Sofia's Place

• Cais do Sodre (Linha Verde)
• €€€
• R. de São Bento 67, 1200-816 Lisboa

Fried plantain and a mini Cuca beer - the perfect starter

If you’re not listening to Tyla after her Grammy’s win, eyeing up Maxhosa on the Paris Fashion Week runway, following Ivory Coast’s win at the Cup of Nations, or waiting for a table at London’s newest Michelin star restaurants Chishuru and Akoko, then you’ve clearly missed the memo. As Shakira said: it’s time for Africa. It was a Friday night when we wandered into Sofia’s Place, just down the road from the Portuguese Parliament building. We arrived hopeful for some jollof and fried plantain. We left full, happy and feeling like we’d discovered a wonderful secret - plus, with a pot of Sofia’s famous hot sauce.

Whether this is your first experience of African cuisine or you know your Ghanaian from your Nigerian jollof, this is the place to come. For the uninitiated, just follow these easy steps. Step 1) Order yourselves a couple of Angolan Cuca beers with a portion of the sweet, delicious, fried plantain, to enjoy while you take a look at the menu. And if you like spice, for goodness sake, do yourself a favour and ask to try Sofia’s hot sauce. Step 2) Have a chat with Sofia to find out about the global influences on her food and to get her recommendations.

We came looking for jollof and the Gambian version available on our visit did not disappoint - full of meat, fresh vegetables and flavour, the dish came beautifully presented. For extra points (and zest), squeeze the accompanying limes over it. It was so delicious, this writer continued eating (and eating) long after reaching the point of uncomfortably full.

Golden, caramelised grilled lamb chops were served with rice and two homemade sauces - peanut and bbq. The peanut sauce was a particular hit. Mix it with the hot sauce and you've got yourself a mouthful of unforgettable zesty, creamy flavour. For this meal it was poured over the rice, which was then eaten by the spoonful. Cassava chips came beautifully seasoned and - you guessed it - dipped in hot sauce. Like everything at Sofia's, the presentation deserves a massive shoutout - colour and interesting details were on show everywhere.

There is a real chance that Sofia's is the most interesting restaurant in Lisbon right now - we certainly haven't found this combination of foods, flavours and influences anywhere else. And that's before we even get to Sofia herself - a wonderful host with a clear love for what she's doing. Having opened her restaurant in February 2020, it would have been easy for her to walk away when lockdowns closed the new venture. We're certainly thankful she didn't. Next time, I'm getting the peanut and chicken curry.

Lamb chops with rice, peanut and bbq sauces, beautifully decorated with edible flowers.

Don’t forget to order: Difficult to say... but the jollof is an undeniable crowd-pleaser.