After exploring the largest market in all of West Africa earlier in the day, I continued my exploration of the city of Kumasi, Ghana! Come with me as I try some extreme Ghana chop bar food, including a giant African snail and some goat, in Kumasi, Ghana!
My day continued on a sweltering, 97-degree afternoon at Ceci Chop Bar. Chop Bars are local eateries. In the local language, “chop” means “to eat.”
Peter, my guide from Jolinaiko Eco Tours, told me we could have a lot of local foods like fufu, kenkey, dried cassava, banku, chicken, bushmeat, tilapia, and lots of other soups.
Inside the large, open space are lots of plastic plates and colorful chairs. At the back is a bar where you can try some bitters. The one I tried was good but very herbal and medicinal.
I headed back into the kitchen, where I saw them serving okra stew, fish stew, salmon, tilapia, giant African snails, grasscutter, and more. They have a huge mix of different foods. I couldn’t wait to try the snails. They’re so exotic!
I got some fufu (pounded cassava dough and plantains), and you can add whatever you want with it. I got some goat meat and snails! I washed my hands with the pitcher of water and soap at the table because I’d be eating with my hands.
The goat meat was very tender and paired nicely with the pasty fufu. The snail, meanwhile, was monstrous! I’d never seen one that big! I loved it. It was so tender and meaty. I liked the gaminess of it.
It all came swimming in a pool of peanut vegetable soup, which had a nice, nutty and earthy flavor. There’s also a nice bit of spice to it. It was packed with different flavors and textures!
I couldn’t get over how much fufu they gave me! It’s incredibly filling, similar to rice or pasta.
After you finish eating all the meat, you drink the rest of the soup right out of the bowl. Then, we headed over to the outdoor kitchen nearby to watch the women prepare some banku and beef-peanut butter soup. I also saw the cassava roots, which they use to make banku.
Then, we continued out into Kumasi. It’s the cultural capital of the country and the heart of the Ashanti region. As we rode, I learned that here, a lot of the women are the primary breadwinners of their households.
Back in the city, we made it back to the central market to get some street food! We found some unique sheep kebabs, which they wrap in paper and smoke. They cost $2 USD each. They were so juicy and tender, a little gamy, and covered in pepper and some spices.
Next, we continued on through the city. The main attraction here is the market; the main sites are the craft villages outside of town. We stopped at Wasaaga Pub, a bar where you can try bitters and lots of different beers.
I got a Guinness Foreign Extra Stout, which is a chocolatey and malty beer brewed in Ghana. There, I ate my sheep kebabs outside. Inside, you can watch TV.
The sheep was salty and peppery, with a nice amount of oil on it. I loved the fatty, gelatinous layer on it. The meat was so tasty!
My name is David Hoffmann. For the last 12 years, I have been traveling around the world in search of unique culture, food, and history! Since starting David’s Been Here in 2008, I have traveled to over 1,200 destinations in 82 countries, which I welcome you to check out on my YouTube channel, travel blog, and social media sites.
I focus a great deal on food and historical sites, as you probably have seen! I love to experience the different flavors that each destination has to offer, from casual street food to gourmet restaurant dining. I’m also passionate about learning about the local history and culture.
P.S. Thank you for watching my videos and subscribing!
The almighty snail.
Look how monstrous this is.
I've never seen one this big.
Escargot at its finest.
African style.
Good afternoon everyone.
I hope you're all doing well.
This is David Hoffman from David's Bin here
coming at you from beautiful Kumasi, Ghana.
Today it's really hot.
97 degrees Fahrenheit, roughly 36, 37 Celsius.
It's one in the afternoon.
And today what we're doing is we're going to go
explore the food scene here in Kumasi.
We're going to start right here at Sesi,
or Sesi's Chop Bar.
If you guys don't know what a chop bar is,
that is a local eatery in Ghana.
To chop means to eat, right?
We're going to probably try some fufu,
I don't know, some kenke.
We have local dishes, about 6, 7 different types of food.
We have coconut tea, dry cassava, or manioc.
And then we have banku, cemented condou.
