Nigeria: Naija

Taking a Poundo on the Chin-Chin
CT Food Tour of the World at Naija, Newington
November 2024

Straight up, this will be a difficult page to write. I cannot find a single review of this restaurant. No explanations, no experiences… nothing to help guide me. Sure, I ate there and know the names of most of what I ate, but as far as anything beyond that – or exactly what that even was in any detail… good luck to me.

Just know that I tried. Actually, we tried. This was another excellent evening for the “Gray Hair Gang,” my roving band of food adventurist friends. We were joined by a guy who actually lived in Africa for a bit. We sought guidance from the restaurant owners. Heck, I even invited my Nigerian friend to join.

Alas:

I suppose that’s a good excuse.

Off we went to a little strip on the Berlin Turnpike featuring the E-Z Money Pawn shop and Naija. (The restaurant’s name is a slang term for Nigeria that Nigerians use. That was the one question we had answered all night.)

A few 50-something white guys (and one Ecuadorean) arrived in the empty, sparsely decorated restaurant and we were ignored and hassled at the same time. It’s an odd thing. We were clearly out of our element, but were not offered any explanations or help with the menu or told “what’s good?” yet we were gruffly asked what we wanted almost immediately.

I determined that the young woman serving us wanted to be anywhere on earth than working in her parent’s restaurant on a Friday night – a dynamic that exists at restaurants the world over. So I get it. But this was next level – to the point where it was genuinely hilarious. There was a certain charm to her anger and aloofness.

But in the end, she was of no help.

So we ordered a bunch of different Nigerian beers to start. (Looking at their online menu a couple months later, it appears they have even more variety now in 2025, which is cool.) As you’d expect, there were a couple typical African lagers, but there was also a “Nigerian Guinness” – their Foreign Extra Stout.

With way higher ABV than “normal” Guinness and a different, sweeter malt bill, our gang’s Irishman was fascinated. So we Googled and learned all sorts of fascinating things. The first non-Irish Guinness brewery was built in Nigeria in 1961. The largest Guinness market in the world is… Nigeria? How? I’m gonna need Wikipedia to come through with some citations please.

I got something called Orijin. It’s a Nigerian alcoholic beverage that does not contain barley or hops, rather marketing itself as “a bittersweet blend with flavours of African herbs and fruit”. Ingredients include kola nut, prune, oakwood, bitter orange peel, and wormwood. I kind of loved it? It’s like Jagermeister citrus beer wine, but not terrible?

We were off to a rousing start, but were still a bit stuck on the food situation. We told our server, “just give us a bunch of stuff” essentially. Somehow, that translated back to the kitchen and I’m guessing it went something like, “Mom, dad, a bunch of idiots who think they’re being worldly want a bunch of traditional plates so one of them can write about their experience. The only thing they specifically asked for was ponmo.”

“Ponmo? Really? Why?”

“Because they’re idiots, like I said.”

Food started coming with zero explanation as to what it was. I guess this is how it would be down some side street in Lagos, so in a sense, this was a legit experience.

Naija opened in late 2021 and seems to be doing alright. We were dining early due to other, later commitments so while it was empty when we arrived, others did come in to eat and the line for take-out and delivery services was pretty constant throughout.

As we waited for food, we continued our attempt to learn about this place. Their website was of very little help. For example:

About Us

Naija Restaurant is one of the Sundry Foods’ restaurant brands, operating in the Quick Service Restaurant (QSR) segment, the brand has established itself as a market leader and one of the fastest-growing restaurant brands in New England Area . Naija Restaurant caters to the unique preference of the general populace in this part of America for its local dishes. Our unique menu consists of select popular contemporary and Nigerian offerings

We believe food lovers should have an amazing ordering experience For their pick up, Eat-in and delivery services . We think this should be possible to enable us serve your want and need when it comes to satisfying your appetite.

Awesome.

Mysterious food began to arrive. Now is a good time to let you know of two things:

1. There are some items on Naija’s menu I was not excited about. No only that, the menu here isn’t always forthcoming in what some items are.

2. Our receipt did not list everything we got, so the mystery remains.

There is a section of the menu called “Swallows” which are not “snacks/appetizers” (different section) or soups (different section) – Swallows are a category of dough-like African staple food made of cooked starchy vegetables and/or grains. Cassava, potato, yam, maize, millet, rice… they come in sort of football shaped lumps and you tear them apart. We got some swallows. Eba (cassava) and Poundo (pounded yam).

We asked for some proteins and got a couple dishes with goat meat (delicious!) and one with beef tripe (not so delicious!). We got a plate of plantains (delicious!). We asked for clarity on what each dish was and got none. We just ate, some more tentatively than others.

The most personable of our group, Tony (not Nigerian Tony who was in Nigeria per the text above, but more of a Slovenian Tony type) approached the kitchen/register/hostess/server area and stood for five minutes and got nowhere with anyone.

