There’s A New Coffee Shop In Lagos
My Coffee Lagos
40B Adetokunbo Ademola St., Victoria Island, Lagos.
FOLLY: Watch out Cafe Neo, the Ukrainians are coming.
NOSA: Or Bulgarians, I think.
FOLLY: That sounds alarmist but this past weekend, Nosa and I spent some time observing the #expatslivinginlagos (That's a real #, check it on Instagram)
NOSA: Tbf, their own Lagos is different. I was in this place for 3/4 hours and only one other Nigerian came in. And she was the owner's banker!
FOLLY: I'm not an expert coffee conoisseur so it's going to be hard for me to review coffee on the taste and quality of the coffee beans or even their process so I'll just talk generally about what I had and what I liked about the space.
NOSA: The vibessss...shouts to my man, Lolu.
FOLLY: Compared to Neo, My Coffee Lagos has a more extensive menu and have drinks across three sizes (Cafe Neo has two).
NOSA: Smaller space though. Speaking of space, are we going to to discuss how Neo told us they were leaving Akin Adesola for a bigger space but that "bigger" space isn't really bigger?
No?
Ok, then.
FOLLY: I had to snap at the waiter initially cause he kept offering me a particular item on their menu which had cream and milk in spite of the fact that I told him I can't eat cream.
NOSA: The place has it's little quirks that I found cute, but Folly didn't.
FOLLY: His manager probably told him to be persistent but at this time, he was doing too much and was making the customer uncomfortable. I soon got over that and ordered a ginger latte and a croissant with chocolate sauce.
NOSA: I went with my Neo default - the caramel macchiato. Got that with a salmon sandwich.
FOLLY: I've never had a ginger latte before and I liked this. My usual coffees (caramel macchiato or vanilla latte) are usually sweet, so this was an interesting spicy detour.
NOSA: The caramel macchiato was a bit on the light side and not as thick as I'd have preferred. Neo still makes my favorite caramel macchiato in Lagos.
FOLLY: Another thing that's different between My Coffee and Cafe Neo, is that My Coffee errs more to the side of a sit-in restaurant, while Cafe Neo is a strict QSR with sitting area. At My Coffee, if you're sitting you don't pay till you're ready to leave and the waiters also bring your order to your table.
FOLLY: My croissant was okay like most Lagos croissants. I can't tell the difference between homemade and Delifrance ones so I'll just leave it at that, but I'll add that N800 for a croissant is quite expensive regardless of it's origins. The chocolate sauce was definitely great for dipping.
NOSA: My salmon sandwich was a bit on the pricey side, but worth it because you never find salmon sandwiches anywhere.
NOSA: Folly stepped out for a little brunch date, so I decided to give their specialty a try - the raff cheese coffee. They say it's Lagos' first salted coffee with cheese. I'm pretty sure no one is going to argue with them on that.
Yup, that's cheese in coffee.
I actually liked the salted coffee. Is salted coffee a thing? Because it should definitely be a thing.
Got a donut with it too. The donut reminded me of those one you get in the Tesco pastry aisle. Make of that what you will.
POSTSCRIPT
FOLLY: I could replace Cafe Neo with this new coffee shop. When I start writing a journal on life in Lagos (from a sociologist's pov), I'll sit here all the time.
NOSA: It's pretty close for me too. I still like Neo, just don't like the food options. I wish could merge this place with Jazzhole to form one perfect Lagos coffee shop.
FOLLY: While the drinks are definitely in line with Lagos coffee prices, the food at My Coffee Lagos is pretty expensive.
VERDICT
DAMAGE
Doughnut - N350
Ginger Latte - N1000
Caramel Macchiato (Standard) - N700
Raffe Cheese (Standard) - N1400
Breakfast croissant - N800
Croissant with salmon - N2300
PARKING
Shit.