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!!!!

Restaurant Review #5

Mama Cass- Wuse II Abuja
I was meeting with a couple friends and we were looking for a decent and affordable place to eat (in Abuja its usually a rare combination). The fact that we were all newbies in Abuja wasn't helping our cause either. After deliberating for a couple minutes we finally settled on Mama Cass. I've dined there before and was slightly disappointed on my first visit. I was told that it was an all you can eat buffet. So you can imagine my excitement- I was already looking forward to stuffing my face hehehehehe. Well its a buffet but not a all you can eat buffet. They charge for every item you select. So if I wanted a serving of chicken, rice, snail, etc, I had to pay for them individually which pissed me off. I also remember my meal not tasting too good either. Well the second time around did not show any improvement. The food still tasted bland. Definitely not a meal worth remembering. I had fried rice with fried fish. If I was to run a cost analysis on my meal, my conclusion is that the restaurant owes me money. They should be paying me to eat at their restaurant. My friends weren't too thrilled about their meal either. We were grossly overcharged for our meal. Which is quite common in Abuja and yet they are still in business which I don't get. I mean is it really that hard to get good food at a reasonable price here? I'm beginning to wonder.
Cost- Medium - High Range

Restaurant Review #4

I've been gone for a while but I'm back now. I have a couple restaurants to review - some good and others not so much. Let me start with my top fave.

Pizzarama Takeaway & Caribbean Food - Plot 17, Amino Kano Crescent Opp. Banex Plaza, Wuse II Abuja. 07055221147, 08033327217

If you are a pizza lover you definitely have to check this place out. I ordered Margherita pizza (plain cheese pizza) and let me just say it came pretty close to pizza hut pizza. It was pure heaven. Well made crust and the cheese tasted right. I've tried pizza at other restaurants but this is by far the best pizza I've had in Abuja. The only drawback is that it is quite expensive. Their "medium" pizza which is actually a small pizza cost N1,800 yikes. Their food is quite expensive. Apart from pizza, they also serve sandwiches like the Philadelphia, Caribbean Jerk chicken, fajitas, shawarma, salads, smoothies and caribbean dishes. Its definitely worth a try. It's a small restaurant but they also have outdoor seating available. I only tried the pizza but will definitely be going back for the salad and sandwiches. I give it my chowspot stamp approval.
Cost - High range

The Hungry Man Restaurant - 24 Durban Street Wuse II Abuja. Opposite Starcomms office. Tel. 07036634552, 08055636642

This was my second time here. Can't seem to remember what I had the last time. This was one of the first restaurants in Abuja I visited with my mom. The food was standard but good. The menu consisted of both local foods and continental dishes. This was my first hand experience on how expensive good dining is in Abuja. Make sure your wallet is padded before you visit here. Well on my second visit, I ordered their chips and fried chicken. My meal took quite a while to arrive. I had to wait for almost 30 mins. I had a girl on my table and she too was complaining on how slow it took them to prepare her meal. The restaurant has a very nice atmosphere. It's not overly decorated but still quite pleasant. My menu arrived and the chips was perfectly crispy and well the chicken was also crispy which was not so good. I was looking forward to a more juicy fried chicken. The meal wasn't that bad but it would have been perfect if the chicken wasn't too dry. After my meal a tiny slice of room temperature watermelon was served. I mean c'mon what happened to chilled watermelon? There was light so you can't blame it on PHCN. In terms of cost, it was quite expensive. I paid N1550 for my entire meal. The overall experience was good and it's definitely a nice place to visit again. Off course with a well padded wallet :)
Cost - High range
Below is a picture of my meal

Street Food - Episode 2

Pepper Soup with Agidi

I was in my office on a lovely afternoon and saw this girl by the corner delivering meals to other offices. And off course, curiosity got the best of me and I asked WWABD (What would Anthony Bourdain Do)? So I called up the girl and asked what she was serving. I found out that she was serving pepper soup and agidi. The price sounded decent (250 naira) so what the heck, in through Anthony Bourdain fashion I asked her for a plate. I was giddy with excitement I didn't even think pepper soup could be considered street food. I guess you could call this an evolution of street dinning hehehe.
My meal arrived and well it was not what I expected. Yes it looked and tasted like pepper soup but the agidi just threw me off (P.S. before I placed my order I was trying to remember if I liked agidi or not, apparently I don't). If you're familiar with pepper soup, it's either prepared with fish, meat or the other stuff (cow's intestine, stomach and other innards). Mine was prepared with the other stuff. Some were tasty and the others well not so much. Even the pepper in the dish couldn't help with the offensive taste and my need to just puke the stuff out. But in true heroic fashion, I gobbled up the soup (not the agidi- would have definitely thrown up if I attempted) and washed it up with a bottle of water.
You are probably wondering, would I suggest this dish to a friend? the answer is no. To my enemies hells yes hahahahahaha!!! But in all seriousness if you don't mind going all Andrew Zimmerman then throw caution to the wind and take ur taste buds on  an adventure. If you want to try authentic pepper soup look for a place that prepares it well. My overall experience will be within the ewwwwww range. Yes it was that bad - thank God for Orbit Spearmint gums.

