Lunchtime Cravings at BBQ (&) Cravings

I'm torturing myself right now so that nobody else would accuse me of only torturing them when I do these food posts that I specifically time to come out around lunch time.. Lol. As I'm about to type this, I haven't yet eaten and I know that this is going to be one hell of a trip down memory lane. Allow me to introduce to you, for the first time on this blog, BBQ Cravings or is it BBQ & Cravings? Who knows.. 

Not that it matters much anyways, this place reminds me a lot of 3 Cousins & A Crook which you may remember me reviewing and for good reason apparently... The person who now owns BBQ (&) Cravings, was allegedly a co-owner of 3 Cousins, perhaps he was the crook? I don't know oooo. Anyways, I went with my girls Deola and Yvonne both of whom you should remember from Coral Blue and Afro-Tech Girls. Funnily enough, this was the meeting that really ironed out a lot of the kinks in the planning of our first competition which I talked a bit about in this post.

The benches are literally the exact ones from 3 cousins and a crook... Maybe my earlier allegation isn't so far fetched after all....

Dinner Party for 12? Yes Please!

So some weeks ago in Nigeria we had the Sallah holidays which translated to a super duper long weekend as we had Monday and Tuesday off then I was extra lucky because as I'm just a humble corper I have CD on Wednesdays which means I don't work. I pretty much had a whole week off work and it was amazing! However it also meant that on Sunday when I realised the weekend wasn't about to be over I had this nagging urge to make the most of it. And make the most of it I did! My friend Efe and I decided to throw a dinner party for 12 at my house and so this meant doing all the cooking and planning and of course the all important guest list! Haha.

It was a super duper last minute decision but it worked and the date was set for Monday, time 7pm. Did I mention that we were walking around the grocery store when this happened? We were looking for something basic like toothpaste but came out with a basket full of food and some wine for good measure. 

On the menu for the dinner party was:

Starters:

Crepes

Mini burgers

Mains:

Traditional Lasagne

Jamaican Chicken Coconut Curry

Basmati Rice

Dessert:

Banana Rum Cake with Coffee Icing

Cocktail:

Tropical Rum Punch

So with all our ingredients gathered the day before, we woke up bright and early like excited children on Monday morning and started cooking, yes we made everything from scratch. Well except the Lasagne sheets. Lol. If you're interested in any of the recipes we used then drop me a comment and I'd work on putting those out there properly but for now here's some pictures of the cooking process and the finished work.

The chicken pieces for the curry had been marinated with curry and other spices overnight to make sure the flavour really sank in.

Adding in the coconut milk to the nearly cooked chicken

Almost done now... Just a few minutes left.

Initial stages of the makings of the banana rum cake...

Garnished with fresh banana slices and peanuts.

Browning the mince meat for the lasagne...

Preparing to make our mini patties for the burger canapes...

Meat left to 'rest' for a few minutes before moulding and grilling..

 Mini burgers garnished with tomatoes and mozarella cheese...

 Crepes! ^_^

After we were done with the majority of the food, we set the dinner places and decorated the dining table with some of my tealights and other candle-y bits for a romantic feel and then waited patiently for the guests (and their bottles of wine of course) to arrive.

Finally at around 8.30 when most of the guests had arrived, the food was brought out to the table and like they say... the rest is history!

At the end of the night everyone couldn't stop going on about how delicious the food was and the proof was in the empty plates and dishes. We literally had no left overs at all. Zero, zilch, nada!

Given the success of the first dinner party and our joint love for cooking, Efe and I decided to start a new dining concept in Lagos and you'd be hearing a lot more about it very very soon! But let's just say for those who like to meet new people, eat delicious food and not pay with an arm and a leg then we just might have something cooking for you... Literally. Haha.

Restaurant Review: Independence Day at Yellow Chilli

Hey y'all! Happy Monday, so this post is kinda late because it was meant to be my Independence Day or shortly after post but one thing always leads to another and you know... Anyhow, on October 1st I went to lunch with two of my friends from primary school Deola and Mosope. Yup, THROWBACK! Haha. It was meant to be a slightly bigger reunion but a lot of people dropped out at the last minute so it was a nice girly day for three instead.

We all met at "Yellow Chilli" in Ikeja with empty stomachs and eager anticipation and in the end, we were glad the boys didn't turn up! Read on to find out why...

For those who don't know Yellow Chilli is more or less a fancy buka. Or that's what Mosope thought anyways, lol. They serve all sorts of Nigerian food and do a lot of soups and semi-solids (swallows). They need a 30 minute lead time to prepare your chosen soup though because they do it all from scratch for every order. I really like that about them because it means that unlike most other typical bukas, you're unlikely to hear "Food has finished". Lol.

