Totos’ African Cuisine

My boyfriend is British Nigerian so he was excited to try this place. First off, I’m all about hospitality, and this place needs a major reality check. The waitress (and I’m assuming owner/​cook) was not very welcoming. My boyfriend and I interacted more with the guy worker sitting down watching TV.
Secondly, the food is okay. We got the fish soup which had a really gritty texture. The entrees were okay. I actually did end up getting full, but I also had a large beer to help. We did not eat all the food and decided not to take it to home.
Lastly, the price! We waited forever to get the bill and I could not believe the price. Totally over priced! Now I wish I took the food home…
We will not be returning. My boyfriend was not even «wowed» by their food.

I’m so glad I found this place since I move in Thousand Oak, California, their food so tasty, definitely will coming back !

I’ve been meaning to try Toto’s African Cuisine for the longest time and today I had the chance to. Located on the busy strip of Sherman Way, Toto’s a cozy family owned business that embodies home cooked meals. You can taste the love in the cooking.
My friend and I ordered the Efo Riro (with Chicken) with Jollof Rice and Plantains. The hostess asked us if we liked spicy food, it was little difficult to navigate around I am not a fan of super spicy food while my friend loves spicy food. The hostess suggested the dish above as it was our first time and considering the fact that I said I can do «mild.» The food came in a timely manner. I didn’t expect the food to be super spicy! Something I learned with restaurants, the term mild varies per cuisine. Although it was spicy, I was able to eat the dish which went well with the rice and plantains. The plantain helped ease the heat. I did wish the food wasn’t so spicy so I could have enjoyed the flavor alot more. The food flavor was on point but the chicken was a little dry but the broth it was soaked in helped with easing the dryness.
Over all I enjoyed my experience, superb custom services and delicious food (although very spicy). Next time I come back, I’ll try to see if we can get the food to be «not spicy.» It is a little on the more expensive side but you really can’t complain since there aren’t alot of Nigerian restaurants in LA (atleast that I know of).

Ordered the obono soup (did not have a choice in the matter as the way their menu works is they have different soups on different days) – was definitely tasty, & the pounded yam was a nice size —however there was not that much meat in the soup. Will definitely be ordering from them again — nice to have Nigerian food available in the valley when you don’t feel like cooking it

It was amazing! Don’t know what these other people are talking about. And the owner is the SWEETEST person alive! Everyone eat here immediately!

4^th revision… this place is not worthy of any review until Unilocal allows you to give negative stars…
Beverly Hills prices and attitude in s strip mall in Van Nuys… do the math…

I really want to give a good review, but it’s tough.
I tried this place after a co-​worker and I had been talking about this type of food.
Upon entering mid eve, I was the only person there. Owners are super nice and made a suggesting.
The flavor was spot on. BUT! Very spicy!
The meat was so tough I couldn’t chew it.
I was shocked at the $$$$, Way way over priced.
I did mention it to the owner who replied. «We like it like that» OK.
I don’t think I’ll be back, just to far from me and not for me.

Overpriced and I believe I heard a microwave door close a few times… All in all not good and never again!

This place does not at all represent a bit of how Nigerian food tastes.
My boyfriend and I ordered jollof rice and the mashed yams– both of us had different soups.
The food was preheated by the microwave (heard the noise of it)
If you pay 19 $ for a dish you do expect fresh food!
However the lady was nice.
Not again.

Recently I took my daughter to this restaurant to introduce her to the food of different cultures. We tried egusi soup and another one I don’t remember name of it. The place was empty, we were the only diners and it was Friday. The food was OK but could be better if they would have more customers.

Love it will be xoming back very helpful owner helps u to choose when uve never had any of the food to eat before will be coming back:)!

