Top Fives: African restaurants

There was a time when an Ethiopian restaurant would be the subject of a sick joke rather than an increasingly common urban reality. With Nigerian, Sudanese and more to be found in London, African cooking's getting a higher profile by the day.

1. Calabash

Cooking that wanders over the African continent in a strangely featureless dining room in the Africa Centre. Good vegetarian choices, generous portions and a friendly environment for experimentation.
The Africa Centre, 38 King Street WC2. Tel: 020 7836 1976. Tube: Covent Garden

2. Merkato

Former pub, now home to the incendiary cuisine of Ethiopia. A lively place to experience the once-tasted never-forgotten wot and injera: fiery stew with the curious, damp-flannel bread that's used to scoop it up.
193a Caledonian Road N1. Tel: 020 7713 8952.Tube: King's Cross

3. Dumela

With this, and his nearby Fishhoek for lovers of seafood, Peter Gottgens has brought a true flavour of South Africa to Chiswick. Expect zebra and springbok on a menu not for the faint-hearted.
42 Devonshire Road W4. Tel: 020 8742 3149. Tube: Turnham Green

4. Mandola

So popular they've had to expand into neighbouring shop fronts from the original teeny space. Warm and friendly: not at all intimidating for the uninitiated. The Sudanese food is freshly cooked and packed with sparky, rather Middle Eastern flavours.
139-141 Westbourne Grove W11. Tel: 020 7229 4734. Tube: Notting Hill Gate

5. Obalende Suya

Sure, this little Peckham branch of the Suya chain can be a touch offputting for African virgins, but it's an ideal place to encounter the intense heat and earthy, stomach-filling qualities of Nigerian cooking.
43 Peckham High Street SE15. Tel: 020 7703 7033. Rail: Peckham Rye