Esther's Kitchen (Lyons Ave, Newark)

I’m not one to drop reviews usually but I had an exceptional experience at Esther’s kitchen, the food came out fast, fresh and delicious. I had the light soup and fufu and it was amazing.

I ordered waakye and it looked absolutely delicious. The rice was tasty but the stew and the meat was underwhelming. No seasoning in the meat at all, just fried. The stew too didn’t have any seasoning. The bigger disappointment was the shito. It tasted smokey/burnt with an overwhelming taste of ginger. The pepper added made it very spicy to the point where there was no flavor. There are actual pepper flakes added to this shito. No hint of ground shrimp just numbing spice. I’m hoping I just received a poor batch and other days will be better for them.

Was charged $42 for the soup special and a fish platter. The food was not fresh, they literally gave us inedible beef and old food that’s been sitting out. It was cold to touch and only realized after I returned home. The host was a little rude as well. We walked in and she gave us a look and said “we serve Ghanaian food okay?” To which we both replied okay (we had already looked the place up to eat beforehand), so this seemed unwelcoming. After we were done ordering she said “you’re taking it to go right?” Like we weren’t welcome to sit down and eat inside. The whole interaction was unwelcoming & weird. The only good thing was the goat meat inside the peanut butter soup. I really wanted to try something different and support a local business but I don’t appreciate cutting corners. Especia

I recently ordered jollof and i was served with like. Week old jollof the stew lmost fermented the meat were too soft nd spereated from the bones. I ended up throwing it away. You can do better pls put in some work.

Love love the decor and ambiance of Esther's Kitchen. It's so reminiscent. You cant help but smile as soon as you see the Ghana flag!!Food was good. Service was classic Ghanaian hospitality... polite..with smiles and a warm welcome. Amazing work put into the space!!