Sunday Brunch: Lunch at Kitchen Butterfly

So in my

last brunch post

, I mentioned Kitchen butterfly, but that's only because I have firsthand knowledge that her food is amazing. Teehee.

Let's just all agree that the best brunch place in Lagos is

Wheatbaker

 so we can move on with our lives. Free champagne cannot redeem Southern Sun brunch. They don't care about the food AT ALL. They just toss food on the table and blind your taste buds with free champagne. No.

Anyway, this isn't about brunch wars. It's about that one time I happened to have lunch in KT's kitchen. And boy was it a good lunch.

We started with some roadside plantain chips with scent leaf dip

Rose and zobo mix with chunky ice-cubes- yum

Cream and condensed milk

Grapefruits sprinkled with sugar

Waffles!

Spicy crispy chicken

Mini blueberry pancakes

Dipping sauces...chocolate and caramelised white chocolate with mint (she should bottle this)

Spicy zobo jam

Peaches and cream (not just regular cream)

Creme brûlée about to be blureed

blow torch in action!

Perfect!

beignets- I was so full at this point, I don't think I even tasted these

 The food, the conversation, it was all really perfect. Who else is opening up their home for lunch?

Sunday Brunch: 202

I took these photos last year, last time I went anywhere :( But as much as I appreciate the growth of the Nigerian food industry in the last few years, it's still soooooo far behind. Some days I don't want want a buffet of non-breakfast food or packet pancakes and cold toast. Some days, I just want real proper brunch. If you're in London, please live for me and go and have real brunch. If you're not, like me, just go to the kitchen and fry some eggs or beg

kitchen butterfly

 for an invite to her kitchen. Anyway, without further ado...

Isn't this kettle gorgeous?

some kind of berry smoothie

french toast and bacon

eggs benedict

I think this is the crab salad but I really can't remember

eggs florentine

pancakes

mint leaves in hot water (aka mint tea)

sorbet and ice-cream

crumble

tiramisu

202 is at 202 Westbourne Grove and is open from 10am-5pm on Sundays

Sunday Brunch: Crust and Cream

I remember like 3 or 4 years ago or was it 5? I don't know man. Anyway x number of years ago, the only places to really get brunch in Lagos were hotels. Hotel buffets. Some people still swear by that type of brunch but now there are a lot more options. Crust and Cream is one of those brunch places that everyone swears by and it's also SUPER CHEAP! This might be the cheapest place I've ever had brunch...or wait...is it? Actually now, I'm starting to doubt myself...but for brunch, it's still cheap...don't get me wrong...you'll whip this up at home for less...but a restaurant is not your home. 

So... the brunch menu is typical...Who has had this Asian breakfast? I'm curious and no one seems to have ordered it...Does it even exist?? 

 I ordered the American breakfast because even if the restaurant is not my home, I'm not paying 2800 to eat yam or plantain.

 Something was missing from my plate...I think it should have a sauce? All these dry things and nothing to add them together. Also, I had to ask for butter...what's toast without butter?? The food was okay. I didn't feel like I had thrown my money away but at the same time, I was like hmm...I kind of know why it's cheap.

I had dessert, because I try to have dessert as much as possible (remind me about this when I complain about being fat)...It was a chocolate fondant. The presentation was cute, like a little wonky star-eyed face. The fondant was too much oozy centre. A (I'll assume) manager came up to me when he noticed I hadn't really eaten any of it to ask what the problem was. When I told him about the overly oozy nature, he tried to tell me that's what a fondant is...lol...I know what a fondant is...I didn't really appreciate that lecture but then he swapped it for a different less oozy fondant, so good outcome. He also said that if I ordered it again, I should ask for my fondant how I want it #protip.

And thus ended my rainy day adventure at crust and cream. I realised when I was uploading photos for this post that I barely took any. And they have such a pretty display of pastries and confectionary. Must have been the ridiculous rain!

