Restaurant Review: Orela | Tuke's Quest

Restaurant Review: Orela

Hello People

As you should know, I completed the NYSC program last week Thursday, the 16th of October, Yayyy me. I've taken the corper and teacher tag off my bio, life is real now, tears. Haven't put up any pictures of me with my certificate yet because I looked like I struggled that day, choi, so sweaty looking, the sun was not even smiling.

On our way home, after getting our certificates, my family friend, Demi, suggested we go eat at Orela, one of her favourite restaurants on Awolowo Road. Now, I had never been there  before and you know how I love to try out new places. Plus, our allowee had just been paid so I was feeling slightly richer. The restaurant is located on the second floor of no. 114 Awolowo Road, Ikoyi, it's between Mobil and TFC so it's like the middle of Awolowo road.

I had never really paid attention to this place before, there is a flower store on the 1st floor of the building and the sign isn't overly huge

Now, I have to say the ambience is lovely, if you want to go on a romantic date, this place hits the spot. It's pretty small and only one other table was occupied when we got there. They have a standing piano too and Demi said someone usually plays soft music in the evenings.





Demi ordered chapman and I got a Vanilla Milkshake, the drinks cost N1,500 each. The milkshake wasn't great to be honest, there was too much milk and not enough ice-cream. Plus, it was fan ice cream. The best Vanilla Milkshake I've had in Lagos was at Rhapsody's, it cost N1,000 and it was so delicious, plus they used Blue Bunny Ice cream to make it, the ingredients matter yo. 

The milkshake wasn't really hitting the spot so I headed on to the bar to ask for some sort of syrup to make it taste better. I asked the bar man to add some Almond syrup which made it sweeter, I also asked for some Vanilla syrup which made it richer. However it was still too milky so I asked him to add more ice-cream. He ran down to get some more but sadly they had run out. I'll give him A for effort sha.








Demi and I were very hungry which is understandable after a day filled with NYSC related activities. Our food finally came after about 40 minutes and guess what, the waiter got the order wrong. He didn't write it down when we placed it so that might have been the cause but we weren't pleased at all. He got my main right but brought the wrong side dish, mash potato instead of wedges. He brought something completely different from what Demi had ordered.

The manager came to our table and apologised and gave us complimentary spring rolls which were delicious. The menu describes it as a Chinese Spring roll, with minced meat and vegetables. It was absolutely scrumptious with vermiccilli bits in it. I tried really hard to capture the filling, the sauce was the perfect accompaniment too.




So, our food finally arrived after waiting for over an hour. The manager was nice enough to offer us complimentary drinks as the drinks we ordered originally had run out. I got a chapman and Demi got one too. It was alright, no complaints. Now, Demi ordered something called grill it, with Jumbo Prawns and Chicken, I didn't try it but she enjoyed it. She always gets it and it costs N6k. 




I ordered shrimps Provencal which was shrimps in a spicy tomato sauce and I got potato wedges as my side. I haven't had wedges since uni so I enjoyed it. The portion was sizeable, I fnished most of it, it cost N2,500 which is pretty decent for restaurant food.




My friends, the twins from this post came a few minutes after my food had arrived. They ordered Seafood pasta which cost N2,500. It was described as spaghetti in a creamy sauce with fish, prawns and calamari. Bunmi wanted just prawns and Buki wanted prawns and calamari. I didn't try it as I don't really like cheesy sauces. They wanted penne pasta instead of spaghetti but the restaurant didn't have any in stock.  The food looked alright though and they enjoyed it.
Just Prawns

With Prawns and Calamari

So, it was an interesting experience, the food took way longer to come than it should have but at least the manager made up for it. Would I go back there?
Maybe sometime in the future but not when I'm hungry.

They also have Nigerian dishes like Asun, Puff puff and Snails. Have any of you ever been there?
Share

6 comments:

  1. Congrats on completing NYSC!
    The Sun that day wasn't even funny so I can understand why you don't have pictures up.LOL
    I love trying out new restaurants as long as my pocket allows me.Maybe I would stop by one of these days.
    Xx

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Thank you Abby :) Mehn, it wasn't funny atall o, Congrats to you too!!
      LOL, I Love that you said when your pocket allows .
      Let me know if you go there o!

      Delete
  2. Never noticed this restaurant but now it will be worth a try.
    I was discussing with my friend the other day and realized that chefs in Nigeria are ordinary... Recycling the same dishes. Prawns. Pasta. Grilled etc. The restaurants may be nice but food is just the same ol thang. Ur thoughts?

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Yeah, it's pretty coded.
      Ahh, ordinary ke. I don't agree, many chefs and food bloggers have found ways of creatively transforming regular dishes/ingredients. Check out afrolems, 1qfoodplatter and Che Fregz.
      Restaurants serve many of the same dishes, as that is what will sell/what people want but quite a number of them have a wide range so the regular dishes and then the unique/special ones. We haven't got as much variety as there is in the states or UK but in time we'll get there. It's a process, slowly but surely

      Delete
    2. Well I'd expect a popular or famous chef to have creativity ala Ramsey. Cora. Voltagio. But its the everyday affordable restaurant that I speak of. I'd rather eat McDonalds than a lot of restaurants in Lagos. Don't even get me started on burgers in Lagos.

      Delete
    3. Ohh, okay. So you're talking about eateries like chicken republic, tantalisers, chicken republic and co?
      LOL, I'm not a burger fan so I haven't really had any burgers in Lagos tbh, just the N400 snacker at KFC and I had one at steers which was pretty yummy. I like those 99p mcdonalds hamburgers tho, cheap, fast and delicious.
      There's this restaurant called Kobis at The Palms, their seafood paella is fantastic and they have something called 'Kara burger (made with akara). Maybe you should try it out!

      Delete