Nigerian restaurant A.G.G opens new location in Leicester city

Leicester city centre has welcomed a new restaurant to its culinary scene with the opening of A.G.G, a Nigerian restaurant offering an array of traditional cuisine to diaspora food lovers.

Located opposite Leicester Magistrates’ Court on Pocklington Walk in the United Kingdom, the restaurant wants to bring an “expression” of its “love for African Nigerian food, life, and living” to the city, following its success in Coventry, where it has operated for seven years.

The restaurant’s menu features traditionally acclaimed Nigerian food for as low as £2.99. Grilled catfish, jollof rice, yam porridge, and a variety of soups and stews invite peckish foodies.

A.G.G was started by Akintoye Giwa, a former Coventry University student, who employed students part-time to help him run his eponymous eatery in Far Gosford Street. Born in Nigeria, he was inspired to cook traditional African dishes by his mum.

“When I was little my mum had a rule, she always told us we had to stand in the kitchen with her whilst she cooked or we wouldn’t eat. I guess some of what I saw rubbed off on me because before I knew it I developed a passion for cooking.”

In 2000, he moved to London and worked as an assistant chef before moving to Coventry nine years later.

“We founded A.G.G out of a deep love for real African Nigerian food, for food that is fresh, healthy, and authentic that is better catered towards, family, students and working professionals,” he says.

A.G.G originally opened as a modest eatery and take-out spot in Coventry in 2012. In the last five years, however, the restaurant’s growing popularity has prompted an expansion, allowing for more seating and a welcoming space for families and larger gatherings.

Now, with this movement, and a growing appetite for Nigerian cuisine, A.G.G’s new dining location will hope to enrich Leicester City’s food scene with its West African flavours and cultural touch, which it continually improves.

“I’m really happy that I’m the one employing people now. I’m creating jobs for people in a recession, my aim is help people who find themselves on Jobseeker’s Allowance like I was,” Giwa says.

“When we travel to Nigeria–which we admit, we do often–we bring back our favourite flavours and culinary discoveries,” A.G.G says.