Crust and Cream is at:

11 Musa Yardua Street, VI.

They are open from 8am - 12am on Friday - Sunday and 8am-11pm on Weekdays.

Throwback Thursday: Lunch Club V @ Mansilla

So...another lunch club is coming...seems like the perfect time to write about the last one! 

These have to be my favorite name tags yet- stuck in macarons!  People left their macarons on the table, but I ate mine. Typical. Sigh.

The menu was PAAACKED. Eek. But I've never been scared of a packed menu and I wasn't going to start being scared now.

They brought out this fancy water, but the cover destroyed the look. Why can't brands just follow through design to the end?! I excluded the cover because it made me sad.

The Quinoa salad was AMAZING. Delicious and fresh, slightly warm. The pomegranate seeds added a little extra flavour. This excited me for what was to come...

A palette cleanser, is well, just that.

These duck spring rolls were everything spring rolls should be. Crisp and ducky. They were also really small so the portion wasn't overwhelming.

The two drinks were...disgusting. There's no other word. The mango margarita with the chilli rim sounded exciting and looked beautiful and that was it. It tasted of only tequila. So, a chunky tequila drink. I couldn't drink it.

After the disastrous drink, my high kind of dropped. This ravioli was okay. The pasta was a bit chewy and the sauce wasn't enough, but it was very okay. It wasn't bad. It was just one of those 'this can be rice at home' moments.

So the owner? manager? came round and noticed my drink was virtually untouched so she offered a different cocktail and it was delicious! Yay! She basically got new cocktails for everyone so that was nice.

This curry dish was okay! The vegetables were seriously undercooked (so healthier, I guess). The curry was lumpy. Sigh. There was just no 'I'm eating out' feel from this. It was like it came straight from my kitchen on a regular day.

Steaky steak steak. 

The final palette cleanser which was nice.

Double dessert! I hate cheesecake (except chocolate cheesecake because the chocolate basically masks the flavour of the cheese) so I didn't even bother. sigh. The chocolate cake was okay. The dessert was misrepresented on the menu tbh. It was an okay end.

This was a really good lunch club. The crowd was great. The conversation really flowed and we ended up being there for absolute ages. I would go to mansilla again for the quinoa salad and the duck spring rolls- so starters. I've also heard they do a good breakfast. For mains or drinks? nah nah nah nah nah. 

5 Days Juicing Review

So I've decided to do it again. Juice! My last experience was pretty abysmal even if I was incredibly proud at the time (read about it 

here

). Last week, I was convinced I was ready to juice. I even started on a Tuesday! I even bought juice! I ignored my juicer, electric orange squeezer and smoothie maker and I bought juice from Simply Green.

I bought 8 bottles for two days. Their service was excellent and the orange coloured juice was extremely tasty. The red one was vile. It tasted so so dusty. The green one tasted green. The apple and pear did nothing for the taste. I'd buy the green one again though, because its apparently chock-full of good stuff. Everything can't taste good all the time.

I figured that buying two days worth of juice would keep me accountable. The short story is it didn't work. I spent two days drinking juice and then settling in to dinner at home. The first day it was some delicious grilled chicken in a vegetable broth and the second day it was grilled chicken as well actually. Grilled chicken and fried meat. On the third day, I had run out of money and will, so I ate- chicken. (and meat-pie and rice, but please no judgment)

At the weekend, a fresh determination came over me. I spent hours reading reviews, I bought fruit and veg and recycled my bottles from simply green. I was ready. On Sunday night, I juiced 5 bottles and put them in the freezer ready for Monday morning.

Apparently this apple juice looks like sick

I recycled the simply green bottles and notice how I stuck to the cap colour

Day1

Day 1 was actually ridiculously easy. Surprisingly so. I peed a lot, but I wasn't really hungry or tempted. In fact, I didn't drink all my juice! It went so well, I was scared that the excitement was keeping me full and day 2 was going to be ridiculously hard.

