Nivla Restaurant, SE5 0EZ
- 51 Camberwell Road
Nivla was a Sierra Leonean restaurant in Camberwell. It has now closed, and as of mid-2014 the premises are occupied by a solicitors.
The information below is retained for historical reasons.
secretlondon visited for a takeaway in June 2010. I had the weekend special of bitter leaves, beef, and dried fish, with rice (£8). It was hotter than I expected, but I know nothing about Sierra Leonean food. I've been back a few times since and tried dishes including jerk chicken and jollof rice with chicken. The meat I've had from here wasn't offal, unlike the "mixed meat" I had at Moyo-Ma (another West African restaurant just down the road).
They have a number of daily specials and sell home made ginger beer (which I've not sampled). They are also licensed. I've had an akara bean doughnut starter (£2) photo which was fun. They had a cinnamon flavour which contrasted with a spicy tomato sauce.
A visitor called Camberwellian adds: An excellent restaurant with genuinely warm and friendly service. I've had:
- Cassava leaves with mixed beef and dried fish - this was perfect. It came with fufu and was expertly flavoured.
- Grilled sea bass with plantain and veg - flavour was amazing but let down slightly because not all the fish scales had been removed properly.
- Suya - delicious
- Grilled gizzard - succulent and tasty
- Jollof rice and stew meat - rich flavour but subtle compared to Nigerian equivalent at Canaan. Less greasy and spicy than Canaan which is a good thing but sometimes I'm in the mood for greasy and spicy!
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