in size and population, plus because of their natural resources, they are also further developed in terms of infrastructure, industry, etc... But Nigeria is known for her hostile business environment and aggressive business people. Comparatively the Ghanaian seem a lot more laid back and peaceful. While in Nigeria I was eager to sample some of the local food. I am extremely fond of Ghanaian food and I was holing for something similar. Due to unforeseen circumstances I found myself stranded in a small place in Nigeria called Benin City. It is actually home to one of the worlds oldest civilizations called NOK. I remember that from my anthropology class. I never could have guessed that I would one day visit the city. That night in search of food, I found my way to a chop bar that appeared to be located in someones yard. This sign was posted on the garage wall.


And just to tantalize patrons further, there was this sign...

I ordered the Eba and Egusi. I believe the Eba is the white starch ball in the back. It is similar to Fufu but not as moist. The Egusi is a kind of stew with bitter vegetables and meat. I asked for chicken but I am not really sure what I ended up with.


I also had some of this delicious pepper soup, which is basically just a spicy chicken broth with meat. You cant really go wrong with that.


I was surprised to see that the most popular beer at the bar was Star, which is what I believed to be Ghana's national beer. But the folks in Benin City claimed that Star is actually a Nigerian beer. I don't really believe that but I was not about to put up an argument at that point. Not where I was sitting.


Over a few beers it is easy to make a few friends. One of the dudes was the guy from the airport who saw me running on to the tarmac only to see my flight pull away. A tiny dual propeller aircraft.


Plus there were some awesome highlife tunes blasting through the area from the massive collection of speakers hooked up by this old school DJ. He had the most gnarly home made DJ kit that I have ever seen.


Ending up in Benin City for a night was a total fuck up and I ended up missing an entire weekend with friends. It was one hell of a day trip that started with me rushing to the airport in Lagos, getting on a small ass plane to Benin City, driving 2 hours through the jungle to a site, then turning around to make the same journey back. We drove like bats out of hell but missed the flight by just a few minutes due to a police blockade. There were more than a few close calls. All's well that ends well. As for the Nigerian food, it tastes decent, but nowhere near as tasty as Ghanaian food. Not even by a long shot.

Zoo Zoo Shawarma - Ghana

I miss lunch in Ghana. I call out to Zoo Zoo in Tesano then send the driver over for a pick up. They make a fucking mean Shawarma, loaded with pickles, peppers, and potato chips. Not to mention the succulent lamb meat all wrapped up in fresh warm pita bread. I could do with a couple of these bad boys right about now.

Lagos Yatch Club presents "Sail Around the World 2008"

Most people who have not visited Africa and have heard of Lagos expect the place to be ruthless battlefield where expatriates struggle to make it to and from work each day without being shot by a stray bullet from an armed robbers rusty Kalashnikov. But in actual fact the armed robbers in Nigeria carry much more sophisticated weapons and have recently been holding up banks with US Military grade RPG's. Everyday there are stories about people being robbed at gun point and offices being ambushed by rogue mercenaries, but I am happy to day that life goes on. All this madness does not cause the Nigerian residents to stay locked up at home and only make dashes to the supermarket in bullet proofed vehicles. All the folks I met in Nigeria are living it up! While I was in Nigeria my cousin took me along to the 'Sail Around the World 2008' social gathering at the Logos Yacht Club. That's right, Lagos has a prestigious Yacht Club and a Motor Boat Club as well.



Lagos is located on a lump of mainland and a few small islands. There are more bridges and flyovers connecting the jumbled mass than I could keep count of. The Logos Yacht Club is located on Victoria Island, facing out to Apapa Port. Which is an absolutly massive sea port. I cant imagine the water is too fresh to swim in but the Local expats seem to get a kick out of sailing there. I somtimes wonder if white people living in Africa have spent a tad too much time walking around in the sun.


The club boasts a massive garden where members or friends, wives, and reletives of members had the honor of setting up thier own food and drink stalls representiative of thier respective countries of origin. And I got to say some of these dudes went all out. The Dutch booth had kick ass Heineken beer of course and some pickled meets. I was hopping for some Dutch tobacco but the foggers were not willing to share. I know those bastards were blazing back there.



