Lessons in Ofada at Ofada Boy

Restaurants

Oct 29

Written By Nosa O

NOSA: I learnt about Ofada Boy from Twitter, if I remember correctly. Akin Oyebode mentioned the restaurant as one of the recipients of the LSETF grant. I didn’t add it to our restaurant schedule then because ofada is really not for me. Nosa should be open minded and whatever, but ofada is where I draw the line. Shoot me. A man must have principles.

FOLLY: I don’t have anything against ofada. In fact, I like the stew but I don’t like the smell of the rice. I like ofada stew with plantain, beans or even yam pottage.

NOSA: The rustic vibe that Ofada Boy is going for felt forced at certain points.

FOLLY: I get you but I think it worked well and I appreciated that they did have an aesthetic that they were committed to, rather than the “anywhere bele face” approach.

NOSA: They also don’t serve any beers or any alcohol, but you can get palmwine. According to our waiter, “we don’t sell any strong alcohol”. I see where they’re going with it, but it feels a tad pretentious. If you’re going to go “no alcohol”, then do it the whole way through. If you’re going to go local, where’s the brukutu or ogogoro then?

NOSA: The menu is pretty straight to the point. There’s a couple types of ofada, some “swallows” and pepper soup. The fun stuff like asun is only available in the evenings.

FOLLY: I ordered the Ofada Premium, and my friend did the Ofada Yo.

OFADA RICE

NOSA: I wonder why they don’t have a “Build Your Own Ofada” option.

FOLLY: Yeah that sounds like a good idea

NOSA: They don’t really expand on ofada, which is a bit disappointing. Ofada Boy isn’t really bringing anything new to the table or pushing ofada to new horizons. They play it very safe, all you that’s on offer is your regular ofada with different add-ons. “Safe” is not particularly a bad thing but I wish they took some more risks.

FOLLY: It’s so safe that the ofada isn’t even peppery. Since it’s like a proper restaurant and all and not a buka, I was also hoping to get freshly boiled rice and fresh plantain too. I was very hopeful too because we visited on a Sunday afternoon as the place was buzzing with the after church crowd so I thought surely they’d just have cooked a fresh batch.

NOSA: As a non-ofada eater, I ordered the Catfish Pepper Soup. At first, it felt like a steal for the price. I mean, look at the portion size.

NOSA: After a couple spoons in and I was ready to throw the entire thing in the bin. The pepper soup tasted like flavored water and the massive fish is just there to distract you from how meh the whole thing is. The fish isn’t that great either, but it’s my fault at the end of the day. I went to a place called “Ofada Boy” and decided to order catfish pepper soup. Terrible decision-making all round.

FOLLY: Nosa would have been willing to try the ofada stew, if they had plain white rice. He had absolutely no interest in the ofada rice - a principled man.