African Feeling

African Feeling is one of those Newtown restaurants that’s always been there. Fair enough – open since 1996, the awards and accolades have been piling up for a while. For those who’ve had the pleasure of dining here, one of the best African restaurants in Sydney, it’s a household name. For those who’ve simply walked by African Feeling, perhaps had their eye caught by this vibrant, colourful King Street eatery but ventured no further, book now and be pampered by warm service while you explore the world of African cuisine.

Ghanaian chef Hudu Alhassan is the friendly boss and brains behind African Feeling, a longstanding institution in Newtown’s culinary community. Offering up the best examples of African cuisine (with West African dishes a particular focus), using select locally-sourced and imported ingredients, Alhassan is rightly proud of his ability to wow diners with the incredibly rich culinary diversity on offer at his passion project of an eatery. An unmissable destination (literally, you’d have to be blind to miss this King Street restaurant), African Feeling is the place for Sydney’s adventurous appetites. It’s no surprise that African Feeling won out at the Eat Now Best Eats Awards in 2014 for its popular African Cigars – delicate minced, herbed and spiced beef pastries hailing from Morocco.

The African and West African delicacies packing out the menu here have been honed for a good couple of decades in this restaurant’s King Street, Newtown kitchen. Rich and satisfying stews are the typical core of a meal here, served with potato and rice, alongside exotic game and fish, plus an equally long list of vegetarian options. Get a feeling for Ugandan okra recipes, spinach and ground peanut stews from Sierra Leone, and the seasonal yam pottage with egusi or palava sauce. Get a feeling for Kenyan coconut fish, or Ghanaian zahan, whole snapper marinated in African spices before being steamed or fried and topped with sauce. Hearty appetites will head for the traditional Ethiopian stew that heads a list running through Moroccan lamb tagine (this is after all a pan-African establishment), Ghanaian goat and spinach bua, Nigerian egusi stews with beef and almond meal, and the spiced lamb and okra ndebele from Zimbabwe. A peerless African restaurant, this is where Sydney gets its dose of African Feeling.