The Irish lads did not go all out and hook up some Guiness on tap, but they had a few treats of thier own. I think I joined them for a few sips of some Irish Whiskey.


Apart from featuring some seriously fine young ladies, the Camaroon booth had the best food at the event. This is not just my opinion but the collective opinion of most of the folks I spoke too. They went all out and set up a massive gril where they served up this heavily marinated chicken. To go with the meat, the Camaroonians dished out grilled plantains, flavored rice, beans, and a small variety of gravied meats. And they never ran out!



The Scotts were not serving up any hot food but what they lacked in the culinary field, they made up for with a sweet selection of Scotish malts. These were served up to the more dicerning visitors. I cant remeber how exactly I convinced them that I fit the bill. I think I might have had somthing to do with the lad playing the bag pipes.



The stalls were all amazing, each with their own signature bestselling item. All food and drink was inclusive in the ticket price though. I dont even know how much that was. The Americans were making mini burgers at thier place which were pretty dry, but they had pitchers of Jack Daniels and lemonade which really hit the spot on a hot night. I think I cleared out more than my fair share there. Then there was the Brits with thier bland ass food, but they had good cold beer. The Italians, Nigerians, and other randoms had food, drink, and wine. Especially note worthy was the Latino stall. It was mostly Latin American women with I believe only one Spanish lady. One might wonder what all these women are doing out in Nigeria. I believe they are married to men who are working for international oil companies. I do not remeber what the latino stall was serving but I spent a lot of time milling around there because these women were HOT! They just kept talking and dancing, talking and dancing... Then there was the guys working with Mearsk Line who ran the Danish stall serving up IKEA style hotdogs and Aquavit shots. The line for this was contantly at least 5 meters long. The little Amrican chick serving up the shots was a real fircracker too.



Overall the night was awesome, just sitting out on the dock with an all you can drink and all you can eat international spread. But to top that all off there was a live band and dancfloor where drunk people proceeded to get down. The "Prudence Band' was awsome. They played all kinds of music from Motown classics to Akon and Beyonce Top 20 Hits. All the tracks however had thier own unique Nigerian beat woven into them. And to top that off there was a Nigerian cultural dance as well. These 3 sexy young Nigerian girls wiggled thier asses, jiggled thier tits, and fanned down thier crotches for a good 30 minutes to Nigerian Highlife Beats. Having gone black, I have reluctantly come back. These chicks make those Indonesian dangdut dancers look like a Disneyland attraction.

Pounding Fufu

My favorite Ghanaian food has got to be Fufu. It is a mixture of pulverized yam and plantain. Fist the yam and plantain are both boiled separately till soft.


Then the yam and plantain are both pounded individually till they meet a sort of sticky dough like texture, then they are mixed and further pulverized.


On the side you have the palmnut and groundnut soups bubbling away.


Palmnut stew is never good enough when cooked in a fancy kitchen on some new age oven. The cooks in our house keep this shit old school. Check out the cooker positioned smack in the middle of the kitchen. The bricks on the gas cylinder is probably all that stands between us and an explosion.


When served the soups can either be eaten with boiled yam or fufu. Some people like to eat thier soup and meat with rice.


Fufu is never chewed, just dipped in the stew, then swallowed. It makes for one hell of a meal and can leave you knocked out on your ass for hours after consumption. I love this stuff!


Here is a short video of the cooks pounding fufu. It is a tiring experience I am sure.

La Tante Royale - Jollof Rice

La Tatnte Royale is the name of the cafe located in the Accra International Airport, right before you head to get to the immigration ques. I don't really go for the airport food but my buddy who was flying with me to Nigeria insisted that these guys serve up some of the best Jollof Rice in the city. Jollof is like the Ghanaian version of Indonesian Nasi Goreng or Malaysian Nasi Lemak. Except this rice is not fried, it is cooked slowly in tomato sause and meat broth. Some of the old time readers might recall my coooking days when I made a few attempts at cooking Jollof.


The interior of La Tante Royal is pretty standard, like you would expect of any african airport cafe. They had quite a few tables though and a fully stocked bar.


The Jollof itself might not have been the best I have had in Accra, but it was pretty damn good. I love the way it is served with salad and chilli sauce as well. The combination is a perfect collaboration of hot and cold.