Day 2

Weight loss- 1.4kg, 3.1pounds

Day 2 was easier. I feel like this review is turning out to be a bummer because I can't just slide in here and boast about a juice fast being easy and slide out. My juices on day 2 were probably more filling. I even had one with avocado, which was actually really delicious.

Day 3

Weight loss- 0.3kg, 0.7lbs

I had only lost 0.2kg. BUMMER. Day 3 itself was quite easy. However, I did have temptation, we had lunch at work and the food looked and smelled GREAT! But before lunch, I quickly had a juice in preparation and I was actually really fine. I started  researching longer juice fasts because the temptation to ride this wave of easiness and just do it for 10 days is STRONG.

Day 4

Weight loss- 1.3kg, 2.9lbs

Day 4 was the hardest day. I woke up and my mum had made me juice, not enough for a whole day but enough. So my day started on a high. I got dressed and went to the local government which proceeded to be a whole day affair. I came home, no light, no fuel, no way to make juice. Luckily, my mum had some juice so I drank some of it. By the time the gen came on, I was too tired to make juice quite honestly, so I slept really early.

Day 5

Weight loss- 0.7kg, 1.5lbs

The final day! whoop! all delusions of carrying on for a longer time were well and truly wiped from my mind. My pineapple juice was burning my mouth and I just needed to go back to not ingesting so much sugary liquid. I also had a banging headache that just wouldn't shift.

The day after

Total weight loss- 3.7kg, 8.2lbs

Not bad for 5 days. I would so definitely juice again. I think I was really hoping for it to be like this treacherous journey and it really wasn't. Maybe my body just really needed it. I have to say, I do NOT  feel detoxed in any way. Glowy skin, a lightness, blablabla- I have none of the above and I didn't cheat for 1 minute! I can't say why, but I guess I DID lose weight so I shouldn't complain too much. Who wants to do this with me next time?

Lunch at The Daily Bread Lagos

I was having an uninspiring food day at work and paused to have a quick look at 

eatdrinklagos

 and decided to try the Daily Bread, because sometimes sandwich. Their website 

wasn't working on my computer or phone , so I called and spoke to a helpful lady who offered to email me the menu. Yes Please! To be honest, the website eventually worked and I lost interest in the meal but I was already committed by text to her so I ordered anyway.

The delivery guy arrived quickly and presented me with a massive bill . The delivery charge on the website was N300 but my bill said N500. Big difference! As soon as I sat down, I sent a text to my new best friend because there's a big difference between N300 and N500.

The food looked great to be honest. I had a minor problem with the fact that my juice was a smoothie, but these things happen.

Since my first experience, I've ordered from them a few times and put other people on to them as well and all the food has tasted great. My juice was also a juice the next time.

The only negative of Daily Bread is that it's pricey. It's definitely not a daily or weekly place to eat, but you know those days when you just want to eat something nice? Or maybe like payday week when you feel like you should spoil yourself? It's perfect for that.

Sunday Brunch: Wheatbaker Lagos

It's Sunday and you know what that means...FOOOD! You know what it can mean for you? FOOD AT WHEATBAKER! 

Who wants to eat ogbono soup at brunch????

Absolutely the most delicious thing

It's quite a small space so you might end up having to wait for a table. The selection is not big but it all tastes good and that to me is more important than having 20 tables packed with food. 

Have you tried Wheatbaker? 

Questions about nosa and folly: the lunch club at sakura

We've had our second lunch club now. I say 'we' because famz. I got there early and helped Folly make some key decisions. Anyway, it's funny that the first question everyone asks isn't 'so what's the relationship?' Maybe someone asked and I wasn't listening...

Anyway, the second lunch club was great for a few things;

1. It was more intimate 

2. We had less food which should sound positive but the food coma last time was something else

3. I got my own name tag! 

4. I liked the fact that there were a lot of the same people again. I think it also let the newer people feel more comfortable. I went with my cousin and she's already decided to go for the next one. 

my cousin, she blogs at www.oyimesmusings.blogspot.com

this tuna was delicious. 