We have rice balls, fufu, deer wool, all of them.
All of them.
And you're going to see about 10 different types of soup.
And after this we're going to another place
and we might surprise you with something really unique.
Let's go inside.
I'm starving.
And this is it guys.
Look at this chop bar.
It's like 12 foot ceilings, really open space.
It's all plastic chairs, plastic tables.
So what do you do?
You can either go straight to the bar area, get a bitter, right?
Usually that's what we do.
We're going to do that now.
And then from there you get a drink, have a drink there.
Walk over here to the buffet line
and there's 10 different plates, right?
So there's 10 big, you know, soups
and you, you know, choose what you want.
So they have tilapia, they have, you know, bush meat.
I don't know if they have bush meat.
They usually do.
They usually do, right?
They have chicken, they have a few other things.
So we order what we want,
then we sit down and we eat with our hands.
It's all bitter?
Yes, bitter.
Let's do it.
Hello.
Yeah.
Hello.
And this for me guys.
So this is origin bitter with mandoline, right?
Mandingo.
Okay, so I tried something similar with mandingo and Africa, herb Africa.
Something like that.
The mix.
This is different though.
It's good.
It's medicinal.
All the bitters are medicinal.
Straight up herbs.
She gave you a lot.
It's a lot, my friend.
You can't, right?
All right, guys.
Enough of this bitter.
Let's get some food.
Now we are at the entry place.
So you can go back in there, have a closer view
and you can interact with the service.
I mean the attendants as well.
I got kitchen access.
Let's go back here.
Wow.
So here we have okra stew.
What is this, fish?
Fish stew.
Tilapia?
Tilapia.
That's tilapia.
Salmon.
Okay, perfect.
And what is this one?
It looks so good.
I don't know.
It looks like pork.
Okay.
Like I said, they have a huge mix of different things, right?
So different poultries, different fish, but they also have snails.
Which is this?
Let's go.
But this is snails right here.
Yeah, snails.
Oh yeah.
Right there.
Look at that.
I'm going to eat the snail.
I want snail.
That's exotic.
Yeah, man.
This is awesome.
So many.
So 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10 different ones.
They also have grass cutter.
Grass cutter.
I'm going with the snail though.
Maybe snail, grass cutter, some wild stuff.
I'm going to get exotic here.
At the end line as well.
Mask on.
Yeah, honey whiskey.
Is it good?
It tastes good.
Try it, try it.
It's good.
It's appetizer, you know.
Yeah.
Always.
Every chop bar you go to, you get an appetizer of a drink and then you go in.
If you don't drink, obviously skip it.
But if not, try it.
Why not?
We've been waiting an extra 5 minutes here because they ran out of fufu.
But now she just brought some more fufu.
You and me are going to sit so we eat and you see the difference.
I hope you learn from me and you eat as we do.
I eat everything with my hands.
With bare hands?
No utensil.
Here we have the fufu.
This is his, right?
So that's one portion.
That is cassava dough mixed with plantain.
Plantain, yes.
So it's really delicious.
It's like, almost like a pasty.
It's pitchy.
Thicky.
Yeah.
Very yummy.
Yummy, yummy.
And then with this, you get this huge bowl, right?
And this bowl, then you ask for whatever you want here.
Yeah, so whatever soup.
It's basically big stews of different animals, right?
So you got grass cutter, snail, chicken, tilapia, salmon.
I mean, so many different things.
I can't wait.
I might get a snail, grass cutter.
Let's see.
This is 40 cedis.
The snail is really expensive.
You can't imagine.
This one is 30 cedis.
I told you the grass cutter is expensive.
20 cedis.
$6 for the snail.
So $8 for the entire plate.
Yours is $3.
All right, so we have our bowls.
And now I have to wash my hands.
Put some soap on.
Wash your hands.
Always wash your hands.
So they give you the water.
They give you the soap.
Every single time you do this, obviously, this is the way they do it.
India, very similar, except they have the faucet on the side.
So you wash your hands and you come back.
Smell your hand.
You smell it.
