Metisse is your Reward for Giving Cafe Royale Another Chance
Metisse
267A, Etim Iyang Crescent, Victoria Island, Lagos.
NOSA: I can't believe it has taken us this long for the blog to get an actual review of Metisse. Well, I know why. We can't stand the food at Cafe Royale so we avoided that matryoshka of a restaurant building.
FOLLY: Here's a link to the definition of matryoshka since Nosa decided to take some time to upgrade his vocabulary over the flood.
NOSA: Metisse has straight up South-East Asian menu.
FOLLY: As stated in their restaurant description.
NOSA: I expected it to be one of those "continental" spots littered all over Lagos. And the space is gorgeous too. Perfect for team dinners and whatnot.
FOLLY: Except for the cocktail menu that they share with Cafe Royale, they deliver exactly what they promise in terms of cuisine which must be commended for a Lagos restaurant.
NOSA: Exactly, it’s not entirely free from Cafe Royale and perhaps we haven't been in a while because the prices are almost double!
FOLLY: We started with the samosas and Bangkok style chicken wings.
NOSA: The samosa was open-faced? Deconstructed? The first time I've ever seen samosa served this way. I'm definitely a fan. It brought out the spices in the beef.
FOLLY: Yes, the presentation format definitely encouraged the chef to focus on the beef because it wasn’t being hidden away underneath layers of pastry. It needed to be photogenic and presentable so it wasn’t fried till it was black and had lost all color.
Taste wise, it was a very Thai take on a samosa and tasted just like a green curry in the body of an open face samosa. If that sentence was too long for you, just know it tasted delicious.
NOSA: The chicken was what we call crossfit chicken wings
FOLLY: Aka hard and unapproachable chickens
NOSA: Did it even look like chicken?
FOLLY: Yup, it looked like a chicken lollipop. I think it was a drumette with a mohawk aka shaved down sides to it would have a leaner bone.
NOSA: The marinade was great though.
FOLLY: I disagreed because I actually didn’t like the marinade. It was way too sweet to be called Bangkok chicken wings. Thai food is a lot more savory than sweet so if we’re naming something after the Thai capital, I expect it to be true to the name.
NOSA: I was bit apprehensive, but the Caramel Glazed Chicken that I had as my main was an absolute winner. Loved it!
FOLLY: I loved this too. My pedestrian self was expecting caramel as in salted caramel forgetting that it was likely from the caramelized onions that dish got it's name. I loved the onions and it also helped that they used the proper sweet kind.
NOSA: It comes with a side of steamed rice. A tiny side, but that's not the point. The chicken is fantastic so just order an extra side of it bothers you so much.
FOLLY: I 100 per cent ordered the Vietnamese Beef Pho this for science. If you’re one of those people that have DM”d, commented, email to ask where you can find pho in Lagos, I ordered this for you. Not cause I had any interest.
I’ve ordered pho once before at a Vietnamese restaurant in Canada and I didn’t (and still don’t) understand it as a concept. They cook the beef with minimal spices. They also cook noodles in that same broth and serve it to you with some more spices to, you know, adjust to taste.
FOLLY: My problem with pho then (the first time I had it) and now is that I found it bland. So in summary, did I enjoy it? No. Was it bad? Probably not, it just wasn't for me.
POSTSCRIPT
NOSA: Metisse surprised me. I never expected to like it as much as did. Like finding love in a hopeless place.
FOLLY: I loved every thing apart from my main but I saw that coming. I ordered the Pho as an experiment.
VERDICT
DAMAGE
Samosa - N2500
Bangkok Chicken Wings - N3000
Vietnamese Beef Pho - N3500
Caramel Thai Glazed Chicken - N4500
PARKING
Yeah. They have parking.