A LOCAL business that aims to bring a taste of Nigeria to the Treaty City is set to celebrate its first birthday later this month.
Afro Delight, based on Locke Quay, is a Nigerian takeaway and the first of its kind outside Dublin.
Set up by four friends, Afro Delight was established so that the Nigerian community in Limerick would have some connection with home.
Speaking to the Limerick Post, one of Afro Delight’s co-owners, Tobi Omoteso, said that family played a huge role in the idea for the business as all of the co-owners wanted their children to grow up embracing their Nigerian heritage.
“Between all of us there’s nine children that have been born here in Ireland, and the way everybody was working, there wasn’t much time to cook and experience a little bit of the taste of home – something our children should grow up with,” Tobi explained.
“So we just kind of simultaneously had the same idea, that, you know what, it would be nice to have an African – or more specifically Nigerian – takeaway that would cater for the current generation and for future generations.”
Food is a central part of culture in Nigeria, Tobi says, and having a place where Nigerians in Limerick can go for a taste of home is incredibly important to him.
“Looking at the country, it’s only in Dublin that we have about three African takeaways, but anywhere else in the country there’s none,” Tobi said.
“When I taste something, it brings a memory, a really personal memory, it’s like a little taste of home,” he said.
“Not only that, but for my children, when they taste the food we can tell them ‘when you’re walking down the street on a hot day, you might tend to eat this’, so we build a whole structure with them knowing where their parents have come from.”
Afro Delight’s menu includes traditional Nigerian fare like follof rice, yams, and plantains. Tobi says that the food is a big hit with Irish people, as well as Nigerians.
“We don’t only cater to Nigerians at all actually. Irish, Polish, Indians, literally everybody loves the flavour. The food is just very different,” Tobi proudly claimed.
“We are seeing a real influx of Irish people and people of mixed-origins. Society is different now, it’s a whole different mix of people that come into the shop. It’s a wide range of people, we even get some grannies who would be used to eating spuds and gravy, but they will still come in and still try something.”
Since opening the store a year ago, Tobi says the support has been unexpected at times.
“As with anything, you’d be scared. Especially when it’s new, and again, it’s the first one, it’s not like there has been something before that we can build upon. So we thought ‘okay, how is this going to go?’
“It’s been unexpected at times, the feedback, the love of it, the difference of it. So, to be honest, it’s been good,” Tobi said.
“That’s the thing, we don’t even see it as a business, we just see it as a place closer to home.”