The white stuff peaking out from the dish is the Agidi. I'm not quite sure how to describe it but it has the consistency of Jello. It is prepared with maize,  wrapped in banana leaves and cooked. I should also say that Agidi comes in jollof form that is its prepared with stew (that's the tastier form).

Restaurant Review #3

Chinese Xpress Restaurant & Takeaway - 44 Monrovia Street, Off Amino Kano Crescent Wuse II Abuja. Opposite Banex Plaza

I was so excited to come across a Chinese restaurant. It's been a while and I was really looking forward to having some noodles or crab ragoon. The restaurant itself is pretty spartan in style. Not a lot to it. Just an overall decent place for a quick lunch or dinner. Their eat in meals which was served buffet style (not actually buffet) had a decent selection and most of meal were any where from 500 -700 Naira. Which in my opinion was quite affordable. They had sweet and sour chicken, fried rice, fried rice vermicelli and a host of other stuff. I had the fried rice vermicelli and sweet and sour chicken. As I waited for my meal to be served I used that opportunity to glance through their actual menu. The meals listed on the menu was a bit more expensive. As the waiter delivered my meal I asked him why the meals listed on the menu was higher than the meals currently being served. According to him when you order from the menu, the meal is usually prepared in a much larger quantity than what they already have prepared. Their cheapest meal on the menu is the fried rice combo with either beef or chicken and the most expensive meal is their roasted duck which is a whooping 15,000 naira. You know what just hand me that 15k, if I have to hunt and cook my own duck I will. What is the duck prepared in? Liquid gold abegi.
The meal- It wasn't bad and it wasn't great. I've had sweet and sour chicken and I remember it being tastier. I mean I loved the fact that I could see huge chunks of pineapple in my meal but I don't remember it being that way. The noodles was prepared quite well and I actually enjoyed it. My meal cost 1420 naira including a bottle of water and VAT (value added tax). So I would say that it was quite decent. There are still a bunch more on their menu that I'm looking forward to trying so I'm not done with them yet. They should better get used to seeing my face more often now hehehehehehehe. All in all not a bad experience.
Cost - low - high range
Here are pics of my meal and of the restaurant. They also have outside seating but I didn't get a picture of that

Snacking on Budget (Approach with Caution)

Today I decided to pull a Rachel Ray. She has this particular show where she tries to spend only $40 a day on her entire meal for the day from breakfast to dinner including snacks too. Well in my case I didn't have $40 but 80 naira instead. And no it was not for the whole day just to snack. I actually try to budget only 200 naira per day while at work but have never succeeded in pulling that feat. Anyway, I decided to try this lady across from my workplace who sells meat pie and puf puf. One of my coworkers has been giving rave reviews on how good her meat pies are. Well I'm not sure if you could accurately call it meat pie. The filling had sprinklings of meat which I could not taste but knew it was there by sight alone and then  heap full of mashed potatoes (well that's the closest description I can give- please Lord I really pray it was potato). It tasted like utter crap. The dough tasted like crap and the filling was even worse. What I had wasn't meat pie more like crap pie. I can't believe she sells that stuff to people. She should be arrested for crime against food!!!! I had half a mind to return it back to the lady but considering my location i.e being in naija and the massive sun outside, I decided to toss the remaining crap away and wash the grimy taste off my tongue.
The moral of the story is that if you must snack on a budget please be wary of what you are buying and where you a buying it. Or better yet just make your own snack and bring it with you. If that's out of the question, stick to what you know and avoid all pastries (yes I said it, pastries are not our forte in naija)

