Bokit’La

We’ve shared with you the story of the Bokit a ‘creole sandwich’ very popular in Guadeloupe (in the French West-Indies).
Nicolas, Thierry and Julien are from Guadeloupe. A few years ago, they opened Bokit’La in London, their very own sandwich shop selling bokits.
We’ve met them to hear their story!

How did Bokit’La come to life?
We’ve always loved cooking and we would send each other pictures of our cooking creations.We came to the realisation that we really loved creating nice dishes. And from there we had the idea to create our own sandwich shop, Bokit’La

Why choose to make Bokit (the Guadeloupe specialty) and not the Agoulou (another specialty from Guadeloupe, equivalent to a creole hamburger)
We’ve realised throughout our years in London that a lot of French West Indians wanted to eat bokits, just like us. Since it is very popular in Guadeloupe, we thought why not?

What are your secrets to success?
(They laugh) If we tell you it won’t be a secret anymore! But OK, if we must tell, here are the key things:
Passion
Communication
Dedication
Staying motivated
Staying positive
And the most important thing: keep fit!

What are your preferred bokits?
Nicolas
The Chiken bokit – Chicken, avocado, aubergines, creole seasoning, lettuce, chilli pepper level 4
Julian
The Salfish bokit – Saltfish, aubergines, avocado, creole seasoning, lettuce, chili peper level 3
Thierry
Mixed Bokit – The Chicken bokit, mixed with saltfish and chili pepper level 3.

Why did you open the Bokit-la shop in England, and not in France or Guadeloupe?
Well we’ve lived here for a few years and we’ve seen that the French Caribbean culture is not very represented. We saw the opportunity to share our culture, since London is a very cosmopolitan city.

How have the local English population received your exotic cuisine?
We’re lucky, because they’re always very open to new experiences. London is very multicultural, so it is an opportunity for a lot of people to taste our Caribbean specialty.

Will you be selling bokits at the Notting Hill Carnival 2015?
Yes, definitely. We’ll be on Portobello Road, number 292A, on August 30^th and 31^st !

What is your ambition for the future?
We just want to maintain the quality of our recipe and share it with as many people as possible.

Do you have a funny story to share around your experience with the Bokits?
One day, one of our regular client (a bodybuilder) came from North London with his wife to buy bokits (we were in Oval, south London).Unfortunately we had finished our day and we’d run out!

He started crying with despair and said: “I can’t believe it, I’ve come all the way to South London, I had planned my day and was so looking forward to eating a bokit. What am I going to do now?”
He left, but we managed to scrap around enough to make two bokits.
We ran after him and gave them to him and his wife!

It was really touching to see how much effort this couple had made to come and eat our bokits!

It’s also funny to see how our clients jump and dance with excitement as we prepare their bokit!

Thank you guys for sharing this with us. For those who would like to taste their specialities you can meet them every weeks from 10AM to 3PM:

– Thursday :Hammersmith market @ Lyric Square W6 0NB

– Friday : Brixton market @ Brixton Station Road, SW9 8PB

– Saturday : Oval farmers market @ St Marks Church Kennington, SE11 4PW, UK

Contact Bokit’La
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Photo credit : www.aniajablonska.com