// Our story //
From four tables to sixty-four covers
A narrow shopfront, one grill, and a decade of arguing with the market on a Tuesday morning.
// Our story //
Ten years, six of which changed something
2014
Eleven covers and a borrowed cold room
Ama Serwaa takes the lease on a narrow shopfront at the top of Oxford Street. One charcoal grill, four tables inside, three on the pavement.
2016
The grill moves to the front
The kitchen is rebuilt so the coals face the room. It costs a third of the year's takings and doubles them within eighteen months.
2018
Kojo Mensah takes the pass
Nine years in Tema and Kumasi behind him. He writes the tilapia onto the board in his first week and it has not come off since.
2021
The terrace opens
The lot next door comes up. Forty covers under a planted roof, which is what carries the room through the year everybody eats outdoors.
2023
Sixty-four covers, fourteen staff
Both floors, the terrace and the bar. Nine of the fourteen have been here more than three years.
2026
Still buying at Makola on a Tuesday
The board is reprinted every Wednesday morning. Ama still does the market run, and still argues about the price of ginger.
// What has not moved //
The same fire, ten years on
The grill is the original one. It has been relined four times and rebuilt once, and it has not been cold on an opening day since 2014.
Everything else about this room is negotiable. That is not.
See the board
2014
The year the grill was lit
64
Covers across both floors
14
People in the building
4.9
Out of five, from 840 guests
// Reservations //
Secure your table for a memorable meal
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.
