"Suya Wey Get Masters Degree"
NOSA: I feel like everyone has made a suya sandwich at some point. It's probably one of the first struggle meals you make as a Lagos bachelor because it's just so "obvious". Personally, I've done: suya panini, suya quesadilla, suya melt, and suya breakfast tacos.
FOLLY: It’s not even restricted to just bachelors. I’ve done suya burger and suya Indomie. The latter is particularly lit because you don’t have to add the Indomie seasoning and the suya just flavors the entire dish. Asun Indomie is also elite.
NOSA: Sooyah Bistro is like all your kitchen experiments with suya, but "packaged". It's not absurdly expensive so I'm not knocking it one bit. In fact, I'm a big fan of the idea.
FOLLY: Sooyah Bistro self describes as modern and elite suya, in their words “suya wey get masters degree”. Price-wise, it’s comparable to most suya places on the Island that offer a stick of suya for N500. I like that Sooyah Bistro offers chicken suya by the stick, unlike many other places that offer chicken suya as a whole bird and not by the stick.
Their menu is simple - different varieties of suya and four sandwiches - suya shawarma, suya melt, suya burger, and the suya crepe.
NOSA: We ordered the Suya Melt and the Suya Crepe.
FOLLY: The suya melt is basically suya and cheese in a flatbread with a spicy suya mayonnaise. The suya crepe is similar but it’s wrapped in a sweet pancake instead.
NOSA: The Suya Melt could and should have been a lot cheesier. You'd be forgiven if you thought there was no cheese in there.
FOLLY: I agree, there should have been a legendary cheese pull when you separate the pieces. It should also have been stuffed with more than one stick of suya. You can tell from the images above and below that it was pretty skinny. At N2000 for a mixed (chicken and beef) melt, I would have appreciated a bit more meat.
NOSA: But that's not the major story here, however. If you've ever made any form of a sandwich with suya, the first thing you learn is how powerful suya spice is. It literally drowns out every other flavor in whatever you make. This was very evident in melt and in the crepe as well. It sorely needed something else to balance out the suya. Or better yet, the suya didn't need to be spicy like regular suya. It could've been a bit tamer.
FOLLY: You would think that the pancake will tame the yaji spice but the yaji was very very loud.
NOSA: It's particularly unfortunate because the suya crepe could've been so so great. It could've been the perfect blend of sweet and spicy, but the yaji is just so dominant.
FOLLY: It overpowered the entire wrap. It didn’t help that the chipotle sauce was basically suya mayonnaise so it introduced even more yaji. At times you were fortunate to get a bite that was just the pancake and you'd catch a lucky break from the fieriness of the pepper.
NOSA: The crepe, itself, could've done with some work on the crepe side of things. It wasn't a particularly good crepe, but it worked as a wrap. Maybe it was intentional.
FOLLY: The crepe itself needs significant work because it wasn’t a crepe. I’ve called it a pancake throughout this review because that’s what it was - a very thick chewy pancake. I watched home girl make the batter and I could sense she was struggling, she kept adding water and judging the batter because she knew that her consistency was off. At the end of the day, it worked but it could be a lot better. I also am trying not to fault them for it cause it’s casual street food, quality control may not be on deck like that and homegirl has probably not been making pancakes for longer than she’s had this job.
POSTSCRIPT
NOSA: Yeah, I'd come back. It could be better, but I liked it regardless.
FOLLY: I’d definitely try the suya shawarma but I’ll remember to tell them to take it easy on the pepper.
VERDICT
DAMAGE
Mixed Suya Melt - N2000
Suya Crepe - N1500
PARKING
It’s primarily a takeout thing.