Nkoyo | Abuja

📍1st Floor, Ceddi Plaza, Central Business District, Abuja.

Summer ‘16 was the last time I dined at Nkoyo, and I was happy to be back. Nkoyo is one of my all time fave restaurants in the city and I occasionally have their food as take out when my mum visits herself. I know it’s a fave for most people too so it’s only right we post about it.

AMBIENCE:

Plants, bamboo structure, wooden furniture and paintings on display all around too? Yup. I’ve found a new happy place, all it’s missing is a water feature and it’d have been perfect.

Last time I dined at Nkoyo was at the branch in Wuse 2. Even though it has some things in common with this one at Ceddi Plaza, I definitely prefer this one mainly because of the skylight. I felt this design feature made the space more vibrant and generally beautiful.

Another thing I fancied were the decorative crafts found around. Like the table cloth strip and the overhead light fixtures in the seating area. Additionally, on your way out, there are some wooden masks on display.

Let’s not forget the bamboo ‘chandeliers’ high up in the ceiling too.

SERVICE:

Overall good, except for a few mishaps like a small strand of hair on my chapmans cucumber, which I requested be changed, and then a mixup with our order.

FOOD:

It’s Nkoyo, so you can’t exactly go wrong with their food. Usually, every dish is full of flavours, cooked well and portions are quite decent too. But this time around we had a few hiccups.

Complimentary Sweet Potato Chips

Crispy King Prawns – N2750

Grilled Shoulder of Lamb w Jollof Rice – N3500

Pounded Yam x Afang Soup x Goat Meat – N3000

Drinks:

Chapman (Large) – N900

Fayrouz – N450

Water (small) – N400

BILLING:

Number of People: 2

Total Bill: N13,000 apx (inc. VAT)

SALMAH’S SIDENOTE:

If you haven’t been, I suggest you add it to your list. Nkoyo has a continental menu where you get to eat Nigerian and Indian (Masala Wahala) specials, as well other regions too. I believe the prices are fair as you get good quality food that matches up to it.

REVIEW OF FOOD:

Complimentary Sweet Potato Chips

Always a delight to have this on the table.

Crispy King Prawns – N2750

Still reminiscing about how good these were. Didn’t realise I had more than half until Kamz pointed it out. Tbf you can’t trust me with seafood, there’s no mercy. Batter seasoning was spot on and the prawns itself were tender! Also, dipping it into the tartar dip made it 10x better!

Grilled Shoulder of Lamb w Jollof Rice – N3500

It was while I was writing this review I realised I ordered the same thing I did 3 years ago. The presentation was just different.

Absolutely loved it. I believe it was cooked well because the meat slipped right off the bone and it pulled apart so beautifully. My dumb ass forgot to record it cause I guess I was too into it, but just take my word for it. Peppercorn sauce could’ve been better, it was a bit too watery for me.

Took a spoonful of my Jollof Rice and I expected more flavour. It was slightly off from the usual, but still okay.

Pounded Yam x Afang Soup x Goat Meat – N3000

This was Kamz’s order. He mentioned that it’s usually recommended hence why he ordered it, but lo was he disappointed. He thought it was quite basic and underwhelming.

Trust me to have dipped my fork in there. For me, the ‘pounded yam’ seemed like Poundo as opposed to actual yam being pounded. So issa no. The soup on the other hand was not the best too, too much oil and not seasoned enough.

This is why I don’t order swallow at restaurants if you’ve noticed, nobody does it like Mama does. Oh, except Iya Oyo!

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