Street Food- Episode 1

Yahuza Suya- Various Locations in Abuja

Every time I think of Yahuza the song Yahooze by Olu Maintain pops into my head. The same thing happens when I hear the word "Pop" NSync's Pop starts playing in my head (oh crap it's happening now). Please tell me that I'm not the only one this happens to hehehehehe. I digress, back to Suya. Before leaving the States, a friend of mine suggested that I check out Yahuza Suya in Abuja. I considered that one of the best send off advice I got hahahahahahaha. But on a more serious note, once I touched down in Namdi Azikiwe Airport the hunt began. I came across one location in the Central Business District across the street from SilverBird (there are bunch of other locations which I frequent too). I have only two words to describe their suya PURE AWESOMENESS. Everything from the spices to the cut of the meat was exceptional. There are a lot of Suya stands but you just have to try suya by Yahuza.
Quite alright this was not one of the street food or road side suya but in Naija it's always associated as such. This is an establishment. And they do provide for both indoor and outdoor dining. But most of the time you will see people eating suya and  having a bottle of beer outdoors. That's just the way to eat suya right :-)

Restaurant Review

Jevnik - Wuse 2

This is a restaurant that serves mostly Nigerian menu. If you're looking for authenticity look no further. My sister and I went to visit my uncle at his store and he decided to take us for a late lunch/early dinner. When we got to the restaurant, it was packed full a reflection of how good their food is. My uncle was explaining that it wasn't that packed, however, if we came during the actual dinner time that we will not be able to find any available seats. So we were quite happy to be seated. We placed our order and in no time, our food was already served. The service was super fast seeing how busy they were. I went with the plantain porridge, my sis with the fish pepper soup, and my uncle had swallow and vegetable soup.
My plate was overflowing, wow! the look on my face must have been sending them a code red - starving chick alert treat with caution hahahahaha. My meal could have lasted me for 2 extra meals and if I was still leaving by myself I would have had enough to feed myself for at least 2 straight days hahahaha. Oh did I mention that I also ordered their grilled fish (I think it's grilled can't remember anymore) but it was hmmm hmmm good. I managed to get thru half of the meal, it was so tasty but I really had to stop myself. My pant's zipper and button were already giving me the signal. My sister had to help me out with the remaining portion. Now the interesting thing to me was that the plantain used in this dish was unripe and I usually like my plantain porridge made with ripe plantains (I have a very sweet tooth) but I still found the meal enjoyable. It was just spiced to perfection.
I tasted my sister's fish pepper soup and it was not bad at all. Once we cleared off our plate and settled our bills it was time to get up and lets just say it involved a lot of belly holding. Okay I was overstuffed. This was the kind of meal that once you are done, the next thing you should be looking for is a bed. Kinda reminds me of the Boondocks episode "The Itis" - hillarious episode.
This is definitely going down as one of my fav chow spot in Abuja. But then again there are still a lot of restaurants out there waiting to be checked out.
Cost: low - medium

How Do You Like Your Fish?

Located in Kubwa at the Miliki Junction

I'll have mine roasted with ripe plantains, carrots, onions, and topped with tomato stew and wrapped in foil. Make that to go too. For dinner today, my sister convinced me to try the roasted fish. She's been going on and on about the fish so I just had to try it and it was pure awesomeness!!!!!!!! Even before we unwrapped our lovely steaming packet, the sweet aroma emanating from it was just too good to put into words. The fish was cooked to perfection, the tomato sauce/stew complemented the fish perfectly. The ripe plantain provided just the right amount of sweetness to the dish. I can honestly say that I've never had fish prepared in this manner. It was just utterly perfect. The fish itself was huge but maybe because it tasted so good, my sister and I felt that we could have gone for a second round. I believe I could live on this stuff for a couple months (no not a lifetime, I'm sure I'll get tired of it by then hahahahaha). The fish is prepared by the roadside by guys dressed like chefs and they were actually wearing the white hats too. Now if that doesn't prove their authenticity as professional chefs, I don't know what will hahahahahaha. I thought it was quite cool though.