This is one of the better miso soups I've had, but it's miso soup for goodness sake!

this salad was too fresh, I know it's salad, but chill

I'm not usually down for fried gyoza but this was good tbh

The lady gave me free ice cream! I guess I'm just cute like that :)

Sake shots- which actually are gross and taste too strongly of rice

Folly gave us these stickers and tried to convince me that my laptop was the best home for it (it's still in my bag but I'm going to put it on a notebook sha

My Attempt at a 3.5 Day Juice Fast

So I got super motivated to juice.

This motivation hit me on a Thursday afternoon but like always when it comes to anything new, I started on Monday.

I didn't expect Monday to be hard because I was full of motivation and it was the first day.

I wanted to drink six juices a day but I was happy to do three.

I considered buying fresh juices but I dragged out the never been used juicer and got down to juicing fruit and vegetables. So on Sunday night, I had 4 bottles stacked in the fridge ready for Monday.

On Monday morning, I started with plain water as I do most days and just for the feel of something hot to drink, I had lemon in hot water. At about 9, I had my first juice. Carrot, ginger, pineapple, apple and cucumber. Within the first hour, I had to pee twice.

At about 12, I had another juice. I couldn't face going to sit in the lunch room with everyone from work so I stayed at the desk and mourned food.

I felt like I needed coffee to face the latter part of work so I had plain black coffee. Instant coffee with nothing in it is kinda gross. I couldn't even finish it but I felt a lot better after having it.

In summary, just like I guessed, Monday was fine.

Tuesday started fine as well. I started my day with tea instead (plain green tea) to avoid having to drink coffee. I had my juices, went to the toilet less and then later on in the day remembered a dinner I couldn't back out of. So I had dinner and didn't dwell on it. I had water, mushrooms and steamed prawn but my stomach still hurt from suddenly eating.

On Wednesday, I went back to juice. I was REALLY hungry on Wednesday and my stomach felt so empty. I was also sick of juice so I had only one throughout the day. Because my goal wasn't to starve, I blended some vegetable juice with a banana when I was home and had that for 'dinner'.

On Thursday, I couldn't finish my first juice. No amount of mental cajoling could force me to do it. So I ate at lunch and said goodbye to juicing.

I decided to juice because I felt bloated and I was spiralling into a snack zone and I wanted to reset my mind. Also, as soon as I ate a carb, I would feel really full and uncomfortable. It didn't really matter in what quantity. I feel like I achieved what I wanted. I don't feel as bloated as I did. I also don't feel particularly light but I'm happy not feeling bloated.

Also, you don't get hungry on juice fasts if you drink enough juice. On Wednesday, I was hungry because I didn't drink enough juice.

I enjoyed my approach to it. I would do it again. Soon even.

The Lunch Club: RSVP

As a tribute to the Eat Drink Lagos blog, this post is going to be in the style of their blog.

Dami: I've recently written about how much I love the Eat Drink Lagos blog , so when they announced a lunch time event, I was excited. I wasn't REALLY planning to match my excitement to actually paying for it and going but my sister convinced me by booking two places, at N8000 a place, that was basically kidnap (the things you do for family)

Mide: Um, Dami, you asked me to book you a place

Dami: Mide you told me the day after so like...

Dami: Anyway, I like the building. 

Mide: It was nice. When we walked in there was a table full of men and another table full of people so it was like which one is our table

Dami: I almost jogged up to the owner and asked him. Thankfully, it wasn't the table full of men. 

Mide: This tag was soooo cute, I took it home 

Dami: yah, I mean I would have taken mine home too if she booked it in my actual name instead of her friends name...

Mide: I didn't think it would matter!

Dami: Right, whatever.

Dami: The first (of 7) courses was the fish macho. 

