The Grill Steakhouse: The Ghost of Date Nights Past
NOSA; There are four "hotels" in the Eko Hotel property. A bit like Federal Palace Hotel in that regard. Unlike Federal Palace, however, all the "hotels" are functional. In one of these "hotels", the Grill Room is nestled.
FOLLY: Eko Suites to be precise.
NOSA: It's a bit funny that it's taken us three years before we got round to reviewing the Grill Steakhouse. I think we have to get through all the restaurants in Eko Hotel before the year runs out.
Appetizers
FOLLY: We still have Casa Chianti and Ocean Breeze left to review.
NOSA: Real Lagos residents are probably familiar with the Grill Steakhouse. If I remember correctly, it was proper date location when Oceanview was still a thing. That old.
To start, we got the Salmon Roll and the Buffalo Chicken Wings. I decided to try their Restaurant Week (RW) menu, while Folly ordered off the regular menu.
The Salmon Roll took me by surprise because it was far from what expected. When I saw the "cream cheese" and "salmon" in the menu description, a fancy spring roll wasn't what I expected. Although the fact it was on the "Hot Appetizer" section of the menu
It's just like that time we ordered the Goat Roll at NOK and it was a spring roll with goat meat in it. We were fully expecting something sandwich-y like a lobster roll or something.
Salmon Roll
NOSA: From the RW menu, I got the Buffalo Wings. This, too, was another surprise. With the Salmon Roll, the L was on us. This surprise, however, wasn't our fault. Buffalo Wings are, like, a universal thing. You can't place battered chicken lollipops in front of me and call them Buffalo Wings. I'm no mug!
FOLLY: Like Buffalo wings are characterized by the sauce they are slathered in but these were dry and crispy fried. They didn't even put pepper sauce like the rest of the Lagos restaurants.
NOSA: The real sad thing about this incident is that the chicken lollipops were actually pretty good.
FOLLY: They really should just have called them by the appropriate name.
NOSA: I opted for the Grilled Beef Tenderloin for my main. Perhaps I shouldn't have expected too much, but the quality of the beef was shamefully poor. No way this was the SA Beef. It was cooked medium rare, albeit unevenly, as requested. For a steak on a 12k 3-course menu, perhaps I shouldn't have expected too much, but I expected anyway and the Grill Steakhouse let me down. The peppercorn (i think) sauce it came with helped significantly.
SA Beef Tenderloin
FOLLY: Funny story, we both think someone sprinkled some pepper soup spice into the black peppercorn sauce. We were both thinking it without the other person mentioning it.
Half Rack of Beef Ribs with Coconut Prawns
NOSA: I really liked the prawn in Folly's surf & turf. The coconut really came out to play.
FOLLY: Compared to Nosa's steak, my main was pretty good. The ribs were the benchmark in tenderness - like it wasn't hard but still a bit far from slide of the bone tender. At times it was a struggle to cut but that was more so as a result of the regular dinner knife I was given. Flavor wise, it wasn't memorable but it was BBQ
NOSA: Maybe it's a thing with the RW menu, but the Oreo Cheesecake was no such thing. It was just a mish-mash of some jam, some cream, and some chocolate.
FOLLY: The middle section was not even cheesecake. It was a mousse.
POSTCRIPT
NOSA: Considering its the cheapest hotel on the property, I guess it's only fair that the restaurant delivers as its expected to.
FOLLY: I actually suspect Casa Chianti is cheaper and that the Grillroom is priced comparably to Ocean Breeze.
NOSA: Actually, looking at the receipt again, this place is kinda expensive
VERDICT
DAMAGE
Salmon Roll - N4200
Buffalo Wings -??
SA Beef Tenderloin - N12000
Half Rack of Beef Ribs with Coconut Prawns - N10500
Spicy Potato Wedges - N1500
Oreo Cheesecake - N4200
PARKING
It's Eko Hotel. The parking is a bountiful