On arrival I got a Chapman, because really what other drink would you get on Independence Day if not a Chapman? Chapman is a Nigerian cocktail and different people have different recipes but the basis is always the same: an orange flavoured drink (Fanta), a lemony flavoured drink (Sprite or Bitter Lemon), Angsturra Bitters and Grenadine. The one I had was actually a little darker than chapman normally is and was also a lot sweeter so my Chapman aficionado senses tell me that they used some sort of blackcurrant cordial instead of grenadine.

After we ordered our food we got catching up and gisting on all the most recent happenings of our lives and I must say it was a lot of fun. But nothing can really compare to the moment that our food arrived... I must say I was positively salivating. We all decided on pounded yam (the real deal NOT poundo) as our swallow of choice and had three different soups for variety. For starters my eyes were definitely bigger than my stomach and I order a portion of Nkwobi for us to share.

I had Edika-Ikong which I really believe is the South-South's version of Efo-Riro.

Deola had Banga Soup which has palm oil as a basis.

And Mosope had White Soup aka Nsala which is quite a healthy option because it's apparently not cooked with any oil at all... Is this true my Nsala lovers?

Side note: I really love how the photos came out, it was my first time using my iPhone 6 which I got as a belated birthday present and I think the camera quality is off the chain!

By the time we were done eating we could barely move. I'm not even sure we finished everything on the table but we definitely made a huge dent. The service at Yellow Chilli is decent and the waiters are quite friendly and the food is GOOD!! Like proper GOOD, GOOD! The price is a lot higher than your average buka but to be fair, this is a restaurant not a buka and my main cost only N2300! I also like the fact that you can add whatever extras of meat and chicken you want into your dish, at an additional cost of course.

It was a lovely day and a lovely catch up with the girlies and I all but rolled myself to watch the movie "October 1" but more on that later.

Here's my final say

Food- 8.5 (because it was slightly cold)

Service- 8

Ambience- 9

Overall- 8.5

To see more restaurant reviews in Lagos and abroad then use the "Restaurants" tab above... Or click here

Sundays are for Churches and Brunches

Sunday's are for churches and brunches as well as lazing around and hoping that Monday never rears its ugly head! Today I didn't go to church *boooo* and I didn't eat this yummy looking brunch either *double boooo*. You're probably wondering why on earth I named the post "Sundays are for Churches and Brunches" then aren't you? Well... So am I. Lol.

I'm not a complete fraud though! The pictures are mine, the first one is a supersized full English breakfast and the second one is an Eggs Royale both from the delicious "Gorilla" in Manchester. This amazing place serves breakfast till 4pm every single day so this might well have been lunch! I don't remember now...

Can you tell that I miss Manchester sorely? I'm still trying to get used to the fact that I no longer live there. The full english would be the perfect comfort breakfast right now but I've decided to stop this bad eating streak I've been having a go back to eating nice and clean!

How was your weekend? Did you eat anywhere nice?

P.S. I started Insanity again! More on than later. Also don't forget to enter my giveaway!

Alto: £15 Lobster or Steak

Hey hey! So what do you know? It's another food post! Haha, it seems all I post about these days is food! But this time you'd be pleased to know that it's not about a deliciously sinful burger which stands taller than my head! No, I decided to be a little more 'refined' on this particular day and go to this place called ALTO Bar & Restaurant in Manchester. At this restaurant/bar inside the Radisson Blu hotel there are only two options, Steak or Lobster. Both for a very decent, even cheap-ish £15 seeing as it comes with unlimited fries and salad! It seemed like a pretty good idea at the time as the boyfriend and I were both starving and sorting through massive menus at any of our regular spots seemed like such a hassle. Plus I had been meaning to try it out for ages; the strategically placed signboard always caught my eye on my way to and from the nearby AMC cinema! So off to ALTO we popped.

We were greeted somewhat rudely by the host who first had us wait about 5 minutes to be attended to even though the place was relatively empty but we were eventually seated and made the decision on food effortlessly. One steak and one lobster. I was quite excited for the lobster because I had never eaten a whole one before and after hearing some high praises from friends who had been to the restaurant just a week before, my taste buds were tingling when the plates of food finally arrived!

I've just realised that this is a bit of a rubbish photo of the steak (not taken by me obviously! LOL) but I don't have anything to replace it with!

