Olufisayo Oluwadiya - New York Foodie Adventures

Salmas Lebanese

LAGOS, NIGERIA

Let me start by saying that Salma’s Lebanese cuisine is a restaurant that must be visited. It has a relaxed and yet busy vibe located just off the highway. I loved how welcoming everyone was to the restaurant. It felt different in an almost overwhelming manner. I knew that I was in for a treat with just that alone. I had not had Lebanese food in years after giving up on finding a good restaurant in the States. That is right. You read that correctly. I have found it hard to find a good Lebanese restaurant in the States. I found one in Virginia once when I went to grad school there but I forget the name and location since it was over ten years ago. You would think in New York, I would easily find one but I have been hard pressed as well. After this meal, I am going to have to search harder to find one at home because boy have I missed the cuisine. For Salma’s, they have quite a few options. It is a full booklet of menu items spread over a lot of pages. One could get overwhelmed with that, and I normally would, but instead I was thrilled by what laid ahead

Nok By Alara

LAGOS, NIGERIA

The Nigerian food scene has really surprised me so far I must say. Growing up, I never really explored what it offered because well, I was not really ever let out for an abundance of reasons but I shall not go into that in this write up. I am questioning if I will ever share that with you all at any point in time but I have not decided yet… stay tuned. When I was looking for restaurants to visit on my trip to Lagos, I was not sure what to pick but I found Nok by my standard search for a fine dining restaurant. I have to say that at the end of the meal, they certainly did not disappoint. There was something so sleek about the entire experience starting all the way from the entrance with the bold signage. The arrow beneath this signage pointing to the right just set a mood in my brain that registered, “Yes Fisayo… you are going to have a good time tonight”.

Chapter Lagos

LAGOS, NIGERIA

I have to say that I am REALLY IMPRESSED with what Lagos is doing with interiors and ambience of restaurants and Chapter Lagos is another gem in this forte. With large palm fronds surrounding the decor from being painted on the walls to actual fronds in the room of different varietals, they have created and transported me into a tropical paradise. I am particularly fond of the uniforms that the servers wear. They are white on black with one arm having a funky pattern. I find it somehow to be very cute and cheeky.

RSVP

LAGOS, NIGERIA

I had no idea about this restaurant. It was mentioned to me by an old high school friend when I said that I was coming in to town. I had looked at the menu online and was not particularly impressed by it because there were too many options from diverse cuisines. Now you might think, “what is wrong with that?” The answer is nothing. In my personal experience dining out at restaurants like this, I have found that they pull in a number of options across the board and are just okay in what they deliver on execution. While the food might taste good, it just does not wow me. There is a difference between this and fusion restaurants when different cuisines are pulled in and combined together creatively… now those I thoroughly enjoy when they are done right.

Hawksmoor

New York, NY

There is an abundance of steakhouses in New York but I have to be honest that I find most of them rather dated and overly “serious”. When I go out to eat, I definitely judge restaurants by how stiff I have to be so to speak when I go in. You might think that as someone who goes to fine dining restaurants on a regular basis, I would encounter this sort of environment but that is truly not the case with the places that I visit. The feelings that I have with the others is just overly serious, overwhelming and over abundant and you must well understand that this is not an experience that I want to have on a frequent basis. That said, I do love the taste of a beautifully seared slab of cow… ribeye being my favorite cut