📍13, Amazon Street, Maitama, Abuja.
So your girl was invited to a ‘food tasting’ event over the weekend. I was so excited cause that meant I’d be able to eat a variety of food all in one seating!
I was also excited at the thought of meeting fellow foodies and how we would discuss the food and I’d hear everyones different opinions.
@thebrowniegram, Bella, was the absolute best host. She was standing at the entrance waiting for guests arrival and she helped me find my way to the restaurant. I walked in and our reserved area was set up beautifully. First thing that caught my eye was the table setting with it’s nice cutlery x napkins.
I first sat with @thecillestreet, @kolimomedia and @ade.jpg. We introduced ourselves and basically gave a brief bio and we instantly clicked. I found it super interesting that Lucille (middle) paints murals round the city of Abuja. Amazing.
After a while, @abujaeats, @calabarboyfoodie and @c.f.eats all came in too, so conversations got more interesting.
A ring light was set up and the girls and I got up to take selfies and photographs as per ritual. It was really fun and I can’t wait for Kolimo to share them with us.
Well it was past 7pm and people were still yet to arrive (sigh, Nigerians and Nigerian time). Anyways, Bella decided we just start regardless and so we did!
She told us we were going to be trying over a dozen items off the menu, and we would be given sheets of paper so we could write down what we thought of the particular dish. I was like yesss baby, bring it on!
At this point, almost everyone had arrived so it was a full house!
AMBIENCE:
At some point, I got up to take a tour of the restaurant. It’s a nice setting and I particularly love the bar. The vibe was amazing. Dim warm lighting, beautiful art pieces on display, and to top it off, they had a Brymo playlist on. Yes, BRYMO!
I was in gastronomic heaven!
I would like to come during the day and see what the vibe is like. The night time was definitely nice.
Best believe I visited the bathroom too! It had this really nice selfie mirror. Time your sessions carefully, might be awkward if someone’s in there and you’re taking photos.
Let’s get to tasting!
FOOD:
STARTERS:
To kick off the tasting session, we began with the starters of course. First we started with Wings!
Garlic Herb x Butter Wings
These were beautiful. I saw my future self having 3 portions of it at one go. The sauce on it was really nice, right amount of cream and seasoning. Presentation is good too no?
Faji Fiery Wings
Hmmn, I underestimated this one. They were quite fiery as indicated. As soon as it touches your tongue, you’re done. But it’s the good type of burn, not the painful type, I’m sure you understand yeah? So if you’re looking for spicy, this is for you.
Faji Wings
(honey, chilli, basil & secret spices)
These were quite nice. Liked the glaze it was covered in. It was like sweet x savoury.
BBQ Wings
Quite okay really. I felt the sauce was a bit too overpowering. Ate more sauce than chicken and it was a little too sweet for me.
Then we moved on to Pastry.
Let’s first note that the pastry in all 3 dishes were spot on. Thin and crispy, just like it should be. Plus I love that they are all served with sweet chilli sauce.
Beef x Goat Meat Spring Rolls
I’ve never had beef/meat as a filling in a spring roll before, but I must say this was amazing. I wanted more immediately. I’d say it’s a nice concept.
Chicken Spring Rolls
I didn’t really enjoy this. It was salty, dry and the veggies tasted like they were over fried.
Coconut Shrimp Spring Rolls
Seafoood stays winning! This was a nice starter as the shrimp was cooked well and the spices were balanced.
And we tried Soup too!
Pumpkin x Ginger Soup
I’m always skeptical about soups, but I’m always open to trying them if they sound interesting. This one definitely fell into that category. Pumpkin!
It tasted so nice! Creamy and very tasty, and even better when eaten with the garlic bread it comes with. Super recommended!
Chapman
Basic, the usual. I mean, if you get this drink wrong in Nigeria then there’s something wrong.
MAINS:
Grilled Croaker Fillet w Roasted Plantain
(served with lemon butter sauce x chilli sauce)
Again, not the biggest fan of fish so this was a miss for me. Still tried it though and it tasted rubbery to me, maybe because it was cold? It comes with a side of bole (roasted plantain) sprinkled with groundnuts and veggies.
Roasted Chicken w Faji Special Rice
(marinated and served with special Faji Sauce)
We’re talking about the rice first cause it was really good. Perfect rice to condiments (shrimp, steak, egg) ratio. The chicken on the other hand was quite dry. More spices/seasoning would have come a long way. Presentation was decent.
Local Cut Ribeye Steak w Mash Potatoes
Finally getting good mash in this city! It was smooth and creamy just like I make it! Kudos Faji! Meat was cooked beautifully too, medium rare.
Pasta Time! 🍝
Farfalle alla Vodka
I didn’t taste this plate cause of the pork/vodka. So you’d have to risk this one yourself LOL. It’s sha served with either chicken or pork.
Smoked Chicken Tagliatelle
(smoked chicken, parmesan, cream & black pepper)
This dish was one of my least favourites of the night. Nice presentation but the pasta was overcooked and the smoked chickens texture was a bit too hard.
Chicken/Shrimp Linguine
This was a hit! Look at all the colours on the plate, I really liked this presentation. Right amount of cream and shrimp tasted really good.
Spaghetti Amatriciana
(Turkey bacon, plum tomatoes, parmesan & meatballs)
This felt like magic in my mouth, because it was so rich with flavour and spices. Pasta was cooked al dente, sauce was perfect and the meatballs were exceptional! I had the plate as takeaway and tasted even better at home.
Spicy Rice Noodles
This was the last dish on the tasting menu, and I genuinely did not like it. What was going through my mind all through was ‘why’ ? I had a fork full and that was it for me. When I heard the description, I imagined long noodles, like egg noodles, but made with rice instead you know? I was confused on if I was eating rice or noodles. It was too mushy, seemed like it was overcooked or so.
Carrot Cake & Cream
At this point, I was tryna get home, so I forgot to get a photo of this. But I remember liking it a lot. Wasn’t a fan of the cream though, cause it tasted like semi-skimmed milk.
SALMAH’S SIDENOTE:
I think the prices are fair for the quality of food you’re getting. Concise menu so you don’t start to think too much about what to order. Would be nice for first dates, or work dinners/lunch. Prepare for the flight of stairs btw.
It was a fun night and I’m thankful to Faji Steakhouse x Bella for the invite. I can’t wait to be back to review them on a normal visit. I was also glad to have met all the other invitees outside of Instagram, they all made it a good one. Bless you lot!
SalmahXO 