#VRW2018 @ ZOLENE.
27.1.19
Being the awesome food lover and photographer that I am, I entered and won the #vrwfoodiegrapher contest on Instagram. I decided to use the vouchers I won to treat myself. My sincere apologies to all the friends I promised to take out, lol. I won't lie, I have to thank restaurant week for helping me discover Zolene. It was one of the few places with an appealing menu on the visa restaurant week lineup. I mean, plantain croquettes and akara waffles? Yes, to Nigerian food with a twist! What really influenced my decision to go here was traffic on the day. I didn't feel like spending an hour in traffic just to eat food. Why is it that a majority of restaurants in Lagos are on Victoria Island? If you work in Ikoyi and are looking for somewhere nearby to have lunch, you should check out Zolene! Unfortunately, they do not open on Mondays. I learned this the hard way and ended up at La Taverna instead - cries in Uber fares.
STARTER
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| PLANTAIN CROQUETTES WITH BEEF |
I am not a huge fan of plantains but these were nice. Not so great on their own but with their signature pepper sauce, fantastic! The beef was tasty too but it was tough. Trying to cut and chew it was a struggle. Weird people that like tough meat, this is for you. They were both served in warm wooden bowls.
MAIN
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| PORK SPARE RIBS & GREEN SALAD |
Yooo, I was not expecting that much meat! This was by far the best deal out of all the restaurants I visited for restaurant week. You have the option of having the ribs with either sweet potato mash, fries or a green salad. I went with a salad for obvious reasons - #fitfam. Whatever the salad was tossed in was nice as well as the dressing served in the bowl. My only problem with this is that the olives in the salad weren't pitted. That was a nasty shock. The pork was well seasoned and very filling. I couldn't even eat up to half of the rack, I had to pack the rest up for dinner.
DRINK & DESSERT
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| LEFT: ROCKY CUCUMBER MOJITO || RIGHT: CARROT CAKE & ICE CREAM |
The waiter recommended the rocky cucumber mojito cocktail to me and now I'm doing the same to you. It's sweet, refreshing and inexpensive.
You've probably read all about my experience with Hard Rock Cafe's carrot cake. Well Zolene's was much better, tastier and moist although I got a strong feeling that they had microwaved old cake. I wasn't impressed with how it looked initially but the taste made up for it. I did not expect this to come with ice cream. I liked the toasted coconut chips on the ice cream. The ice cream itself? I was not a fan.
SERVICE & THOUGHTS
I was warmly welcomed by the staff here. The restaurant was a bit too dark for my liking. Perfect for private meals and conversations, but not for mobile food pictures. There was a 5% VAT and 10% service charge added to the total bill. My drink didn't come as part of the restaurant week deal so I had to pay an extra ₦1,500 (+15%) for that. Like I mentioned before, this was the best restaurant week deal I had. It was the lunch menu so I paid ₦8,050 for my meal i.e. ₦7,000 +15%. Without the deal, the starter cost ₦2,000, the main ₦8,700 and the dessert ₦2,500, bringing the total to ₦13,200 +15% i.e. ₦15,180. Saving ₦7,130, I got a 3-course meal for almost half the price! Other restaurants need to take note for the next restaurant week, these are the deals we need.
OUTFIT
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WEARING
(VIA ASOS) MONKI DRESS || (C/O MCARTHUR GLEN BRIDGEND) OSPREY LONDON BAG & FOSSIL EARRINGS || TOPSHOP SHOES || SHOP ENKAY SUNGLASSES
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(VIA ASOS) MONKI DRESS || (C/O MCARTHUR GLEN BRIDGEND) OSPREY LONDON BAG & FOSSIL EARRINGS || TOPSHOP SHOES || SHOP ENKAY SUNGLASSES
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FOLLOW THIS BLOG via BLOGLOVIN'!