Lagos Gets a Casper & Gambini's Too
1089 Agoro Odiyan St., Victoria Island, Lagos
NOSA: This place is really hard to miss if you're driving on Adeola Odeku. Folly was away for Christmas so I came here solo over the holidays. The exterior is so well done and it stands out immediately in the same way ALARÁ stands out. Like, someone brought a nice building from another country and dumped it right there. The interior arguably nicer than the exterior too.
I like how we've gone from RSVP as THE Lagos restaurant with a tasteful interior to Nok by Alara, Hard Rock, and now Casper & Gambini's. Lagos is on the come up, beloved. Lowkey, it's hilarious how all of this is happening in middle of, what is more or less, a recession.
Mad ting.
Anyway, the one day we choose to go to Casper & Gambini's is the day we decide to start our Whole30.
FOLLY: The dessert menu was the MOST painful thing to look at.
NOSA: You know how restaurants give you bread/chips to nibble on as you wait for your food? Just look at what got dropped in front of us.
NOSA: They don't want you survive your Whole30. They evil.
Casper & Gambini's have been in Lagos for a minute, but mostly as catering outfit. When I went in, for some stupid reason, I expected the whole thing to be small chops like Ping Pong.
It's not, though. If anything, I'd liken the menu to Chili's or Applebee's. To start, we got the Grilled Baby Calamari.
Silly question: Is baby calamari like the asun of seafood?
FOLLY: I expected the small chops, abi canapés menu too.
NOSA: As you can see, there's cheese all over that shit, which isn't Whole 30 compliant. We had to scrub each individual calamari. I mention that part because I know Dami is itching to blast us on WhatsApp.
The calamari, itself, was delicious. it was a bit heavy on the tomato, which overwhelmed the calamari-ness of it all. I didn't mind that lowkey because I've realized I don't really fuck with the actual taste of calamari like that. Like, it has to be breaded or something.
FOLLY: The calamari was interesting. I think it was pan fried/sautéed with balsamic vinegar – I really liked it. For our mains, we got two to share: Spinach & Chicken Salad & Chicken Under A Brick. I have a feeling the name of the second didn’t quite translate well from Arabic/Lebanese (not sure if the owners are Jordanian/Lebanese).
NOSA: The chicken was absolute quality. Not dry, although it could have done with a little more flavor. The potatoes were delicious too. If you're on some weirdo diet like us, this should be your go-to.
FOLLY: The Chicken Under a Brick was delicious. I will not randomly crave it tomorrow but it was really good. Nosa and I (more so Nosa) avoid ordering chicken at restaurants because it’s always dry and tasteless, thankfully this wasn’t. The sides (vegetable and potato sides) were too few though.
I don’t blame them though, a tiny Zucchini will set you back N1000 plus at Deli’s Supermarket in VI.
NOSA: Just yesterday, I complained about how hard it is to find a quality salad in Lagos.
Finding a decent salad in Lagos is incredibly difficult.
Ay dios mio!
— Eat.Drink.Lagos (@EatDrinkLagos) January 4, 2016...and that thing with carrots and cabbage is not a salad.
— Eat.Drink.Lagos (@EatDrinkLagos) January 4, 2016NOSA: As fate would have it, I bumped into one of the better salads I've had in Lagos - the Spinach & Chicken Salad at C&G.
LOOK. AT. GOD.
The thing had almonds and I love the shit out of almonds. Oh, and bacon and ham strips and fresh avocado slices.
Of course, I loved it.
FOLLY: I did NOT know it had almonds. The salad was a great idea; and the avocado was fresh unlike that one at smh. It’s interesting that bacon is whole 30 compliant, I think that’s the only reason Nosa has no reservations doing it.
FOLLY: What was funny was that we ate the top three-quarters of the salad and left a bit of the leaves underneath. My excuse was that I was full sha, I don’t know what Nosa’s was. I would still have had space for dessert, however, but #whole30 so I drank water and went home.
POSTSCRIPT
NOSA: I really like this place. In another country, you'd have something of this quality on every block, but we're in Lagos so you learn to appreciate these things.
C&G is easily one of the better places to eat in Lagos.
Easily.
And it's not a sham like Hard Rock.
FOLLY: I'm coming here on February 1st for their dessert menu.
VERDICT
DAMAGE
Grilled Baby Calamari - N3700
Chicken Under A Brick - N4700
Chicken & Spinach Salad - N4200