Work Lunches: Smol Efik Pots
FOLLY: We've been following this account on Instagram for a while but for a number of reasons, it's never really worked out for Nosa and me to both order for delivery till this past week.
NOSA: Her feed is one of the more interesting ones so she has always been in my mental "to-do".
FOLLY: I don't know if it's always been like this and maybe we never noticed, but boy, the offerings last week were incredibly boring.
NOSA: Barely got something to review.
FOLLY: Nothing really jumped out at me so on both occasions I just went for the least objectionable option. On the first day that was the Coconut Wholegrain Pasta & Poached Eggs
FOLLY: If you're thinking about whether that poached egg is appropriate there, that makes three of.
NOSA: I still don't know how it was supposed to work
FOLLY: Nosa hates runny eggs and I just thought it was weird.
NOSA: She let us sub chicken for the eggs so shouts to her for that.
FOLLY: In terms of the delivery process, standard Instagram food vendor. Order before 11 am and you get your food in the afternoon between 1 pm and 2 pm. As usual, the delivery driver won't know the way and so you have to direct him.
NOSA: The guy also won't have change so you have to find change for him The usual stuff.
FOLLY: First of all, the meal costs N1500, which puts it in the fast food category e.g, Shawarma, Chicken Republic, TFC so it will be insincere to review it as though it was from 1415.
NOSA: For what it's worth, this is miles ahead of any fast food thing you'd get for lunch so maybe we should judge it with that as context.
FOLLY: The pasta was okay, the veggies were few and far between but they had zucchini so I guess I can understand why it wasn’t plenty. The chicken, on the other hand, was a big fat NOPE for me because it was incredibly hard and chewy.
NOSA: Oh God, the chicken was so dry. Dryer that your work wife's ashy ankles
FOLLY: Sometimes you forget that chicken just like meat and needs to be boiled or slow cooked to make it tender. Even fried chicken is brined before it's fried. For N1450 at Chicken Republic I can get Rice/Spaghetti with a well seasoned 1/4 rotisserie chicken, that's what I kept thinking while I was eating this.
NOSA: I couldn't get through the meal, which is pretty major because I'm Fatty McFatterson. The coconut pasta was a great idea in theory, but the execution wasn't all there. It's not like it left a lot to be desired or anything, it just didn't work. She does deserve credit for being adventurous so I'm not going to agree with Folly's comparison with Chicken Republic. Chicken Republic spaghetti will probably give you food poisoning, I mean.
FOLLY: The second day we ordered, I was equally unsatisfied.
NOSA: I wasn't.
FOLLY: I liked the boli because I'm not a philistine and everyone knows boli is the BIZness. Dry on the outside and soft and warm on the inside.
NOSA: The plantain was absolutely excellent, but the chicken...
FOLLY: On one hand, it was worth the N1500 because the chicken was massive but then again it was dry and tasteless so it was tedious to eat. The skin was the only section that was flavoured but it was burnt.
NOSA: The chicken was boring. It tasted like it came off some grilled chicken conveyor belt, which is alarming because Smol Efik Pots is still a small set up. If the quality of chicken isn't top notch before the business scales, then yeah, there's a problem.
POSTSCRIPT
FOLLY: I don’t know but I expected a lot more from Smol Efik cause I’ve seen some interesting things on their Instagram page, maybe this was just one week when the owner/cook gave zero fucks and boy it showed.
NOSA: I want to give it one more shot before I write it off because the day after we ordered she instagrammed a picture of oreo puff puff. So there's definitely something there. Maybe it was an off week.
VERDICT
DAMAGE
Daily Meal - N1500
DELIVERY
Island - N500
Mainland - N1000