A little more, a little more.
All right, done.
Yep.
All right, my man.
Let's do this.
Oh, the poop is so hot.
Yep.
So poo-poo.
Yes.
It's nice.
Oh.
Spicy.
It is spicy.
I wonder if you can.
Oh, let me see.
Yeah, man.
I'm cool with it.
Spicy.
Nice goat.
Yep.
Very nice, man.
Soft.
And that's the goat, my friends.
Look how delicious this is.
So what do you do?
Grab some poo-poo.
Pull out that paste like that.
And you go in.
Good.
Mmm.
Let's do this.
Let's just dive in.
Oh, this is hard.
So just do it without the meat.
Without the meat?
Do the meat separately, yes.
Oh, like that?
Yeah.
Ready?
Mmm-hmm.
Yummy, yummy.
And if you have any bones, you just suck that.
It's the right thing, you know.
And throw it in.
Oh, yeah.
This is...
The almighty snail.
Look how monstrous this is.
I've never seen one this big.
Escargot at its finest.
African style.
Yep.
Wow.
Let me bite in here.
Mmm.
I really love it.
Wow.
Mmm.
Fufu is...
Look how big it is.
Hahaha.
They give you a giant portion.
Mmm-hmm.
So they fill you up.
That's because you know we eat...
Normally we eat...
We like every food.
You see I have my little okra.
Okra.
I take a muzzle of the fufu and I bust it with the okra and then ah.
It's gone.
Still enjoying it, you know.
Yeah.
Uh-huh.
Then I use my bare hand to fetch the soup.
Mmm-hmm.
One more.
Mmm-hmm.
You're too much, dude.
Hahaha.
Okay, so snail time.
Just jump in here.
Uh-huh.
It's tender, you know.
Just nice.
The best.
He loves snails.
People don't like it.
I don't know.
Escargot.
It's a delicacy.
That's the only one that is so expensive.
Mmm.
Definitely gamey.
Definitely mix this with the fufu.
Mmm-hmm.
Don't like break it.
Mmm-hmm.
You have to chew it separately.
Mmm-hmm.
It's like one of the most exotic things I've ever eaten.
Mmm-hmm.
A big snail like this.
Shit.
And you eat the whole thing, right?
Fufu is one of the main things to eat.
Yeah.
All over Ghana.
Mmm-hmm.
Sweets everywhere.
Fufu.
Yes.
So delicious.
Look at this.
Mmm.
So the fufu, I guess the best thing to compare it to is like rice and pasta in terms of
how filling it is.
Definitely.
Just fills you up.
I love the sauce.
But I've noticed you guys don't eat vegetables just like straight.
No.
We have leaves.
Also dairy.
No dairy.
Nah.
We are not a fan of dairy.
No.
It's weird.
No?
I've been to some countries where everything is dairy.
Cheese.
Milk.
Yogurt.
No.
Mmm.
It's got to be full.
I just finished my fufu.
Let me give you a clap.
Well done.
I told you but the snail, I'm done with that guy.
Sure?
Yeah.
You're already done.
Why not finish that one?
Try.
To be honest, I don't know if I can go deep into his body like that.
Okay.
Drop it into mine.
Yeah?
You want it?
Yeah, man.
Eh.
Gotta clean my hands with some soap.
Every time, right?
Like that.
I share with you.
Oh.
Mmm.
Yummy, yummy, yummy.
What a taste of local dish.
This is why Ghana is so special.
So when you're done with your plate, what do you do?
Very easy.
The left soup, this is what you do.
Mmm.
Ah.
So tasty.
That peanut.
Mmm.
Wow.
It's a nice peanut veg gravy.
A little spicy.
Yeah.
So far.
Oh.
It's good.
Mmm.
Let me finish it off with the grass cutter meat.
Grass cutter.
Mmm.
I'm just finishing this.
Mmm.
Oh, man.
I can do another dish.
Nah.
Ah.
We've seen it from the service stage.
Now we're going to the kitchen to see how it's prepared.
Maybe the pounding and then how they prepare the bangku and the other.
