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).