Starving as we were we dug straight into the food! Unfortunately, this was not one of those experiences where the heavens opened up and the angels sang a melodious chorus as the first bite was swallowed. The steak which we has asked to be well-done with pepper corn sauce was way too tough/dry to be enjoyed and the sauce never came but the up-himself-host was too busy to attend to us properly even though we told him twice. The lobster was okay, nothing to write home about but I did enjoy using all the fancy utensils to dig out the meat and break the shell though, this was probably the highlight of my meal! But be warned lobster does make for a messy dish! There was juice flying everywhere, now I understand why they give out those bibs at places like Red Lobster!

All in all the chips were my favourite part of the meal and this is not to say that the rest of the food was bad, it just wasn't as good as some of the places I've been to in my short lifetime but then again for £15 I guess I shouldn't have been expecting any gourmet dining! After this fail it was all sad faces until I was promised some spicy chicken wings from the chippy on the way home! Ha, students!

Hopefully I haven't put you all off, like I said a bunch of friends went earlier and loved it in there, maybe it was just the annoying host that ruined the whole experience for us. If you're still interested in ALTO then check them out here to book a table.

Bye for now my lovelies!

Reni x

P.S: This trip was sometime last month before I started my #eatcleantraindirty challenge so never fear, all is well on that front, for now. Also I've decided to allow myself 4 cheat days during the 30 days, if not I'd go crazy! Haha.

NY Foodie: The Lavish Findings of My Tongue

Some days I just feel like blogging a little more than others, today is one of such days. It is 5.06 a.m. as I write this and I am irreversibly jet-lagged. There is this awkward hour or two where almost no one is awake, all the people in my time zone are fast asleep and all the ones behind it are also on their way to dreamland. Unfortunately I do not know a single soul whose time zone is ahead of mine so now I lie here, bored. Did I forget to mention how hungry I am? Starving like Marvin really, and being the foodie that I am, I’m thinking of all the glorious meals I had while I was in New York and trust me it was glorious! If any of you are ever in New York you need to promise me, no not promise, solemnly swear, that you would visit at least one of these places! **drum roll** And now, ladies and gentlemen, in no particular order, my mouth watering, jaw dropping, taste bud sizzling dining list from New York City! **cymbals clash**

1. Ruby Foo’s

            If you love sushi even HALF as much as I do then this place is a must visit! Got the monster roll which had an unusual but delicious crunchy outer roll and also their special of the day which had salmon, tuna and some other great stuff which I don’t remember all wrapped in a delicious casing of rice and seaweed. It’s hard to describe the way the flavour of the roll burst in my mouth and completely encased my taste buds. No seriously, this sushi is by far the best I’ve ever tasted! Bar none. We also got to try Sake (pronounced sa-kee) which is basically Japanese alcohol made from fermented rice, to me it tasted like tequila and cheap sambuca, I wouldn’t necessarily recommend it but it was definitely an experience.

Monster roll pictured on the left with the special of the day on the right.

Concentrating so hard on the food, every bite into this sushi was a whole new experience

2. 53^rd and 6^th

            You know how people are typically very against eating food from vendors and other street shops due to hygiene and other various qualms? Well this place is definitely worth risking food poisoning for. After hearing about these guys from not one but three reliable sources, Folakemi and I ventured out bravely into the streets to find the halal guys at 53^rd and 6^th and boy were we glad we did! For a casual $6, we got the best most filling meal we had had in days! I must admit with all the hype around them you would think they would open a small shop at the corner of the block but hey! Definitely couldn’t complain. If you’re out and about in the city and need a cheap, GOOD, filling meal definitely head over to them for their chicken over rice which they serve with pitta bread and lettuce, and you can flavour with mayo and hot sauce. DI-VINE!

Yes their line does actually get this long! It's ridiculous!

My plate of chicken over rice, if I could pick any meal to have again it would definitely be this one! And the serving sizes are ginormous!

3. Rue 57

            A bit more upscale than everything else I’ve mentioned so far, Rue 57 was a treat to us by Folakemi’s brother. Although their menu was a bit too complicated for me, the waiter was pretty good and recommended their crab meat starter which ended up being the best crab meat I’ve had, save my grandma’s cooking. I ended up with a pretty basic burger, not very adventurous at all but I must say it was yum! These three mini burgers were so adorable as well!

Mine Kobe burgers at Rue 57, no not Kobe the ball player. That would be gross.

4. Five Guys

            Heaven in a bun like their ad says, Five Guys was literally the best burger I had through my whole stay in the states. The meat doesn’t taste artificial McDonalds, and the bread is not stale. In fact I’m quite certain that the burger came in a brioche bun making the bread that much sweeter and the experience that much more indulgent!