I'M BACK

Hey y'all,

It's been a while. And to be honest its long over due. During my absence from the blogosphere, I've continued on my quest to find the ultimate restaurant in Abuja and I'm disappointed to say I haven't found it yet. I'm not giving up I know its out there and by gully I'm determined to find it at the detriment of my waist size (ok well not really). For starters, I'm going to make a full list of all the restaurants I've visited during my absence and hopefully will make out time in the coming weeks to write my reviews. When I dine out I'm usually looking at 4 things - ambiance, customer service, quality of food and price. Quality of food and price are usually of utmost importance to me. I can forgive bad service as long as the meal is delish but never the other way round. So without further ado, I present you my list of restaurants in no particular order.
1. Woks and Koi (Silverbird Galleria)
2. Oneals Centre (Jabi)
3. Wakkis ( Wuse 2)
4. Wonton Chinese Restaurant (Wuse 2)
5. The Clubhouse (Inside Tak Estate)

And off course the local, hole in wall place with no specific name.
In the coming weeks, full reviews will be posted on each restaurant. In the meantime, wishing you a delish weekend. Life is so much better with good food.

Pastries- Croissant/Crescent Rolls

Croissant also known as the crescent roll is a buttery flaky bread. This in my humble opinion is probably one of the best and tastiest delight to emerge from an oven. I was over at Amigos (one of the supermarkets in Abuja, located in Wuse II) in the morning to pick up a few items before heading into work. And just like I do every time I'm in Amigos I do a quick scan to see if there are any edibles that could soothe my taste bud. Lo and behold I came across these croissants fresh from the bakery. I was completely helpless, there was no way I was going to leave the store without purchasing one. I was greeted by one of the store clerks who informed me they had both chocolate and cheese filled croissant. As much as I love chocolate, cheese will always trump chocolate any day any time. I purchased the cheese filled croissant.
It was absolutely delicious, like I had a slice of heaven in my mouth. If I had the opportunity to create my own heaven, I would have it filled with croissants, coffee and ice cream and off course the ability not to gain a single pound hahahahahaha. The croissants cost 240 naira a piece. Not too bad for Abuja standard, I think (I'm now immune to Abuja prices, they don't shock me as much as it used to).
This could serve as the perfect breakfast with a cup of coffee or tea or as a snack. Either way you just gotta try them, but you have to make it to Amigos early because I think these are available only in the mornings. I'm assuming because I've never seen them later in the day when I've gone to Amigos. I'm definitely heading back to Amigos to get me more of these goodies :)

Restaurant Review #10

"Da Maria" Italian Food and Delicatessen Plot 98, Amino Kano Crescent, Wuse II, Abuja. Tel. # 07052555589

I’m very excited about this new spot I discovered. I’m guessing it’s been around for a couple months. I happened upon it on my way to visit a friend. I would have asked the cab guy to stop but alas my wallet was as dry as an empty kitchen cabinet. I needed to replenish and soon because in all honesty, the restaurant looked too good to pass up. 

Well I finally made it here and I was not disappointed. Once I entered the restaurant, I was greeted with a menu list which included their menu of the day. A few flights of stairs brought me to restaurant. I had the feeling that I had temporarily left Nigeria and I was standing inside the dining area of a very nice Italian resident. The restaurant had a very intimate and cozy feel to it. The accents and decors provided the perfect finishing to this wonderful place. 

The restaurant is divided into two sections. The first section on your right is a mini shop with a variety of wines, pastas and my personal favorite – CHEESE!!!!! At this point I had to exercise a lot of restraint. I wouldn’t want to explain to my family and friends how I spent a night in jail because of cheese (that would have made for a very awkward and embarrassing tale. Don’t you think?). I respectfully made it to my table and awaited service. Let me at this point interject that I have never been a huge fan of Italian food. My appetite for Italian food is limited to spaghetti with meat sauce/bolognaise or lasagna. And maybe if I’m feeling adventurous I’ll add elbow macaroni to the mix (that’s considered Italian right?) I’ve been brainwashed into thinking that a lot of the so called Italian meals I had in the US were authentic Italian meal (well newsflash it isn’t! – don’t worry I’ll give you a second to get over your shock). A quick scan of the menu revealed a whole array of mouthwatering entrees but I quickly settled on the Caprese salad (mozzarella salad). I was nursing a serious craving for fresh mozzarella salad at this point. Service was actually fast and I was quite impressed.  To my right, a couple friends were enjoying a three course meal accompanied with a bottle of wine. And seeing their meal, I was having second thoughts on just settling for the Caprese Salad.  

