When Ikoyi burst onto the London dining scene in 2017, it was seen as a little-known new West African restaurant in St James Market, headed up by unheralded Chinese-Canadian chef Jeremy Chan. The first customers came through the doors expecting classic West African home cooking, and they were surprised – sometimes appalled – at what arrived at the table instead. Not a towering pile of plantain fritters but just two of them, neatly placed and scarlet with raspberry salt, looking like martian rocks. Jollof rice came from the kitchen billowing with smoke and laden with crab and miso. Suya – that traditional West African barbecue – was smothered in kombu paste. There was outcry. ‘One person even said, ‘the owners need to get rid of this Chinese chef and get a real African cook in the kitchen’,' says Jeremy. 'It was pretty intense!’

The trouble was simply one of expectations – Ikoyi takes influence from West African food, but this is not a West African restaurant. Dishes here aren’t designed with authenticity in mind – they’re designed to be complex, perfectly balanced and delicious in their own right, and Jeremy does that by using powerful umami flavours throughout the course of the meal. ‘As humans we’re naturally drawn to umami flavours because they trigger mouthwatering reactions,’ Jeremy explains, ‘so there’s a logic behind building layers of umami in dishes – it makes food moreish.’ This explains the use of Asian products like miso and kombu, but many of the ingredients are West African in origin – Jeremy uses Nigerian peppercorns, for example, because they create that same mouthwatering reaction.

The à la carte that Ikoyi launched with has gone, in favour of a tasting menu that allows the kitchen to be far more flexible in terms of what they offer. If a supplier calls up with something special to offer, it can be on the menu at Ikoyi that same day. That seasonal aspect of using the best produce available is still important at Ikoyi, but by the time it arrives at the table, it has evolved into something completely unique – a blend of West African inspiration and powerful layers of umami, distilled through Jeremy's analytical and unique approach to cooking.

Unless you’d rather be surprised, much of the menu will require explanation – dishes like beef and carrot maafe and octopus mbongo don’t give much away, but the staff are attentive and thoroughly knowledgeable. The restaurant interiors match the food in many ways; there’s a definite minimal streak, but a palette of terracotta and burnished brass creates a warm, cosy atmosphere, making it a perfect place to take shelter from the relentless buzz of central London.

Perhaps it took London a bit of time to truly appreciate what Ikoyi was, but the restaurant, which has now moved to 180 The Strand, has now established itself as one of the most exciting in the capital, receiving a Michelin star in 2018, a second in 2022 and continuing to push boundaries like nowhere else.