Mary’s
Homely day-to-night Nigerian cafe with a menu celebrating its owner’s heritage.
Mary’s
Nigerian$
The Collingwood site formerly home to Singaporean stalwart The Old Raffles Place is now Mary’s, a day-to-night cafe celebrating owner Mary Akindele’s Nigerian heritage.
She’s sourcing spices from Nula Multi, a grocer in Braybrook, to supercharge flavour in quintessentially Nigerian dishes. Akindele’s extra-earthy jollof rice is refried in ata din din, a spicy sauce of tomato and capsicum, to order. There’s also suya, a street-food staple Akindele is obsessed with, involving tender grilled beef marinated in a smoky, toasty, peanut-rich rub.
Brunch means ata din din scrambled eggs and a pancake-doughnut hybrid emulating puff-puff, West Africa’s favourite fried dough snack, which Mary’s serves with maple and hibiscus syrup.
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