// About us //
One grill, one oven, a board that follows the market, and a room people sit in for three hours at a time.
// Who we are //
Ama Serwaa opened Basil on Oxford Street in 2014 with eleven covers, one charcoal grill and a borrowed cold room. The grill is still here. So are four of the first regulars.
Everything that leaves the pass has been over fire or through the oven — there is no microwave in the building and there never has been. The board is reprinted on a Wednesday with the market, and the six plates people would riot over never move.
See the board// The difference //
However busy the room gets, and it does get busy.
Charcoal for the grill, hardwood for the oven. Nothing is finished in a pan because the kitchen is behind.
Fish from Tema, vegetables from Makola, bread baked here at four. What did not come in does not go on.
Nine of the fourteen people in this room have worked here more than three years. They will know your order.
Nobody leaves hungry and nobody is surprised by the bill. Service is added only for eight and over.
// The kitchen and the floor //
Founder
Opened the room in 2014 and still does the Tuesday market run herself.
Head chef
Nine years on the pass. Responsible for the shito butter, and unrepentant about it.
Grill & fire
Runs the coals. Can tell the temperature by holding a hand over them.
Floor manager
Started as a runner in 2017. Knows what every regular drinks before they sit down.
// Reservations //
Two sittings a night, Tuesday to Sunday. Tables of eight and over are best booked a week ahead — we hold the long table by the window for them.