My salad was served with a side of cold, day old bread (I was looking forward to some steaming hot Italian bread). The salad itself was made to perfection. Fresh tomatoes, fresh herbs, fresh mozzarella cheese and dressed with olive oil. Even thinking about it now is making my mouth water. This was the perfect Caprese salad. The authenticity and taste of fresh mozzarella salad was enough to have me singing from the highest mountains hahahahahahaha. 

Before I left, I made it to the cheese display again to ask about their ricotta cheese (I used it to prepare lasagna a couple times back in the States) and I had a rather interesting/embarrassing chat with the owner.  The ricotta cheese they sold in the States had a semi-soft consistency. And well this ricotta cheese was hard. I kept telling the owner that this was not ricotta as I know it. And off course I argued a bit until I came to my senses (dumb moment, everyone has them right? C’mon don’t leave me hanging). Imagine a non-Nigerian arguing with me about the preparation of oha soup or what we call oha leaves. Anyway he ended up telling me about having egusi soup in Italy and what we generally consider pizza is not actually pizza as the pioneers intended it to be.

Almost forgot, the cost of the meal was quite decent. I spent a total of 1400 naira on my meal, which in my opinion was well worth it. Meals start from 1000 naira and upwards.

Price: High

Restaurant Review #9

La Dolce Vita, Safire Plaza,2 Kowa Link,Ademola Adetokunbo Crescent,Wuse II Abuja- TEL 08057828087

This was my second time visiting La Dolce. This restaurant came highly recommended from a friend during my first few months in Abuja when I was seriously craving a good pizza. Now the restaurant itself is very nice. A lot of thought went into capturing just the right mood. From the name you should have already deduced that this is an Italian restaurant. Stepping into this wonderful place feels worlds apart from all the hustle and bustle of Abuja. It’s a restaurant but also has a lounge feel to it.  It’s separated into two different sections – the seat down area for meals and the lounge area where you can sit with a glass of wine or whatever drink of your choice and some appetizers. The restaurant gets another cool point by having an outdoor seating area where you can eat or have a drink while enjoying the cool night breeze. And if you’re into photography you definitely have to check out their art decor which I think is really cool. They are mostly black and white pictures of some old celebrities like Charlie Chaplin, Robert Deniro (I think from the movie, Taxi) and a couple other pictures. A very nice place for lunch, dinner or just a couple drinks and guys bringing your date/girlfriend here will definitely score you high on her cool list (yeah we keep cool list hahahahaha).

And off course the food, well twice I’ve been there I only had their pizza. I’m not huge on Italian food, maybe off course it’s lasagna or spaghetti with a meaty sauce and that’s far enough for me.  So for now I’m only well versed on their pizza menu. The first time I ate here I had their margherita pizza (plain cheese pizza) and it was very good, pricey, but good. Their pizzas are made with a thin crust which should be good news for those who keep track of their calories.  The pizza was perfectly made and had a generous amount of cheese on it. I can’t find any fault with it. 

My second time around, I came with my mom and younger sister. We were treating mom to lunch. We started our meal with a serving of vegetarian spring roll (a single serving is 3 spring rolls) which was pure heaven accompanied with some kind of chilli sauce. I ordered a blended fruit drink or should I say frozen fruit drink- frozen fruits blended with some kind of juice, good but also quite expensive (really fine dining or dining in general is a wallet buster in Abuja) and then finally our order of spicy pepperoni pizza. Now if you are expecting to see the red, disc shaped pepperoni that some of you are used to, forget it because that’s not what we consider pepperoni. Instead, their pepperoni resembles thinly sliced beef that have been well seasoned. An alternative, but more gourmet looking than the standard pepperoni you find on any pizza hut pizza or papa john pizza. The meal was delicious and even though I was stuffed, I could have easily gone for another plate.  The size of the pizza is quite generous but if you have a huge appetite you might want to order one for yourself and another for your guest. The price for the pepperoni pizza was 2800 naira and the margherita pizza cost 2000 naira.