My friend and I came here to try out something new and exotic. It’s hard to review something that is supposed to be a pure cultural experience but I can definitely say that this place is very clean and the food is fine.
We tried Egusi soup which I didn’t like: the mixture of chicken and fish in a hot broth was too much. However my friend who also had it for the first time enjoyet it. Moi moi was delicious as was Jollof rice.
The server lady didn’t pay as much attention to us as she did towards the group of Nigerian women in traditional outfits who were sitting nearby, so the service was not so good. We were left to ourselves most of the time and the the entire visit took longer than we had planned.

Absolutely the worst Nigerian food I ever had, I got a fish stew, first they charged 2 $ more for fish that was not fresh and basically the tomatoes stew sauce tasted like they dumped a can of tomatoes paste with water on top of the old fish. Portions were ridiculous for a 19 $ plate. I have been to Ghana and while there enjoyed many dishes prepared by Nigerian chefs and Ghanaian. Save your money and time, it is not worth it. Veronica’s is really good try there

I went with a group to support black businesses. The lady running the place was happy to explain the menu items (as I had never had Nigerian food before). There are photos of Nigerian figures (like Fela Kuti) hanging on the walls.
Some faults: I don’t think they handle big groups well, and their menu layout is very confusing. I had to ask a lot of questions about whether some items came together or were they separate. Away from that the food was delicious and I would go more often if I frequented that area.

I’m a huge fan of international, ethnic cuisines so was really looking forward to this place.
Let’s start with the positive. I had a dish with the yam, spinach, ochra, and fish (I don’t recall the name). It was quite flavorful and filling. In fact, I’d love to find a recipe to make it at home.
Why would I want to make it at home? Now to the bad.
The server/​owner/​cook was pretty inattentive, borderline rude, impatient, completely unsympathetic to veggie/​vegan diners, and not particularly helpful for the uninitiated. Granted, I don’t expect anyone to fully cater to veggie/​vegans (unless it’s a vegan restaurant), but we are a growing segment of the population; treating us (or any customer) as less-​than just makes little economic sense.
The menus were a mess. Nitpicky? Perhaps. But when you’re trying to make a decision at a new establishment in a new cuisine, it’s not helpful that half the menu’s crossed off and the rest is covered in post-​its. Get your shit together, Toto’s.
The price was ridiculous. Basically what we’re talking about here is spiced, peppered vegetables. I understand that takes a certain skill to prepare, but it was easily double the price I was expecting.
So good food, but with all the trouble, it’s not worth a return visit. I’ll find recipes on-​line and make my own.

They had a menu but the items on the menu were preponderantly unavailable. We ordered an overpriced dinner entrée to share. The chicken&goat came in a tomato-​red pepper sauce that came unmistakably from a can (brand El Pato I aver). The goat was tender, albeit served in tiny portion. The chicken wasn’t fresh, it had oxidized and become leathery. Don’t go. Not ever.

From a french-​nigerian citizen, this place is the best place in all L. A area to eat Nigerian food.
I had Egusi soup/​Fufu and I can told you by experience that it was like being in Nigeria!
The owner is really kind and nice and the place is clean and cosy.
So, excellent customer service, excellent food and clean restaurant!
I put 5 stars only because I can’t put 6!

I have been to these restaurant on several occasions. The food is okay, for what you pay per meal. They should be able to serve you more than just 4 pieces of meat. Mixed goat meat definition should be all parts of the goat, not chicken and beef feet. Why advertise goat and you serve beef and chicken. When ask, owner said they forgot to deliver goat. You can get a good steak dinner for $ 18 a meal. Service is great, but check your receipt before you pay.
After the owner saw my review he wrote to me to harass and complained, what a shame. Take the review and get better and STOP attacking customers. We paid for the food, even if it was FREE, we expect you to prepare it with love.

This is my second time having Nigerian food. We went for dinner and was quite surprised at the end of our meal.
Service was wonderful as the owner of the restaurant spent time with us explaining and chatting about our meal. The stews were awesome, albeit spicy if you are not able to handle it. The spice does make a difference and brings a zing to the meal.
We had the peppered goat for appetizer, which was very tasty and does not have as much of the the gamey taste to it.
Very delicious food but at the end of our meal for two people, we forked out $ 65.00 for appetizer, two entrees, and two drinks. A bit pricey but overall well worth it if you are looking to try different cuisines.

