Conveniently tucked away in a back street in Whitechapel, Janna Café is almost hidden. A green circular sign is the only thing that catches one’s eye from the street, the large windows from top to bottom hidden on the side road, decorated with cut-out meals waiting inside.
If it wasn’t for a TikTok of the manager Musa lying under a car tucking into a plate of lamb and rice, the cafe might have fallen off many people’s radars. Janna Café is an East African restaurant considered by many regulars to serve the best Somali food in London.
It has proved such a success it is now split into branches – one on Fieldgate Street, Whitechapel, and Janna Café 2 on Wentworth Street, Aldgate. I went to Whitechapel cafe to see where it all started and try Somali food for the first time.
READ MORE: “I visited the famous London cafe with long queues every weekend – I loved not having to choose between full English items”
I arrived eager and early and was the first customer of the day. Even though the staff were still setting up they let me get comfortable and were very attentive and even changed my table to a more comfortable table. As I enjoyed my meal, the restaurant quickly filled up – from a table of young boys seemingly celebrating something, to two men telling the waiter they traveled from the ‘Cambridge way’ to try the food, there is a palpable sense of excitement in the room .
Janna Café offers only a simple menu with four main courses and four plates, including the Mexican fusion Somali taco. After following many google reviews, I had to go for the lamb shoulder and rice, as the meat was described as “tender” and “falling away”.
After a short wait, the meal is served to me on a large metal plate, along with shredded lettuce, yellowish rice and roasted soft red peppers. The food may not have looked Instagram-ready, but it was some of the best cooked meat I’ve had, and the portions are refreshingly generous in a world of expensive small plates.
“Choosing extra vegetables was a good decision”
The lamb was slow cooked to a beautiful deep colour, easy to shred with a fork, then melt in your mouth. Slightly sweet, it was paired with a fragrant rice that got redder the more I dug into it. I opted for extra vegetables, which was a good decision, as the velvety red peppers had a perfect matching texture to the rice.
Even the salad, although not seasoned at all, was a good break between such rich food and gave the plate a fresher taste. Looking back at the reviews, I can totally understand why one of the reviewers said, “I had to take out my asthma pump (because) I got short of breath.”
If your body can tolerate lactose better than mine, the “milk cookies” on display looked perfectly moist and came in sweet tooth-filling flavors like Oreo and Biscoff. The menu unfortunately has no vegetarian options, but they also offer a pescatarian salmon dish.
Along with the amazing food, the staff and general knowledge of the place make it worth a visit. From welcoming diners by offering them a privacy screen, to the speed of service and the lack of rushing out just to get the table back, Janna Café is a cultural hotspot and a must-see in East London.
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