'White fish in sesame dip topped with sundries tomato on plantain base.' 

It looked nice and cute but it was MESSY to eat. The fish fell off, but it was okay. 

Mide: OMG, this was like good, i preferred it to the ugly prawn thing. I had like 3, it was so good. 

Dami: the prawn macho was basically the prawn version of the fish one. Meh.

Mide: I don't really like creamy stuff, so...

Mide: The chicken pops were papping! They were soo good, I had like ten. 

Dami: Everyone was raving about these, but to be honest, I've never really been that into sweet chicken.

Mide: the chicken log was definitely scotch egg disguised as chicken logs. 

Dami: I had high hopes for this, but I took one bite and just couldn't. Then again, I was full, so there was that. I just didn't feel like the cheese, chicken and the hard casing really worked together. 

Dami: I had the sweet berry which tasted really strongly of vanilla, which wasn't surprising but I had serious drink envy for the copa del lebanon. It looked fresh and delicious. 

Mide:.

Dami: look at iiiiit!

 Dami: look how cute this is

Mide: it's a table

Mide: I hooked girl up, hmm mm. Skin was looking on fleek.

Dami: my sister actually takes the best pictures of me. It's the love!

Dami: I love the wood details of the menu 

Mide: Oh my gosh (sarcastically because I have no actual views)

 Dami: these pulled pork sliders just didn't work for me. The pork was shredded really finely and it looked and tasted like beans. It just wasn't working for me. 

Mide: It was a bit sweet, but the bread was lovely.

Mide: who's that baddy on the wall

Dami: (she obviously means me)

Mide: There was so much food, I felt really sick for the rest of the evening. It was definitely worth the money though. 

Dami: It was TOO much food. I think the next one should have less food and at least one drink. Although water was included in this one and it was free. The lunch was definitely amazing. Conversation was great and it was a perfect number of people. I feel like a round table would be nicer for next time, there were some people I barely spoke to at all.  It was definitely worth it, especially in a place like RSVP where ordering starters can set you back N5000 on a regular day. 

Sweet Tree

I spent a few hours making this sweet tree yesterday. It looks so fun and simple but it's never ending work and it uses up a MASSIVE amount of sweets. The result is great for a sweet lover though! 

Cafe Neo Lagos

So today, I discovered this amazing blog called 

eat drink lagos

 and spent the morning reading their amazing posts. I've always loved this lagos food blog 

the service critic

 and while Peju of that blog, still gives a more clinical and robust view of restaurants, the style and humour of eat drink lagos is awesome. While I was on there, I read a post about cafe neo, it wasn't a review post, it was a giveaway. I had seen their picture on another blog before and got love hearts in my eyes when I saw that they sell BUBBLE TEA! So today, I took the sighting as a sign and paid a quick visit.

I couldn't take too many pictures of the interior because it was full of people tapping away at their MacBooks and enjoying what (i didn't confirm) but assume was free wifi.

How did they hear my name wrong? Also, can the person that wrote the board be in charge of writing the cups?

The coffee was pretty good. I can't wait to go there properly. This one was at 16 Akin Adesola/Adeola Odeku. 

The Tea Room Abuja

I love tea. I love drinks in general, but tea is one of my greatest loves so imagine my excitement when a new tea place opened in Abuja with tea in the name! I went about two weeks ago to try it.

It's a cute little place that only sits six people so perfect if you really don't want to be around too may people.

As adventurous as pomegranate tea sounded, I went for a safe and regular lemon and mint tea.

I would have died if they plonked a mug on my table. A great part of drinking tea is the experience of drinking tea, you know?

When it comes down to it, I'm not sure basically a candle can keep a whole pot of tea warm but it was a pretty sentiment.

The pot was HUGE. It would be easy to share this with one or two people. I felt like I kept pouring and pouring and pouring, but that's a good thing.

