Fufu, a staple food in West Africa, has been garnering a lot of online popularity, especially on TikTok. After scrolling past many, many fufu videos, I decided to give it a try and stopped by Funmi’s Café, founded by Yomi and Funmi Aderinokun in 2009, which specializes in Nigerian cuisine. 

Fufu is generally served with some sort of stew. Funmi’s Café featured many meat fufu entrees including chicken ($17.99), goat ($18.99), tilapia fish ($18.99), and others. They also offer many vegan and vegetarian options such as tofu ($16.99) and mushrooms ($16.99). These are then served in a stew like egusi or okra stew.

I went with the okra stew, which also contained smoked fish and spinach, served with goat meat and Eba fufu made of cassava. The goat was tender, and everything was seasoned nicely. The fufu also helped to highlight the flavors of the stew and meat while adding a soft texture. People new to Nigerian cuisine or those who aren’t accustomed to similar cuisines might be put off by the slight sliminess of okra and the strong fish flavor, so I would recommend starting off with the non-fishy stews like the efo ruri stew with chicken or beef to build up to less familiar foods. If you do like those kinds of foods though, I think you’ll enjoy this dish just as much as I did. 

I also ordered the jollof rice ($5.99) as a side. This is a definite must-have. I was already pretty full from the fufu and stew at the point of eating the jollof rice, but I ended up eating it all because it was that tasty. There is some spice but not so much where it would be at all overbearing for people not used to spicy foods. 

For some sweetness, I ordered the puff-puffs ($3). These reminded me of Chinese donuts. They had just the right amount of sweetness. And even though I ate them 15 minutes after I got them, they still had a nice crunch on the outside, while being soft and doughy on the inside.

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So, if you’ve been seeing a lot of those fufu videos like I have and are curious to try it, I wholly suggest you go to Funmi’s Café sometime this month where it is located at 3028 Bardstown Rd, currently providing curbside pickup and delivery only. They’re open 11:30 a.m.-2 p.m. and 5 p.m.-8 p.m. on Tuesdays-Saturdays.