The service was great. Very friendly staff. The food was mediocre. Not sure if we came on an off day. We ate here for dinner. Based on the prices, I thought I’d ask if the portion is enough for two people. The friendly chef jokingly said «probably not» since my husband said he was hungry. So we ordered two dishes and an appetizer.
We ordered the peppered goat appetizer. It was very flavorful, had a nice kick to it, and the meat was tender, but some of it was cold. Once our rice dish came out, we just threw in the cold pieces of goat into the soup. The jollof rice and chicken dish reminded me of arroz con pollo. The vegetables on the plate looked like the frozen vegetables you get from the freezer aisle. There were two small pieces of chicken quarters. My husband said his was very tender. Mine on the other hand was not. The meat tasted dry and there was barely any meat on the bone.
The second dish came out w/​fufu. The greens and the broth were very good. We weren’t sure if the goat bones were just for flavor or meant to be eaten. We picked at the bones and the meat was tough. I needed tons of floss afterwards. I wasn’t sure if the the soup was the main component or the goat bones because there wasn’t a lot of soup in the bowl.
The fufu served its purpose. It filled our bellies with flavorless starchyness. Guess I’m not a fan of fufu. I dipped it in the soup, ate it with the soup, ate it by itself, but I couldn’t get over the texture.
$ 50 later we were on our way home with no leftovers. For $ 50, I expect to have leftovers. The only thing leftover was the fufu. Unless it took the chef 3 days and 3 nights and is very labor intensive to make the soup, the amount of food they give you and the complexity of the dish doesn’t seem to justify the price.

The location of this restaurant was formerly Veronica’s Kitchen in Lake Balboa (xhttp://www.yelp.com/biz/veronicas-kitchen-van-nuys). Totos has been open for one month as of this writing.
I’ve been to Ghana, so I have a good idea what the food tastes like, as Nigerian food is quite similar.
The efo-​riro with chicken and beef and pounded yams (fufu) was delicious and filling — I took some of it home, and I’m a big eater. I washed this down with some palm wine. Like I said in the other review, this is probably as close as I can get to feeling like I’m in West Africa in a restaurant in Los Angeles. And that’s a beautiful thing. Efo-​riro is a soup cooked with spinach, dried fish, peppers, and spices, and is a very typical dish of Nigeria.
The fufu is made from a powder, and is not pounded as is done in Ghana and Nigeria, and while I could tell that it was a bit different, it still goes well with the spicy soup and meat.
Vegetarians and vegans have limited fare, but can still get jollof rice (cooked with tomatoes, peppers, onions and spices), beans, and other such things. Fish is available with most any soup dish, as is goat and even cow foot or tripe.
The service is beyond nice. It’s almost like you’re a guest in someone’s house. Friendly and warm and kind. If you’ve been to Veronica’s, then you’ll be interested to know that the restaurant is brighter, airier, and more spacious now, and the food comes much quicker.
The restaurant charges $ 1 for all credit card purchases. They have a menu that describes all the dishes. Also available are meat pies, chin chin, goat pepper soup, jollof, plaintains, moi moi (bround beans with eggs and meat, fish and spices), and soup special for specific days of the week (okra soup on Monday, egusi on Tuesday, ogbono on Wednesday, ofe onugbu on Thursday, eru on Friday, and edikaikong on Satuday. There’s also some other fun stuff listed, such as palm kernel/​banga soup and efe ora soup. It’ll be fun to try new things here.
Saturday they also serve breakfast from 8:30 — 11:00, including akara with ogi (skinned and ground beans with peppers and spices fried in vegetable oil, ogi being corn flour) and plaintains and potatoes with omelet as well as a baked bagel with cream cheese, tomatoes, and fresh fruits. There are some drinks from Nigeria available as well.
Definitely recommended!