Calendar An icon of a desk calendar. Cancel An icon of a circle with a diagonal line across. Caret An icon of a block arrow pointing to the right. Email An icon of a paper envelope. Facebook An icon of the Facebook "f" mark. Google An icon of the Google "G" mark. Linked In An icon of the Linked In "in" mark. Logout An icon representing logout. Profile An icon that resembles human head and shoulders. Telephone An icon of a traditional telephone receiver. Tick An icon of a tick mark. Is Public An icon of a human eye and eyelashes. Is Not Public An icon of a human eye and eyelashes with a diagonal line through it. Pause Icon A two-lined pause icon for stopping interactions. Quote Mark A opening quote mark. Quote Mark A closing quote mark. Arrow An icon of an arrow. Folder An icon of a paper folder. Breaking An icon of an exclamation mark on a circular background. Camera An icon of a digital camera. Caret An icon of a caret arrow. Clock An icon of a clock face. Close An icon of the an X shape. Close Icon An icon used to represent where to interact to collapse or dismiss a component Comment An icon of a speech bubble. Comments An icon of a speech bubble, denoting user comments. Comments An icon of a speech bubble, denoting user comments. Ellipsis An icon of 3 horizontal dots. Envelope An icon of a paper envelope. Facebook An icon of a facebook f logo. Camera An icon of a digital camera. Home An icon of a house. Instagram An icon of the Instagram logo. LinkedIn An icon of the LinkedIn logo. Magnifying Glass An icon of a magnifying glass. Search Icon A magnifying glass icon that is used to represent the function of searching. Menu An icon of 3 horizontal lines. Hamburger Menu Icon An icon used to represent a collapsed menu. Next An icon of an arrow pointing to the right. Notice An explanation mark centred inside a circle. Previous An icon of an arrow pointing to the left. Rating An icon of a star. Tag An icon of a tag. Twitter An icon of the Twitter logo. Video Camera An icon of a video camera shape. Speech Bubble Icon A icon displaying a speech bubble WhatsApp An icon of the WhatsApp logo. Information An icon of an information logo. Plus A mathematical 'plus' symbol. Duration An icon indicating Time. Success Tick An icon of a green tick. Success Tick Timeout An icon of a greyed out success tick. Loading Spinner An icon of a loading spinner. Facebook Messenger An icon of the facebook messenger app logo. Facebook An icon of a facebook f logo. Facebook Messenger An icon of the Twitter app logo. LinkedIn An icon of the LinkedIn logo. WhatsApp Messenger An icon of the Whatsapp messenger app logo. Email An icon of an mail envelope. Copy link A decentered black square over a white square.

Gidi Grill opens in Aberdeen after West African spice appeal wins over Dundee

Eniola, centre right, and Mo, right, have brought their West African restaurant Gidi Grill from Dundee to Aberdeen. Image: Gidi Grill
Eniola, centre right, and Mo, right, have brought their West African restaurant Gidi Grill from Dundee to Aberdeen. Image: Gidi Grill

Dundee’s favourite West African restaurant Gidi Grill has finally opened its doors in Aberdeen.

The restaurant, which has captured Dundonian hearts through its unique African-style sauces and laid-back energy, launches at noon today (Thursday November 10) on Aberdeen’s Union Street.

The new outlet, a few doors up from Six by Nico, is Gidi Grill’s third branch and the first outside of Dundee.

Its launch comes eight months after The Press and Journal revealed the restaurant was making the move from The Silver City to Aberdeen.

Inside the Gidi Grill in Aberdeen. Image: Gidi Grill

Aberdeen move an easy decision for Gidi Grill

The Union Street opening is a landmark for husband-and-wife owners Mobolaji (Mo) and Eniola Adeniyi, who opened the first Gidi Grill in Dundee’s City Quay in 2018.

However, Gidi Grill director Pete Preston, who helped Mo and Eniola set up the Aberdeen branch, said expanding to the Granite City was an easy decision.

The Aberdeen branch will have all the Gidi Grill favourites. Image: Gidi Grill

Pete, an Aberdeen businessman who like Mo and Eniola is from Nigeria, says Aberdeen has one of the biggest West African communities in the UK.

Many people were already making the trip down the A90 to eat at Dundee’s Gidi Grills.

“I did some exit polls in Dundee, and I found that 25% of the customers were from Aberdeen,” says Pete. “Those people now don’t have to travel. It’s on the doorstep.”

Gidi Grill hot sauce at heart of Aberdeen branch

The Gidi Grill owners are confident Mo’s West African flavours will appeal to everyone in the city and are hoping to hook as many Aberdonians as they have Dundonians.

The new restaurant’s menu will mirror its sister sites, with everything from spiced mac and cheese, burgers and grilled chicken to West African and Caribbean favourites such as jollof rice and jerk barbecue pork belly.

Mo and Eniola opened the first Gidi Grill in 2018. Image: Gidi Grill

Meanwhile, underpinning the food in the restaurant is Mo’s very own West African sauce, which comes in two levels of intensity – red and green.

Unlike with other spicy sauces, the green version is the hottest. However, Pete says either colour makes a trip to Gidi Grill a unique experience.

Posted by Gidi Grill Aberdeen on Friday, 14 October 2022

“The reason why Gidi Grill is so popular is because of those sauces,” he says.

For Gidi Grill first-timers, Pete – a regular visitor to the Dundee outlets before persuading Mo and Eniola to come north – recommends the plantain and prawns as a starter before hitting the half chicken and jollof rice for a main.

And when it comes to dessert, Pete says the Gidi Grill rum cake is a “gamechanger”.

“The rum cake is to die for,” says Pete. “I’d take that every day.”

Gidi Grill seats about 90 people. Image: Gidi Grill.

Bookings for the Aberdeen restaurant are now open. The venue, which replaces the former Jones shoe shop at 263 Union Street, seats about 90 people and is open every day except Monday. Opening hours are from noon to 10pm.

Conversation