I am a big fan of Chinese cuisine, so I try as much as possible to grab every opportunity to have some chinese food especially when there’s a deal involved!
I’d bought a Prime Chinese deal for 2,950 naira since October, and I totally forgot about it until recently, and well, it was about to expire, so I found myself traveling from the mainland to the island and praying the experience would be worth it.
I called the restaurant 4 days before showing up to make my reservation, and the person who spoke to me sounded confused but paid attention. Just to be on the safe side, I called again the day before to confirm my reservation for 2pm and was told to come over and that was how I found myself at Prime Chinese on Saturday.
Prime Chinese is the most colorful building on Bishop Aboyade Cole Street and it’s basically the first building, so it’s easy to locate. There is parking within the compound for about 10-15 cars.
Main Entrance
AMBIANCE/DÉCOR : I think the décor is cool. The hall is painted yellow and is filled with chairs and there is hardly any empty space. There was a VIP section, but I didn’t get to seat there. Everywhere was quiet, and there was no music playing or anything.
Table setting pic
SERVICE: I wasn’t ushered in by anybody, no security guard at the gate, and no one at the door, so I was a bit confused. In fact, everywhere was empty, and hot, as there was no electricity. I finally wandered around, and found two people, a manager and a waiter discussing in an inner room, and I was like “Errr hello”. I presented my dealdey receipt, and the manager asked me to come back by 7pm as that was the dinning time on weekends.
I was so pissed, but as a civil person, I was smiling and trying to explain to her that I’d called earlier and had come from the mainland! She suggested the option of take away and I was too tired to argue, so I agreed.
The waiter proceeded to take my order, but was distracted by some guests who’d walked in – an Indian man, and a guy who later claimed to be the owner of the place. Mehn, the manager ran out of her inner chamber to attend to them, and well, she dragged the waiter along so I was basically alone. They took the orders of the guests that had arrived, then the manager whispered that I should use the opportunity of the “owner and the white guy” being around to dine in. Magically, the generator came on.
I eventually placed my order… three times actually! The first time the paper they’d written my order on went missing. The second time the waiter didn’t understand my order, then the manger stepped in and took my order again for the third time. I didn’t really blame the waiter as she was the only one and apparently, she was new. In fact, the waiter was actually trying her best because the other two guests kept on calling her and placing multiple orders. I also had to explain several times that I had already paid for my meal via dealdey, and that wasn’t much fun. After a while, the waiter handed me the oshibori and the meals began to flow.
FOOD: After about 35minutes, I got my first course. I asked for the PRIME SPECIAL SOUP, but I was informed it was unavailable, so I got the CREAM AND SWEET CORN SOUP which was alright. I liked it, but couldn’t finish it. The FRIED CHICKEN SPRING ROLLS arrived almost immediately after I got the soup. The spring rolls were quite dry, but they were hot.
Spring rolls and Cream and Sweet corn soup
My entrée was Fried Rice with shredded beef and Chicken in chili sauce. Tbh, my 35 minutes wait was forgotten. It was delicious, and mehn, I finished it, and stopped myself from getting another plate. It was that good! I think it’s the best chili sauce I’ve had so far.
Delicious…
Desert was strawberry ice-cream. I was quite concerned that I wasn’t asked which flavor of ice-cream I wanted. All the same, I liked it and finished that as well. The ice cream appeared to have been made in-house and was very creamy.
ice cream
DRINK: As usual, the deal I got didn’t include drinks, so I ordered a large glass of chapman which cost 1,000 naira, and was totally worth it. I got a bottle of water as well for 300 naira.
Water and Chapman
RATING/BILLS: The deal I’d gotten covered the food, however I had to pay 1, 430 naira (1300 naira for drinks, and 130 naira VAT). I asked for POS and was informed it wasn’t working, so I tendered 1,500 naira cash, and as usual, no change. I think the waiter didn’t actually know how to use the POS because I tried it out myself and it worked.
I would rate Prime Chinese a 7 over 10. The food was AH-MAZ-ING, and the décor is pretty cool. But the service was really subpar, and I recommend that they notify customers about their dining times when a reservation is made.
I will definitely try them out again on a weekday, and I’ll come with friends and expect better service.
Mehn, I’ve never actually bought something off deal dey. I need it to give it a shot ASAP, the good looks good and sounds like it was yummy.
http://tukesquest.blogspot.com/
it is very yummy tho, the only wahala is you should go from 7pm on weekends , because that’s the dinning time, but they will never tell you.