Review: Indigo (Victoria Island)
Indigo Bar Restaurant & Suite
242B Muri Okunola Street, Victoria Island | Instagram | 01-2701880
My birthday was coming up and my best friend decided the best way to celebrate it was a dinner date with good food and good vibes. No argument was welcome or even necessary, for that matter. Also, I thought this would be the best time to satisfy my Indian food craving, so we decided on Indigo, an Indian/Chinese/Nigerian restaurant and bar in VI.
The thing is my Indian food tolerance wasn’t the widest. I spent 3 years of my life in Dubai — a city with a very prominent Indian presence and culture — so I have tried enough food to know I have a bit of a half-half appreciation for this cuisine. Choosing Indigo was really just me chasing nostalgia and hoping my expectations would not be tanked.
PRO TIP:
Do your best food experimentation when someone else is paying. Why? You can easily let go of any disappointment because it’s not on your own tab 👍🏾
The exterior of the restaurant had a lot going on, but in a good way. It was sort of jungle/garden-themed, which doesn’t necessarily have anything to do with Indian food, but made for good pictures – especially the angel wings mural. I wasn’t complaining. Despite the decor, the ambience outside wasn’t great; there was no music, just white noise in the background. It’s a weird vibe, if you ask me; outdoor dining *demands* something nice playing in the backgroud.
I ordered Aloo Paratha for my starter – it’s actually a side, but it works as a starter too. It took about 10 minutes to get served, which is not too long a wait. Unfortunately, I was disappointed by the taste of the stuffing and the crunchiness of the bread, and ended up not eating most of it.
I later learnt that this was actually not the paratha I knew and loved. What I was used to in Dubai was Malabar Paratha, which is a bit chewy texture and has no stuffing.
Aloo Paratha
Butter Naan
I ordered Butter Naan, which took another 15 minutes to get to me, to compensate. This one was definitely more to my taste than the Aloo Paratha, it’s only a shame it was just a bit bland-tasting. Nonetheless, it was good and the texture was perfect. You can never really go wrong with naan.
My friend told the waiter it was my birthday and asked if they had any birthday specials. He said it depended on how much our total bill was, which I thought was rather interesting 👀 After he confirmed our bill was high enough, he invited us inside because apparently the birthday setup could not be done outside.
The interior of the restaurant was simpler, with a family-style dining theme and a bit more Indian culture represented in the décor. Also, there was music! (FINALLY) So, a plus for the ambience.
Our cocktails and main courses came shortly after we settled in. In total, it took about 30 minutes for the main courses to be served. The server had asked us earlier on if we wanted our drinks to start or to accompany our meals. I particularly thought that was a thoughtful ask because it’s annoying when my drink is finished long before the food is ready.
Kiss Me Quick Cocktail
In the absence of my go-to cocktail, Sex on the Beach, I had a Kiss Me Quick which was delicious but rather low on alcohol. That might be a plus for some people, but I like to taste the tinge of alcohol in my cocktails (I was literally trying to figure out if I mistakenly ordered a mocktail). My friend ordered a coconut martini, which was also delicious with low alcohol content. Are they trying to cut costs or something, or was the bartender trying to make cocktails that weren’t too strong because we seemed like we couldn’t handle it? Me, I don’t know o but I needed more!
Butter Chicken
Chicken Lollipops
Now, to the main! I had Butter Chicken as my curry, Jeera Rice and Chicken Lollipops, and it was all excellently done 👌🏾 It definitely took me back to Dubai — sweet memories of enjoying Indian food with my Indian friends during my uni days. The butter chicken was the right level of buttery, and the chicken pieces melted in my mouth. The chicken lollipops were succulent and well-spiced.
The butter chicken was enough for my friend and I, and then some, so we had to have the rest bagged up (we also shared the chicken lollipops). I did think the jeera rice was a bit overpriced though. N2800 for a moderate-sized portion of just cumin-infused basmati rice? Don’t play with me.
Jeera Rice
After we had our meals, the waiter brought in my birthday brownie (on the house, by the way), accompanied by a Happy Birthday song playing from the speakers and bubbles blowing at me. To be honest, it was all really cute but when the bubbles started landing on my brownie, I knew I’d had enough 😆 Also, the birthday song was playing for almost 2 minutes and there was an awkward moment where it was like: Okayyy… can I blow my candle and eat now?
Thankfully, the waiter caught on before it got too awkward. The brownie was scrumptious, with the perfect texture — a bit crunchy on the outside, but fudgy on the inside.
I also ordered chocolate ice cream that, thankfully, didn’t taste like Fan Ice (unlike what befell me at Alice Garden). My friend ordered fried ice cream, which was basically fried coconut dough wrapped around a ball of vanilla ice cream. I think this should be an 8th wonder of the world because I have no idea how they pulled that off 😂 I’m not the biggest fan of coconut-flavoured things, so I didn’t dig it but my friend loved it.
Chocolate Ice Cream
Fried Ice Cream
The bill came with a short review survey, which I thought was great for quality control purposes. The only downside (which was a real 👎🏾👎🏾) to that was that the — I suspect — owner came to meet me outside to ask me to elaborate on my comment about my disappointment with the naan and paratha. He was a bit pushy about it, which is a big no-no; I just wanted to drop the review and dip, and I should have been allowed that grace.
P.S. It’s not like he chased after me o, I just happened to be outside taking photos as we were getting set to leave. But seriously, it could have been avoided or he could have been more gentle?
All-in-all, I had a good time and free delicious food, so nothing spoil. I also liked the customer service.
POSTSCRIPT
They’ll be seeing me again because the food was generally good.
verdict
DAMAGE
Aloo Paratha – N1500
Butter Naan – N600
Butter Chicken Curry (enough for 2) – N4500
Jeera Rice – N2800
Kiss Me Quick – N2800
Coconut Martini – N3300
Chocolate Ice Cream – N1000
Fried Ice Cream – N1500
PARKING
Don’t count on it. You’ll probably have to park on the street.
Oyinda is a writer and lover of knowledge. When she's not reading random stuff on the internet, or putting finger to keyboard, you'll find her chopping the life of her head.