That kitchen's over here?
Oh, there are goats everywhere.
And this, my friends, is bangku, my friend.
Thank you.
Go, go.
Go here.
I ate the goat.
This is a peanut butter soup.
So there's beef in it in the peanut butter soup.
And that is what we all eat.
That's all we eat.
Right?
Every time you eat a soup, there's peanut butter in it.
Hey, my friends.
Thank you.
So right here we have the cassava.
So they just finished cutting it all.
Then they boil it.
They boil it with the plantain.
And that's how we make the pupu.
Mm-hmm.
Right?
And they're not making pupu right now, right?
No.
No, they're not.
No, they're done, basically.
Okay.
Well, that's it, guys.
That's it for this place.
Thank you so much.
Let's go to the next place.
My friends, thank you.
Thank you.
And that's it for Sisi's Chop Bar.
So good.
You have to come here when you come to Kumasi.
Now let's get in the car and keep exploring.
So this is Kumasi.
Second largest city in the country.
Cultural capital.
You know, it's the capital of the Asante people.
2.2 million people live here.
When you come, take at least 36 to 48 hours.
Half a day, you can explore the entire market.
After that, you can just go around, try different foods, see the museums.
That's sort of what you can do the first day.
Next day, you go out to all the different like cultural villages or like craft centers, right?
One of them is a weaving village.
One of them, they do carvings, right?
So they make masks, chairs, etc.
And as you can see along the road, you know, lots of vendors, lots of housing.
There's a CBD area.
And what else?
Yeah, a lot more, you know, a lot more.
Everybody's busy doing something just to make a living, you know.
The women in particular.
I mean, most of them are the breadwinners of their home, you know.
Understandably so.
The Asantes are in the matriarchal system.
So the family is rooted in the woman.
So they work hard knowing that the kids are theirs, you know.
Fifteen, fifteen.
Oh, okay.
Give me twenty.
In here, bro, they do fifteen traffic.
That's the best.
Can I find that for the steering wheel?
Will you give me twenty six, man?
That's the best.
I have no idea who came up with this.
Fifteen is almost like three dollars.
Nice.
I mean, it's nice for this.
The steering wheel is better now because the other one was like messed up.
So it's a nice cover.
All right, my friends.
We made it back here to the central market.
We're going to walk around and look for some street food.
Some kebabs.
Beef kebabs.
Ben, you hungry?
You want one?
Yeah, yeah.
We're going here.
This is a Muslim enclave where they sell, you know, you look at their costume.
The ladies and the way they dress tells you they're Muslims.
And kebabs are mostly in the Muslim enclave.
And normally at the drinking pub and at pubs and stuff like that.
This is a kebab.
It's not a usual kebab you see, you know, on a wooden stick
or that kind of thing.
This one, they cut them into pieces and it's in the paper.
And then they roast it as you're seeing.
They add all the spices to it.
And it's roasted and it tastes so good.
It's fresh and yummy.
To be honest, I thought it was kinke.
It looks like it.
It looks like it's just the way it's wrapped.
But the guy has a grill in the middle.
And there is the meat.
So what is it?
Is it beef?
Yeah, it's beef kebab.
It's beef, right?
Beef and goat.
Or lamb.
Yeah, this is beef.
Oh, so he cuts it right here?
Wow.
Look at this.
The fire is just like, man, I'm getting cooked right now.
It's hot.
Super hot.
This one is all sheep.
I thought it was beef.
It's all sheep.
And they wrap it with this like paper.
And then they put it in the middle.
So they grill it first and they leave it here.
And it's sort of like smoking, right?
It's still like getting cooked a little more, right?
It has a smoky taste to it.
I've never seen a grill like this.
I mean, a massive grill on the side.
These are already packed.
10 CDs each, right?
So roughly $2 for this.
Delicious, delicious, right?
I'm telling you, this kebab, you taste it,
you know that you've never eaten any kebab like this one.
It's yummy.
Super.
All right, I'm going to have a taste of this.
So it's sheep, right?
With some like, what is this?
Like some chili?