Cost- 1500 naira

Restaurant Review

Hits the Spot - PEB 04 Plaza, Plot 2027 Dalaba Crescent, behind PDP National Secretariat Wuse Zone 5, next to NAPTIP 

So this is a really cool place in my opinion. It's a quaint restaurant with a mini book store/library and they actually let you sit and read their books while you wait for your meal.They have decent food selection - Nigerian dishes and sometimes some continental dishes. Their menu is quite impressive but unfortunately not everything on the menu is readily available. What really got me was their drink selection. They had Strawberry Daiquiri, Margarita, Tequila Sunrise, Bloody Mary and some other mixed drinks. And get this, they were 500-600 naira a glass!!!!! This is probably one of the most reasonable prices I've seen in Abuja. The last time I requested for a Cosmo at a bar in Abuja I was told it was 2000 naira!!!!!!! Now that is just too bloody expensive. Any way back to the review. I tried the Strawberry Daiquiri and Margarita and I was not disappointed. Off course, it took them quite a while to prepare, I guess they are not used to people ordering their mixed drinks. On certain occasions, they also have free wine tasting. I haven't actually attended any of them. Overall, this is a very decent place. Check it out if you're around the area.
Cost - low - medium range, 200 naira and upwards

 So I cut out early from work (shsssshh don't tell my boss) to grab a drink at Hits the Spot. Had me a virgin Pina Colada. I could have gone for the alcoholic but I was already feeling guilty for leaving early. Not that It matters much here, there were a bunch of my co-workers there drinking alcoholic beverages. I still have my in built American work ethic in me hehehehehehe. Any way that's the picture of the Pina Colada above. Yummmy and get this, it cost only 300 naira. It's that awesome or what????

Nkoyo Restaurant- Wuse 2, K-City Plaza last floor

This is a classy restaurant with a nice ambiance.  Hardwood floors through out and very well decorated. The customer service is just the best I've witnessed in my little time in Abuja. I went shortly before the lunch rush and it was quite scanty as a result. A look through their menu revealed that this was somewhere I could afford to go to once in a blue moon or if a friend out of the goodness of his/her heart decided to take me there hahahahahaha. The menu consisted of local dishes and non local dishes. Once I found a cozy table, there was already a waiter there to take my order. I decided to go with the fish and chips (cost 1650 naira). They started me off with plantain chips with a very interesting sauce - tasted really good. After a few minutes, my meal arrived. The chips were crispy and hot just the way I like it and the fish was okay, I didn't care much for the mayo sauce and would have preferred a crispier batter. The waiters were very pleasant always checking in to make sure I was having a good dining experience- which I was. After the meal I was served a lime sherbet ( actually this was more of ice shavings flavored with lime). Bottom line, I would definitely check this place out again. A very nice place indeed.
Cost -  High range, 1000 naira and upwards

The picture above is a pic of the restaurant. That's towards the entrance. And the picture on the left is the Olive Bruschetta I had when I visited Nkoyo Restaurant earlier this week. Can I say yum!!!

Indomie, Indomie Noodles !!!!!!!

Doctors will tell you that breakfast is the most important meal of the day. It gives your metabolism a boost and as a result you tend to consume less throughout the day. Well that's all good stuff I love to hear because I love me some breakfast. Pancakes, whole wheat toast with honey and peanut butter, scrambled eggs, English muffin sandwich with egg and cheese and the list goes on and on.
However, since my return from the States, my breakfast menu has changed tremendously. On my quest to find a new breakfast menu I stumbled upon Indomie. I won't lie, this was quite different - I mean Indomie as breakfast!!! I've had Indomie as a quick meal in the States when I was too lazy to cook but never for breakfast. I never even considered it breakfast food at all. So imagine my amazement when I went in search for breakfast and was recommended to an Indomie joint close to my work place. I've heard rave reviews about this place. So in the true spirit of food adventure I had to check out this spot and I was not disappointed. It's not that I'm incapable of making noodles but hot dang!!!! that was some good Indomie. The place is always packed and never an empty pan. In true naija fashion, the indomie is prepared in the open with kerosene stove. I had my indomie with egg- no not fried egg. The indomie is soaked in hot water first to soften it, then its drained and an egg is mixed with the noodles with onions, fresh pepper and seasoning packet. The whole stuff is fried (not deep fried) and it comes out crispy and hmm hmmm good. And this ladies and gents is the end result.

There's a lot of joints like this. But this one is in Zone 5 near the PDP headquarter. Give it a try, you won't regret it.

Welcome to my Blog

Welcome to my blog. I'll be using this medium to share my dining experience in Abuja and also my love for food. I love eating and trying out new dishes. From street food, hole in the wall restaurants to your general medium to high end restaurants (when money avails itself hahaha). I like to think of myself as a female version of Anthony Bourdain hehehehe (love his show). I will try any dish once before I pass judgment.
I hope you enjoy my blog and hopefully get some insights on food experience in Abuja and also Nigeria :-)