A New Menu and A New Location for La Brioche
NOSA: One of my biggest qualms with La Brioche was the space. It was just so tiny. At first, it was cute and cozy when only like 10 people in Lagos knew about it, but as soon as it got more popular, it lost the appeal. They tried to extend things a bit with a back room, but it just wasn’t meant to be. So count me as one of the people overjoyed that La Brioche was getting a bigger and more befitting space.
FOLLY: There’s no way I’m going to say this without sounding bad so I’m just going to say it. For some people, their biggest qualms with La Brioche is that their owner doesn’t let you dine conversation-free like Uber. He always checks in on his customers with a little chit-chat here and there. At least five people reached out to me on WhatsApp after seeing our La Brioche pictures on Instagram to ask “does the owner still come and gist with you?”. La Brioche owner is good people though but there are a lot of people that want to eat without the conversation.
NOSA: With the new space comes some new menu items and a daily happy hour in tow.
FOLLY: There are at least 3 different menus at La Brioche, that I know of. There’s the one served regularly throughout the week, a new one coming soon for the high tea room (see, the perks of gisting with the owner), and there’s the weekend brunch menu.
NOSA: The new menu brunch menu has a lot of the old favourites, like the Grand Marnier French Toast, as well as some new non-breakfast items, like the Pasta Aglio Olio.
FOLLY: Uh huh. The Brunch Specials (aka the part with more lunch type food) section is new and updated with more options.
For our brunch, we ordered: Lobster Hash, Pasta Aglio Olio and Tiramisu Brioche French Toast.
NOSA: The lobster in the Lobster Hash is only a suggestion. It’s a decent hash, don’t get me wrong. Just don’t come here looking for gratuitous amounts of lobster because it will only end in tears. If you need a dab for your tears, however, the brioche is there for you. No matter how much La Brioche can disappoint you once in a while, their brioche is always worth the price of admission. It’s never not elite.
FOLLY: I really like simple pasta dishes especially those with a lot of garlic. You hardly find traditional or simple mediterranean type pastas at restaurants in Lagos, because the market will snub it for being meat free. Top two pastas that we love in Nigeria - seafood pasta and alfredo.
NOSA: Just a heads up, the pasta aglio olio is meat-free. I’m just warning you guys before you come in the comments section to complain. You can get a side of salmon for the low-low, like Folly did, if you can’t go without your “protein”.
FOLLY: It was perfect just like that - silky and delicious. It’s such a simple pasta that is much greater than the sum of its parts when cooked (pasta, olive oil, garlic, parsley, and chilli flakes). Its origins come from peasant food because at the time, they just worked with what they had and just like that, a star was born. Pottage (referring to the style of cooking) that we use for yam pottage in Nigeria was also common in the poor man’s diet in pre-18th century Europe. They just chucked what ever root vegetables they had into a thick stew/soup while also adding fish/meat if available.
Like Nosa mentioned, I didn’t want to go completely meat-free and so I got some smoked salmon. I didn’t put it in my pasta though because that would have been ruining greatness - it was just a side.
NOSA: The Tiramisu French Toast caught my eye easily.
FOLLY: No, it did not! I saw it and pointed it out to you because you like tiramisu. Seriously, why do men lie unprovoked?
NOSA: I absolutely love tiramisu, so combining that with La Brioche’s already excellent french toast was an easy sell for me. According to the menu, its a brioche stuffed with mascarpone and cocoa powder sprinkled on the top.
It doesn’t live up to the set expectations, but it definitely gives it a good go. I can’t quite place my finger on it, but it’s just missing a little something that’s keeping it from perfection.
FOLLY: I think it was a bit light on the coffee part of a tiramisu, save for the little amounts that were dusted on top. To me, that’s the little something that I felt it was missing.
NOSA: Neither the tiramisu nor the french toast dominate. Unfortunately, they don’t make their presence known either. La Brioche has something very special here, but it just needs a little tweak.
FOLLY: I think they should do a syrup infused with coffee and drizzle it over the fresh toast (or serve it on the side).
NOSA: Just little oomph to get it over the hurdle.
POSTSCRIPT
FOLLY: Love the new space and still love the food.
VERDICT
DAMAGE
Lobster Hash - N5000
Pasta Aglio Olio - N3500
Tiramisu French Toast - N5200
PARKING
A huge step up from their old space. There’s space for up to 10 cars and street parking too.