Oh my God.
That's so good.
Very tender.
Juicy.
A little gamey.
Oh, I love that.
That's actually like pepper with some spices.
Not too hot though in terms of spice, right?
Wow.
All right, I'm going to take one.
Thank you, my friend.
Thank you.
Okay, so we bought two.
It costs $10 each.
So $2 each.
Two US dollars each.
So we got what we came here for.
Let's get back in the car and let's go get a drink.
I need a beer.
So is this area considered like central-central or what is this area?
The central business is not here.
This area is more closer to the King's Palace.
And then this part is more Muslim.
The other side is Ashanti's.
Yeah.
And that's where the market is that we went to this morning.
Massive market.
You know, one of the biggest in West Africa.
Crazy experience there.
You have to do it.
Going through here is different.
I mean, it's hilly.
It reminds me somewhat of Shillong in Meghalaya, India.
Just in terms of the hills here.
Also, there's tuk-tuks here, which is very different from Accra.
Accra has no tuk-tuks.
So if you want to do a tuk-tuk ride, you can do it here.
And yeah, in terms of things to see and do in Kumasi, not so many.
Mostly outside of here.
The market's the main thing and everything else is like exterior.
Like, you know, small craft centers, villages, right?
They call them villages, but they're more like centers where people go and they work.
I'm guessing we're crossing through the market area, right?
Because over the right and the left is market.
Yeah, the market is here.
And then, you know, where we went in the morning market is just facing us.
Okay, my friends, we came here to a different part of town.
And we're going to Wasaga Pub.
Wasaga.
Oh, just another bar here in Kumasi where you can get some bitters.
You can get some delicious beer.
You know, their beer here is a club beer.
They also have the Guinness that they make here.
It's called like extra foreign or something.
It's like 7.5%.
It's pretty good.
There's also street food right here if you want.
Some, you know, kebabs, things on a stick.
And Wasaga Pub.
Let's go inside.
Let's get a beer.
I'm like dying.
Today has been too hot.
Alright, so we have here Star, Gilder, ABC, Guinness, Malta by Guinness.
They have some Heineken.
I mean, they have so many different things.
A few of them are from Ghana.
Most of them are from Ghana, actually.
Including the Guinness.
That's a foreign extra.
Sorry, guys, foreign extra.
I'll take that.
Thank you, my friend.
Thank you.
Here we go.
Guinness.
Foreign extra.
Brewed right here in Ghana.
I love it.
Oh, it's malty.
Salty.
So we had lunch around 2.30 in the afternoon.
It is almost 5.
And I'm having basically a dinner here with the kebab.
I really want to eat it here.
I don't want to take it home.
It's still really hot and fresh.
Ooh, this is on fire.
Oh my god, it's on fire.
Look at this.
This pub is like basically open air.
A lot of people here, they're watching some TV.
That's why you hear that noise, right?
And the sheep.
Oh man, the oil, the salt, the pepper.
For me, the best is lamb and goat.
Sheep as well.
Oh my god, the fat layer, the gelatin.
Oh, the beer is so refreshing.
Mmm.
Ben, this is amazing.
So good.
So far, we had Sisi's Chop Bar.
Non-stop there.
From trying the bitters, going through seeing the 10 different dishes.
They have snail, they have goat, they have grass cutter.
That bush means they have a big rodent.
Mmm.
Fantastic food.
It's very different.
I mean, whenever you come to African countries, please understand.
It's very different culture, very exotic.
No one uses utensils, always the hand.
Mmm.
Oh wow.
You guys already know how good this is.
I don't have to talk about it anymore.
The best way to relax the body.
Feel good.
It's a chill cup of club beer.
The number one beer in Ghana.
Good stuff, you know.
This and a beer, especially a Guinness stout.
The best.
Well guys, I hope you enjoyed this video.
If you did, please give me a thumbs up.
Leave a comment below.
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I'll see you in the next Travel Food Adventure in Kumasi, Ghana.
Tomorrow, we're off to all the villages.
Let's do it.
A little more, a little more of this.
