Please who isn’t bored of chinese food in Lagos? I know I am. It’s always the same Singapore Noodles and mixed Fried Rice with some Fish, Pork or Chicken!!! So the other day when my sister Temmy and I decided to have lunch, I was in the mood for food from somewhere else in the Orients. I was thinking Thai or Korean so we decided to check out Oriental Hotel.
This “Orient” consists of only China and Japan; it was such a let down! And with no visible sign to let you know which restaurant is Chinese or Japanese Temmy and I just entered the one to our right coming out of the elevator. Unfortunately it turned out to be the chinese restaurant. I know many of you are probably thinking why didn’t you just stand up and go to the japanese restaurant opposite? Well, because Temmy and I happened to bump into an old friend who offered to cover our bill so leaving was the last thing on our minds. In fact, we were ready to eat more than ever!!
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| Setting |
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| Setting |
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Down to the real gist! I would have given this restaurant five stars if my review was based purely on service, beauty and comfort. In fact I received the best service I have ever received anywhere else in Lagos! Every waiter smiled politely and was eager to serve and do his job. The seats are comfortable, the restaurant was well air conditioned and beautifully decorated. But given the fact that this is a restaurant and I was there primarily for the FOOD, this restaurant gets two and a half stars.
The food was just not good enough. I’m looking for an euphemistic way to put it but hmm hmm, it just tasted unhealthy and oily with too much sugar and little or no expertise in its preparation. In my opinion the food didn’t taste good. One would expect better with two spring rolls selling at one thousand five hundred naira and main dishes going at four thousand five hundred and higher each. Nevertheless the food was garnished properly and served by very competent waiters.
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| Spring rolls |
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| Cross-section of food |
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| Combo fried rice |
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| More food! |
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We got complimentary desserts (nice sponge cake and a bowl of fruits) which tasted great and I loved!!
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| Complimentary dessert: fruits and sponge cake |
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| Complimentary dessert: fruits and sponge cake |
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In general it was a good experience. The scenery, the location and the service were really good! In fact just to show you how good the waiter was, he received one thousand naira tip (and for a lowly student like me that’s good money that could have been spent on waxing my eyebrows and paying the Lekki toll to and fro!) Only the food “been-get-comma” (aka wasn’t up to par). But honestly the service and company of Temmy made up for it!
PS – I hope they really work on their food or change to another cuisine completely because this restaurant has the potential to be a solid five star.
My company organized an event at Oriental on a Friday night, so we got rooms for the night. Fast forward to Saturday afternoon, preparing to check out, my two friends who came for the event were so hungry and complained to my boss that I wasn’t being a good host. My boss, who was trying to be a gentleman, offered to buy us lunch so we went to the Oriental restaurant.
I can’t remember what we all individually ordered but my starter was shredded chicken soup with fried gizzard. My main meal was prawns and what we Nigerians call Spaghetti, while my friends had bbq fish in batter and some other kind of fish that came in a clay pot with rice. For dessert, we got fruit salad and chocolate cake. We were told that the food would take 25mins and I think it took about 15-20mins. The waiter was really nice and friendly. The food ended up being too much, so we all got to take some home.
In general, service 5/5, food 4/5, environment and setting 4/5. I don’t know how long Oriental has been open but they really should maintain their current standards. The food was a bit pricey though. We spent about 35k! And yes! I’m perfecting my chopstick skills…China here I come!
Attached is a picture of our feast!
Had some food here a couple of times. It's pretty good actually
Your blog about Chinese restaurants is really nice . Thanks for sharing your experiences. I like Chinese food very much and i have tried many Chinese recipes which i got from youtube and many other website. I like visiting Chinese restaurants in weekend.
Exactly how I felt when I was departing. Although I have to add that the dessert wasn't as fantastic as you pointed out. Everything was bland! Great setting, location, impeccable service (for Nigerian standards) and I feel that more Nigerian- based restaurants should emulate this one.
This reviiew is wonderful..starting from the setting to the food, the desert, snacks and all..and it's even easy to find thanks to the availability of the addy…I just have to eat there soon.
This review is so on point!not getting thai food was such a let down…I think we should have more places with excellent service like this,and I think they should review their chef's resume…..and add interesting dishes to their menu,we're bored with d same ol' stuff