20. Congo (DRC). DeluxeManna, Tottenham Hale

“A lot of countries’ national cuisine is basically bits of grilled meat”. That was Alf’s reflection after our trip to DeluxeManna, a Congolese restaurant in north London. He’s got a point – from Argentina to Brazil, Bolivia to Bulgaria, we’ve eaten a lot of chunks of grilled animal flesh while doing this A to Z of World Food.

That’s not necessarily a bad thing, as you can tell from our rave review of places like Buen Ayre. But it was a little less inspiring at DeluxeManna, where we gave our jaws a good working on some rather gristly bits of beef.

On first sights, DeluxeManna isn’t the most promising looking establishment. It’s on the ground floor of a tired looking block in a council estate by a ring road. However, step inside, and you’re transported to a kind of serious nightclub cum diner, which I can imagine you’d pass through on a big night out in Kinshasa. It’s all black marble, low lights, very well dressed people, and loud R’n’B. It was quite disorientating when we came out into the daylight after our lunch.

I think that part of the reason we were a little uninspired by our meal was that the waitress wasn’t Congolese herself and, it transpired, hadn’t eaten much of the stuff on the menu. She also dissuaded us from trying one or two of the more exotic looking items, so we might’ve missed out.

Instead, she recommended chunks of grilled Ntaba (she said it was lamb, but I’m pretty sure it was goat). This was rather tough and bony, and the meat tasted like it had been smoked, which I think is probably an acquired taste. We also got grilled chicken, which was definitely the highlight – flavoursome and juicy with grilled onions on top. And we started with some brochettes de boeuf, which were pretty gristly and chewy and not terribly pleasant. As a side, we ordered plantain and some fried rice, which reminded me of the kind of fare you get at Chinese buffets, and sloshed it down with some Leffe beer.

Perhaps with a more expert waitress, our impressions of Congolese food might be a little different. The chicken was really good after all, so I’m sure there’s lots of nice Congolese food out there – we just ended up with too many bits of grilled meat.

Score: 5/10

Cost: £61

Location: 135 High Cross Rd, Tottenham Hale, N17 9NU