Review: Pasta Night at Brisk (Ikoyi)
TONI: Let me just confess now that we were bad mind for choosing this location. We had been before and it was so so bad. We were in sifia pains when we saw the bill. Nosa didn’t get over it for the next week.
NOSA: I’m still very very upset at that bill. I don’t think I can forgive still.
TONI: We’d heard better reviews about the brunch menu so we decided to give Brisk another try. Some people were forming busy so we ended up missing brunch and had to go in the evening. We found out they have a pasta night every Tuesday - Bella by Brisk so we figured why the hell not.
IMOTEDA: I am sorry that I wanted to spend time with my daddy o! I sha got there before you and was walking around looking like a crazy person. They have A LOT of staff. I’m not sure if it’s a good thing cause every request seems to have to go to three people before it happens.
TONI: We chose to brave Lagos heat and sit on the patio because the lighting was better and we needed to get decent pictures (can you see the things we do for you?). The fans were doing the most and I could barely hold on to my menu. Thankfully the server moved one fan away.
NOSA: There’s something to be said about how Lagos restaurants that optimize for instagram always forget that lighting is an important part of picture taking. Nobody wants to be carrying around a ring light like a dork.
TONI: The menus were cute little forms you had to fill. Each section was an element of the pasta. First you choose the type of pasta you want, and then the sauce, the type of cheese, the vegetables, the protein and finally the spice level. I liked that process. I went with penne pasta, white sauce, four cheeses, dried tomatoes, diced chicken and lightweight spice. It’s giving Lagos baddie.
IMOTEDA: I really liked the menus. Reminded me of the unlimited brunch we did a couple years back. Nosa, let’s run it back na! I went with the most basic pasta. Chef in the murd. Spaghetti, pink sauce (which is a mix of their white and red sauce), four cheeses, mushrooms, dried tomatoes, onions, beef sausage and heavyweight spice cause how else will they know I’m Yoruba?
NOSA: I went with something simple. Tagliatelle + Pesto + Parmesan + Mushrooms + Diced Chicken + Light Weight Spice. I’m spelling it out now because I know some of you Lagos babes will want to copy my order.
IMOTEDA: I wanted a cocktail but their cocktail menu is obscenely expensive and incredibly boring so I stuck to water. I don’t mind paying for drinks but at least let them be exciting drinks. Their starter prices had also gone up from the last time I was there and since nothing wowed me then, I passed again this time.
TONI: We got some complimentary bread while we waited. It was focaccia, well made, soft and super yum. The tomato sauce it came with was a little too sweet but I wasn’t mad at it. I figured the same sauce went into making pasta (ain’t nothing wrong with a little cross-utilization).
IMOTEDA: I remember this sweetness from our first visit. Everything tomato based was soooo sweet. I was immediately apprehensive about my choice in sauce. For good reason it turns out.
TONI: Our food came and my Pasta had giant pieces of dried tomatoes right on top. I actually need to know why.
NOSA: Thought it was kilishi at first sight.
TONI: I expected that they’d be cooked with the pasta but they were just used as a garnish, it was hella random. It was also hard to eat because they were difficult to cut with a knife and putting a whole chunk of dried tomato in my mouth is just wild. I pushed those to the side
The penne itself was well cooked. I’ve given up on getting al dente pasta in this country so I was quite surprised. I did not expect the spice in a creamy pasta to come from straight up rodo so that was weird. Chili flakes would have been a better and more cohesive source of heat. They could have put the rodo in a tomato based pasta.
In general, I felt like the dish was missing something. It definitely needed one more layer of complexity - maybe a spice or some acidity.. Something! If you’re putting both cream and cheese in a dish, you have to figure out a way to “brighten” it up.
NOSA: Since you picked everything that goes in your pasta, it sounds like a skill issue.
TONI: You sound like a skill issue. The chicken could have been seasoned a little better. The pasta got tiring to eat; and not in the way Nigerians get tired of eating creamy food. I just got tired of chewing under seasoned pasta (it also didn’t have enough sauce). It wasn’t a bad meal, it was just very mid.
IMOTEDA: My pasta was, you guessed it, too damn sweet. Why am I eating sugary spaghetti?? I asked for salt and added A TON which really balanced out the sweetness. It ended up being quite enjoyable in the end. I think I definitely got the best pasta out of us three. It was definitely spicy but not overwhelmingly so. A good heat that helped reduce the sweetness. My spaghetti was perfectly cooked and definitely not Dangote pasta. It had a surprising amount of meat.
Like, the meat was so much that I couldn’t finish it. My mushrooms almost certainly came from a can which was a shame cause fresh mushrooms would have added great flavor to the dish.
NOSA: Not you expecting fresh mushrooms from 8k pasta at a place called Brisk.
IMOTEDA: I don’t know if those four cheeses came to work that day but they definitely didn’t enter my plate. I also hated the dried tomatoes. I put a whole piece in my mouth and then chewed for like 5 minutes to get the gummy chunk down. Do not recommend it. I enjoyed the meal sha. It was basically jollof spag
NOSA: Unlike Toni, my pasta wasn’t really bad. Considering I came here ready to fully hate on Brisk and write a super scathing review for engagement, they can take this as high praise. You know how they say Lagos babes order creamy pasta all over the place? Well, that’s exactly how mine came out. It’s not winning any awards in Sicily, but it’ll kill it here. Not too spicy, but just enough for the Nigerian palate. Again, thank me later.
TONI: The pasta came with a complimentary glass of red wine. I was the only one who opted for it. Have you ever had really old sangria? Like after it has sat in the fridge for about a week? That’s what it tasted like. Fermented nonsense. Maison J Grandet.. It’s like you and your house want to crumble. As luck would have it, a fly came to take a nice dip in my glass so I sent it back. The server went to whisper in another server’s ear before going to look for another person. I had to call him back to tell him I didn’t want a replacement so he didn’t need to get a manager. The manager still came over to offer a new one. I had to tell him I didn’t want any of that stuff in my body.
IMOTEDA: The staff is too unempowered. I asked for wifi cause 9mobile was disgracing their fathers once more and a manager had to come do it even though another waiter offered to do it. He was stopped and they whispered something like “before they say…” didn’t get the rest but something tells me management at Brisk is a bit… tough.
NOSA: It’s owned by certain demographics so it rhymes.
IMOTEDA: They need less people on the floor and more people who can make decisions. I don’t want to see your staff discussing every single request made please. But the staff are very courteous and somewhat knowledgeable of their menu so props to them!
TONI: Random but the choice of music was weird. 2000s rap and RnB. I guess.
Postscript
TONI: It was an alright experience. Significantly better than our first time there but I don’t know if I’ll be going back to Brisk. I do still want to try out their brunch but someone will have to pay for that one for me.
IMOTEDA: Honestly, I came here to trash it so I’m disappointed lol. The pasta night is definitely worth it though. Three of us spent less than 40k which is unheard of in this day and age. Will I be back? Probably when next I’m craving spag.
NOSA: I’m still going to hate it off the strength of that first visit. Outside this special stuff, the rest of the menu is still ass.
Verdict
Damage
Starts from N8000, but the add-ons pile up
Parking
Parking is ABUNDANT