My final grade: definitely a two thumbs way up. This restaurant made it on my cool list :)

Cost: High range 2000 naira and above

 Almost forgot to take a picture of the pizza hahaha. The brownish stuff you see on the pizza is the pepperoni

This is a picture of the restaurant from the entrance

 Spring roll with chilli sauce

Restaurant Review #8

Delizio Fastfood- Silverbird Entertainment Center, Abuja. Tel: 07093567671

On my way to watch the Green Hornet, I decided to pop into one of the newly opened restaurant at Silverbird. Silverbird is one of the major attractions in Abuja. It houses a multiplex cinema, boutiques and restaurants. Think of it like a small scale Mall. Delizio Fastfood as the name implies has the typical fast food menu - beef burger, cheese burger, fried chicken, chicken nuggets, pizza, ice cream, fries, etc and off course regular food like fried rice, jollof rice, etc. I've been searching for a good burger for a long time and just had to try their burger. I had their beef burger with no cheese- cost me 650 naira and I must say it was worth the price. It was finger licking good. It actually tasted like beef burger hahahaha (I know you're probably thinking "what else would it taste like"). But having tasted other burgers here in Abuja and comparing it with the one in the States none came close to Delizio's burger. And their fries - yeah they actually called it fries here (In Nigeria, fries are called chips) reminded me of McDonalds fries, perfectly salted and crispy with barbecue sauce. You can't imagine how that meal made my day coupled with a kick ass movie, that was the best way to end a day. Just like I mentioned earlier they serve a combination of fast food and also "real" meals. I tried their fried rice and chicken and definitely the best fried rice I have tried in any restaurant. And the chicken crispy on the outside and juicy on the inside. I'm yet to try their pizza but believe me once I do you will be hearing about it. Just need to get my wallet padded up again if you know what I mean hehehehehe. These guys definitely know what they are doing. Two thumbs way up!!!
Cost: medium -  high range (350 naira and above)
Below is a picture of the fried rice and chicken. Sorry no pics of the burger or fries. (not the best pic I know)

 

Restaurant Review # 7

Two 4 Seven Restaurant and Bar at Area 11 Gimbia Street

Things are finally looking up again, the sun is shinning, the flowers are blossoming and I'm finally getting a good meal for the right price. This was quite a find for my sister. I gotta say she finds more cool spot than I do. Maybe I should have her take over this blog for a while (thinking about that...... nah not gonna happen hehehe). Any way she stumbles across this restaurant and being a foodie like me she couldn't pass up the opportunity. She came back raving about this place and I just had to check it out and let the good folks here know what they might be missing out on. Now in terms of appearance, it's not fancy at all. The indoor eating area is just plain. If you are looking for the atmosphere for a romantic dinner to impress that special someone, skip it - you're not going to get it here. They also have an outdoor seating area where you could have your meal outside. The food here in served buffet style. It is not a serve yourself kinda meal. You go over to the food counter and tell your server your selection as he/she places them on a plate. They actually had a good variety of food. I was pretty impressed.
So I'm trying to get back to the whole eating healthy thingy and decided to go with the plantain porridge made with unripe plantains - unripe plantain is a very good source of pottassium and a complex carbohydrate. If you get the chance read up on the health benefits of unripe plantain you will be impressed. And then added a piece of fish to it. What did I tell you huh? pretty healthy stuff right :-). My meal was absolutely delish. Loved the plantain porridge although my fish, well I wasn't too crazy about it. It had a very soft texture, can't remember what the server called it but next time I'll stick with the firmer fish like salmon or titus. Overall, I had a delightful meal and definitely a keeper. I can't comment on the price because a friend picked up the tab hehehehehehehe. But being an Abuja restaurant you can bet that the price range was meduim to high range. Here's a pic of my meal below.

Restaurant Review #6

Assorted Foods - Wuse II

I have an elitist taste bud there I said it. I can't help it. Especially when it comes to spending my hard earned measly income on food. This was another failed mission. Went out with two friends to eat and we stumbled upon Assorted Foods. Well I won't say stumbled I've passed it a couple times, it's hard to miss since there's a giant balloon right in front of the restaurant with their name on it. We proceeded to the counter to make our selection and true to their name, they had an assortment of different dishes. My mouth was already watering. Their dishes looked so good. I won't lie I kinda had a hard time making a selection. I finally settled on their spaghetti and beef with veggie sauce. It looked really good. The total came to N1100 that's with a bottle of water. Not too bad considering my location (I changed my mind after I had my first bite). The spaghetti was tasteless, ok it was not tasteless because there was a slight bitter taste to it. Hoping that the beef with veggie sauce would redeem the spaghetti, I was disappointed. It tasted even worse than the spaghetti. I mean these guys didn't even try. If you fed this to your dog he will shun it. It was that bad. If I had enough balls I would have demanded to meet with their manager and give him a piece of my mind and request for a refund. But knowing my people I decided to respect myself and figure out how to stuff that crap down my throat since I was starving. My friends were not too pleased with their meal either. This place is now considered a no go zone for me. Definitely an F+++ in my books. They also sell shwarmas here if you care to check it out. I know I'm done with this place.
Cost - Medium range

see what I said about the meal looking good especially the beef with veggie sauce. EPIC FAIL!!!!