Yet, somehow some more food appeared including the ponmo I mentioned previously.

Yeah. That’s cow skin.

Gelatinous, jiggly, chewy (I’m assuming) boiled cow skin. I do not recommend cow skin ponmo. It came in a sort of tomato sauce (delicious!) and while it certainly has a leathery flavor, it was the texture that killed it for most of us. It jiggled like jello but chewed like leather. I’m glad we tried it and I understand why it’s a thing, but I’m all set with it for the rest of my life.

Each dish came with some kind of rice and all the rice was excellent. The goat meat stew was certainly the highlight of the night I think. It was at this point, halfway through the meal that we were joined by Eric, Gang member Sean’s brother. Oh sure, he’s another gray haired guy of Irish descent, but my man lived in Kenya. And not in Nairobi, but in some rural village.

We had saved some cow skin for him and he declared it “better than is typical.” So there you go, cow skin fans, Naija in Newington is your place.

We asked a veteran African cuisine expert Eric to attempt to approach the staff to ask for more. Whatever he wanted. He returned to the table slightly confused, but with a promise that he “ordered some stuff I think.” Naija is a unique experience.

We were enjoying ourselves to be sure. Jollof rice is good rice. The plantains were not greasy and the various beers were hitting the spot. We began Googling items on the menu and noted some of the things we weren’t eating:

Nkwobi – a Nigerian dish of spicy cow foot in a palm oil paste
Stew gizzard and plantain
Snails

But we did get some moi-moi out of nowhere. We were told it was special. It is made from peeled black-eyed peas, honey beans, or brown beans (no clue what Naija prefers). These beans are blended with peppers and onions and then steamed. Other additions like fish, crayfish, boiled egg, and beef liver are added for more texture and nutrition (no clue what Naija adds).

It was… alright? Eric was somewhat familiar with the construct of it – and I was too, having had endless red bean pastries and such from my Vietnamese in-laws. Savory pastries are big at my in-laws… and in parts of Africa I guess.

We also got some meat pies that I assume had beef in them. They were pretty great.

I can’t speak for my compadres’ enjoyment levels, but we did eat everything. I think some of us ate more than others and I’m not sure the Ecuadorian palate meshed perfectly with the Nigerian tastes.

After we sat and yapped for 40 minutes after finishing, I ventured to the employee area to gently and apologetically ask for the bill. This request was met with a blank stare from our favorite server, with perhaps a little enmity thrown in. I was confused, yet charmed again by this young woman. She attempted to recall all she’d served us, asked someone what they brought us, punched some buttons and provided me with a bill for a hundred bucks.

This was beer and food fed 5 men. Okay then.

I was left with quite a dilemma though. We all believed we were underbilled, but there was no way to communicate this as we had no idea what all we ate. So make it up with a generous tip? But our server was, in many ways, the worst server any of us had ever had. Service with a snarl. BUT, we all kind of loved it in a weird way and empathized with the young woman for having to serve us louts gelatinous meats on a Friday night. We tipped her generously – I hope the kitchen got some, as they did a great job and upon leaving, were very kind and it was clear they were appreciative of our business.

But I wasn’t done! There were a couple things I really wanted but didn’t get during our dinner. A couple months later, I found myself nearby and popped in to get some traditional Nigerian snacks: chin-chin and puff-puff.

Puff-puffs are great. Most West African countries have the popular street food Puff-Puff, which is known by different names depending on the country. Ghanaians call it Bofrot, and Cameroonians and Nigerians call it Puff-Puff (Puff) or beignet in French. The basic ingredient consists of flour, sugar, yeast, water, salt, and oil for deep frying. I’m 99% sure the Naija puff-puffs had plantain as an ingredient. They’re cheap, warm, and delicious.

And then there’s the chin-chin; a fried snack from Nigeria. Absolutely addictive and in fact, I promised my wife that I’ll be popping in to the Nigerian store in the same plaza to score pints of these in the future. Made from flour, sugar, butter, and milk, and often deep-fried in vegetable oil, there are versions of this the world over. You can eat it as cereal or like a bar snack or whatever. I’m so glad I went back to get these two things – highly recommended.

There were issues with Naija, but those issues were, in a way, authentic issues. Issues that if they occurred at a more typical restaurant, you’d rightly be incredibly annoyed. Vietnamese restaurants are notorious for having awful service. It’s just a thing and I accept it. Zero effort made to be welcoming or helpful. Less than zero, actually, we received outward hostility – which I saw again towards other, far more likely Nigerian, customers when I picked up the snacks. (That made me feel better… equal opportunity undeserved spite.)

I would go back. I would eat more goat and try some of the other dishes that didn’t scare me. I would smile at the server and hope for a conversation with the owner(s). And maybe next time my friend Tony will get us the really good stuff.

Naija Restaurant
CTMQ’s CT World Food Tour