Mr. Chang is a Throwback to Old Lagos
Mr. Chang
120 Awolowo Road, Ikoyi, Lagos.
FOLLY: Over the years, my affinity for Nigerian-Chinese food has dwindled. In primary/secondary school, I might have lost my mind if my dad said we were going out after Church for Chinese.
NOSA: Now that I think about it, no one took me out for Nigerian "Chinese" when I was little. I don't even think I got anything when finished top of my class in Primary 3. Maybe that's why I've become such a hater of everything. If I got Chinese that year, this blog might be all sunshine and rainbows.
I digress.
FOLLY: These days, I find it too salty, too stew-y, too hot, too everything sha.
FOLLY: To start, we decided to skip our dumpling/shu-mai and go for the more common spring roll. It's hard to take an interesting photo of a spring roll so I tried to be artsy and break it into two to get the above shot. The actual spring roll was much better than that which you'd get in a small chops pack. Still crunchy and the veggies were FRESH.
NOSA: Tasted as spring roll-y as ever.
NOSA: For our mains, we went with as much MSG as we could pack in three plates - Rice Noodles with Beef, Shredded Pork Peking Style, and Kung Pao Chicken
FOLLY: Now see, I love noodles, so the only thing I ordered were the special fried noodles. I told Nosa he could choose the rest while I ordered the noodles.
FOLLY: I was a bit let down by these not because I felt the flavor was very one dimensional - aka MSG. Nothing stood out to me, not ginger, not garlic, pepper it was all salt.
NOSA: I thought I'd like the noodles, but I'm with Folly, it tasted too MSG-y to be enjoyed.
FOLLY: Kung Pao chicken used to be my wave at Panda Express while I was in university in America. American "Chinese" is different from Nigerian "Chinese", which are both different than real Chinese and this explains why this was very unfamiliar to both Nosa and myself.
NOSA: Nigerian "Chinese" is very much like British "Chinese".
FOLLY: The Kung Pao chicken we're both used to is a lot drier and spicier.
NOSA: This one was way too broth-y for me and I guess it's right in line with the Nigerian palate. Every time I get Chinese food in Lagos, the waiters always go "there's no sauce" at my order. We're very much a "rice and stew" nation. We like all our carbs with "sauce".
FOLLY: Also, the Kung Pao Chicken was too sweet and had carrots in it. This was very similar to the mushrooms in a pad Thai incident because carrots have no place in Kung Pao chicken *straight face*
FOLLY: The shredded pork was solid. I gobbled this up when mixed with the noodles.
NOSA: This was favorite of the lot too. As you can see, it's pretty dry and from my little spiel above, you can see why.
POSTSCRIPT
NOSA: At the price, it's really not worth it. The nostalgia doesn't make up for how the plates lack any distinguishing flavor beyond MSG.
FOLLY: They also added N3000 in service charge and VAT to the bill which was highkey irritating.The security man slash parking attendant didn't use his church mind.
VERDICT
DAMAGE
Kung Pao Chicken - N4300
Vegetable Spring Roll - N500
Shredded Pork Peking Style - N4200
Fried Rice Noodle with Beef - N4600
PARKING
Typical Awolowo road business parking. Don't say we didn't warn you.
The security guards are annoying.