The Lagos-born co-founder of the acclaimed London restaurant Ikoyi shares his top addresses
It’s a curated experience where you feel like you are at home eating great food. They usually prepare question cards that help people open up — it’s quite an intimate evening. The food blends traditional flavours with modern techniques. The menu consists of three courses, with a lot of different options put on the table for each one. On my visit for my cousin’s birthday, these included smoked turkey and walnut salad, salted brioche with wild honey and caramel butter, and then an excellent grilled snapper with brown butter plantain and pumpkin mash. Everything is very fresh and made in house, and each course was paired with a wine. The communal dining and the thoughtful dishes make it feel as much about connection as it is about the meal.
10 ADETOKUNBO ADEMOLA STREET, VICTORIA ISLAND, LAGOS 106104
Lagosia, also located on Victoria Island (it also has an outpost in Ikoyi), epitomises traditional Nigerian cuisine, serving fresh, authentic dishes that stay true to their roots. It delivers exactly what one expects from a Nigerian restaurant: very flavourful and filling, making it a go-to for anyone craving genuine local food. Here, I would order the seafood okra, a soup made with okra, peppers, chillies, locust beans and spinach cooked in palm oil. You will probably find all the different “soup and swallow” options from many tribes across Nigeria. Swallow is a dough-like complement made from staple foods in Nigeria such as yam, cassava, and plantain and turned into a dense paste that you then dip in the soup. It is typically starchy and quite filling; the closest western comparison is mashed potatoes. The pricing is mid-range — but for me, it’s somewhere I always trust will deliver
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