Sanbra's hotel (Kumasi, Ghana)

Sanbra's hotel is a very friendly and conveniently located hotel in the centre of Kumasi. We've stayed there one night during our trip through Ghana, at the beginning of April. One reason why it caught my eye amongst many others mentioned in the travel guide book was that, as you might suspect already, the hotel makes pizzas :-P

Tinka stayed in the room, writing notes from the day and I went to check upon the restaurant, located on the second floor. To go on a pizza hunt alone does not feel right, so I guess it was meant to be that just as I entered, I saw a familiar face! It was Bryan, a member of our excursion group at Mole national park, who even took a picture of me and Tinka! Quite a coincidence, I would say :-)

The picture from Mole, taken by Bryan

I sat down next to him and we begun to talk. Bryan was (and still is, if you don't read this many months from the time I wrote it) on an amazing travel mission. Originally from Colorado, he left US for Europe more then a year ago, travelling all the way down to Gibraltar, and traversing to Africa by the end of 2014. Since then, he passed many African countries, before reaching Ghana from the north, through Burkina Faso. Eventually, he plans to go all the way down to South Africa and perhaps even back along the opposite coast! Years of travelling, and millions of experiences... But why would I describe his journey, if you can read it at the first hand? Yes, Bryan also has a blog :-)

In the mean time, I've ordered "Sanbra's pizza", one with an egg, beef meat and cheese. Cheese - you want that on pizza, and especially in Ghana, where the 3 pizzas I had was the only times I had some cheese, since I came here. Bryan was already finished with his and so I was enjoying (but fortunately not experiencing) his narration about the super hot temperatures he's gone through in Burkina - mind you, with no short sleeves but in a full motorbike uniform!

Sanbra's pizza - eggs, cheese and beef in a nice portion

The pizza did not take long to come, which is a good point for Sanbra, as service is generally a bit slow in Ghana. But the best was the pizza itself! The crust was firm and crunchy, bottom well baked and the top literally loaded with the ordinary, but tasty ingredients. Funnily enough, the crust also strongly reminded me of the pizza from Hemsedal in Norway, which is a place almost in every aspect complete opposite of Kumasi in Ghana :-) . But I guess crusts don't care who makes them, and where :-P . Crusts just want to have fun! But let's end this weird excursion into the minds of pizza crusts (if you started reading here, don't worry, I did not get crazy)!

I don't have anything to say on the negative note - just perhaps that I'd imagine a trifle bigger pizza for one which says "large" on the menu. This was however made up for with the amount of ingredients, which was enough to get me full and even leave couple of slices for Tinka. :-)

All in all, Sanbra's pizza is nothing too special, "just" a very tasty pizza, but one for a very good value (23 cedis, i.e. something over 5 euros) and in a pleasant environment and great central location. And if this is the place where weary travellers and bloggers, roaming the world on a motorbike meet and exchange a few ideas and stories from their travels - you'd be sorry not to pay a visit. And if you like pizzas? You'd be sorry twice :-)

Thanks to Bryan for the company and lot's of luck on your journey. Keep blogging, we'll be watching out for updates. Fight the gravity by moto!


PS:
Dough - 8
Ingredients - 8
Sauce - 7
Atmosphere - 7
Service - 8

Peter's pizza (Aburi, Ghana)

It was really the last stop on our journey around Ghana - Aburi, a small town already on the way to Accra, and the lunch at Peter's pizza, about which we've read in our travel guide. We quickly found the place just a few meters down the entrance of the botanical garden, and were welcome by Peter and Jessica. We were told they did not plan to make pizzas that day and were just planning to do some cleaning, but assured us they'd do two for us all the same :-) . Thus we "ordered" two medium pizzas. Jessica went to buy some vegetables to the town and I questioned Peter a little.

The smallest pizzeria I've ever been to

He spent a few years on the boat, working as a cook, including a few months in Italy. But contrary to what I thought, he did not learn pizzas there - already his father was a cook and through the years of experience, he came also to pizza-making. And decided to start a pizzeria.

Jessica had an interesting background too - originally from Barbados, she came to Ghana long time ago, and went to a university in Accra. She was also telling me about the ideas they had - to turn the whole place into a nice pizzeria with two floors and plenty of seats. However, since the Ebola outbreak they had a decrease in customers, especially from US, even though there's no Ebola in Ghana (or even neighbouring countries).

An increase in the seating capacity would be welcome, though - the inside of the place is actually very small, with barely enough space for two people! Jessica said that if they have more customers, they put a table and chairs out in front and seat the people there. For me and Tinka, there was however enough space.

I can imagine it's not easy for Peter to make pizzas in Aburi - there's not that many tourists and probably not many people who could afford going for a pizza (after all, one medium costed 30 cedis, about 8 euros). What is more, there's other challenges, like e.g. getting cheese. Peter used Gouda and Cheddar, but cheese is simply not produced in that area (not sure it's produced in Ghana at all). Thus, they said, the cheese is sent over frozen from some friends in Belgium. Furthermore, to store it in a freezer, you need a constant access electricity, which is also very rare in Ghana. That's why I did not object to the price, although the two other times I had a pizza in Ghana it was considerably cheaper.

While I was talking to Jessica and Peter, and watching him prepare the dough and topping it with vegetable and cheese, Tinka was in a conversation with another guy, probably a friend of Peter. His way (and quantity) of talking was annoying me a bit, though, especially after he repeated too many times that "this is the best pizza in Ghana. Original. Made just for you. Etc..", sounding a bit like a cheap commercial. But anyway, we were getting hungry and I looked forward to see what will land on the table.

Peter finally bent down and removed a fresh pizza from the electric oven. It's ready! We took an obligatory picture, and went on to enjoy, as they claimed, "the best pizza in Africa".

The usual picture before :-)

My first impression was a nostalgic one - on a first look this looked very similar to my home made pizzas from several years ago! Then, on the first touch, the crust would deserve some more crispiness. But the first bite was the best - one can feel this was made fresh, with real vegetables and nicely mixed spices for the sauce. Although I would think twice before calling this the best pizza in Africa (e.g., I liked pizza at Sanbra better), it was tasty and enjoyable, and actually quite a big pie, making us full for the lunch.

A home-made pizza is home-made pizza!

All in all, I think it was well worth a visit, although more because of the "adventure" to see a local Ghanian pizza-maker, then because of "real quality restaurant experience". But if you like pizzas and pass through Aburi, I recommend to stop by ;-)

PS:
Dough - 6
Ingredients - 7
Sauce - 7
Atmosphere - 7
Service - 8