I didn't really want to have any 'real' dessert so I had some fresh strawberries and cream. It was killed with cream, wow, I had to dig through to look for the strawberries. However, on a fatter day, I might have appreciated that. I wonder how long it would take before the cream becomes insignificant. Nigerian places are excellent at not remaining consistent and it's more than a little frustrating.

Their desserts looked very good for tea. Their sweetness would be tempered by the blandness of tea, but I was a little surprised at the lack of chocolate offering. I got their menu after I was done because I went in their trial week and they have  selection of breakfasts, savoury foods and an option for high tea(mini sandwiches, desserts and tea to share).

The price is fair but I think at its very maximum. Any push and it will be too expensive especially for a place in Abuja. 

I will definitely be going again, especially on a diet! (Money or food diet)

Not Another Food Post: Meat Liquor Review

THIS IS NOT A DATE RESTURANT. I REPEAT, THIS IS NOT A DATE RESTURANT.

Now that I've made that clear, I can proceed. All these two ingredient places all over London- Burger & Lobster, Duck & Waffle...meat AND liquor? like two of the largest ingredients?? Anyway.

When my friend suggested this as a meet up, I was distraught- why are we going to that loud place, why can't we just go to Byron? But she really wanted to- so we went.

Central London on a Friday Night? Ha. club type queue.

Every single thing I ate was absolutely delicious. The meat was thick and well spiced. The corn was AH-mazing...I didn't think corn could taste so good. I actually said no when my friend asked for one. Sigh. Terrible behaviour, but it was that good. The chips were perfect and crispy and it was so hard to pick a drink. In the end I had a mojito (because I always have a mojito) and it was non-fancy and perfect. I didn't get any pictures of the onion rings we were offered while we waited but they were HUGE and delicious. Crispy and light. 

The only thing I didn't like (and it's a big thing) was the atmosphere. Seating is tight (but it was a saturday night in central London so that't to be expected) and it's dark and loud. Its basically a bar cum club vibe where you eat. I also don't like that all the food is loaded on one tray. If it was with someone I didn't know that well, I would have been a little irritated (boundaries and all).

If you want to try it for the first time, I don't think you should go on a saturday night and definitely don't go there for a catch up or intimate date. I do think it would make the PERFECT place to break up although you might be too tense to fully enjoy the food. 

The bill only came to a respectable £36.20 including service charge and charity donation. Service charge is optional in the UK but I tend to pay it except I really hated the service- then nah G. This charity donation I was reluctant to pay- but my view on charity soliciting in an upcoming post- it was only 50 p, that would have been a bit mean and ridiculous, principle or no. 

My friend was a bit concerned about the 'devilish' symbolism. haha. I think it's just cows horns, but hey!

Some Holiday Food Snaps

some home cooked thrown in

at least this is healthy right?

try a bit of every dessert

Nandos has to be had

Can you tell that I'm a foodie?

On Free Food And Why You Should Never Eat It

Today, breakfast was a buffet. Have you heard that thing people say about eating less at buffets because there's so much food, you end up picking at everything and end up eating not much? It's a lie. Complete, utter, bullshit. Yes, there is a lot of food and yes, you pick at a lot of it, but do you know the sum of many small bites? A damn huge meal!

So my friend offered me a free buffet and like the weak foodie that I am, I took it. A whole row of bread rolls and pastry. basically, a row of butter, refined flour and bleached sugar. Varieties of actual sugar and actual butter and cheeses and milks and meats and eggs and four fresh juices and more meats and pancakes and waffles with delicious looking toppings and more meats and carbs, carbs, carbs and fruit and sheets of seaweed. Seaweed ffs! There was seaweed in a breakfast buffet! Am I painting a picture?

I had little bites of a lot of things and ended up feeling like I couldn't breathe.

That's the danger with free food. You end up eating things you probably shouldn't eat. Birthday cake you don't even like, soggy small chops, butter cookies and do not get me started on work snacks!