Review: Orile (Lekki)

Restaurants

Oct 14

Orile

2 Ichie Chris Street, off Abeke Animashaun, Lekki Phase I | Instagram | 0913 680 0000

This particular restaurant has been on my list because so many of y’all have asked for a review, and also I had heard a few decent things about Orile. When the timing was right, I finally did what needed to be done.

From the entrance, I felt quite welcomed — everyone from the parking assistant to the security was super helpful. Was it for a tip at the end of the night or just a result of proper staff training? No idea, but I sha had a pleasant experience with Orile’s staff, which is, unfortunately, something that’s *super* worth mentioning in Lagos.

For a change, I visited here at noon and chose to sit indoors, but I couldn’t help but notice their nice outdoor setup with full bar service. It was giving an evening chills with soft music vibe. The first thing I noticed about the indoor space is it looks like a modernised buka to me (maybe that’s not the look they were going for and zero shade intended, but that’s the general feeling I got 😄).

It’s a very clean space, nothing too dramatic in terms of decor and aesthetic. They have photos of Nigerian icons, like Onyeka Onwenu and Chinua Achebe, hanging on the walls and some simple plants around the space, for look and feel, and I thought it all came together really nicely.

A simple but important thing: I love how their menu is really explanatory and easy to understand. The menu items are written in Yoruba, but everything that makes up the meal is laid out for anyone to easily understand, whether or not you speak the language — which I think is very important. I was offered peanuts while I waited on my main order of Alata Sue Sue and Ram Rolls & Puff Puff. On the side, I had an easy chapman and a bottle of water because me and expensive cocktails are on break, but you guys, wait… when did we start paying anything more than N2k for chapman?

(See damage below)

What is actually going on?

Mocktails should not cost more than 2k. Anything over is absurd for a Chapman variant.
— Eat.Drink.Lagos (@EatDrinkLagos) September 25, 2022

My meal came out in 30 minutes. The Alata Sue Sue was made up of Jollof rice, peppered guinea fowl and plantain, and just about 5 minutes later, the Ram Roll & Puff Puff came with a pepper sauce on the side.

This is where disappointment started. I tasted my Jollof and unfortunately, it didn’t at all meet up to expectations. My mind was already prepared for perfect party Jollof, and although it was smoky, the flavours just weren’t hitting. HOWEVER, the guinea fowl was a hittt 👏🏾👏🏾 Seasoned so well and didn’t knock my teeth out as well when I bit into it, which is keyyyy (side-eyeing the chefs at Avant Garde by Soul Chow right now). Props to Orile for this.

The meal portion was also noticeably generous. I eventually had to have the rest of my food packed up and I’m currently chopping life, typing with one hand and caressing proper guinea fowl in the other.

It’s weird that I talk about a starter after the main meal, but in my opinion, these rolls and puff puff were a whole meal on their own — another generous portion! The puff puff was super fluffy and yum, hitting all the right notes, but the real star of this day were the ram rolls. You might be a little confused about what this actually is, understandably so. So instead of spring rolls, it’s little rolls of ram meat.

It’s literally one of the most delicious things I’ve eaten lately. The pastry was crispy and crunchy, but the filling was even better — well-seasoned ram meat with a hint of spice as well. I really enjoyed it.

Seeing as I was pretty stuffed and the only dessert option was more puff puff and apparently homemade vanilla ice cream, I decided to skip the sweet finish. On another visit though, I would consider trying it and would also want to try some other speciality drinks from the menu, like Sweet Sensation or Love Position. If only for the names alone.