Restaurant Of The Week | Nok By Alara
Location: 12 Akin Olugbade Street, Victoria Island, Lagos
Time: Sunday sunset 6:00pm
Event: Dinner at Nok Garden with fine gal
Nok by Alara is a restaurant that has a lot of buzz to it. I read every review I could find before my first visit and majority of them were glowingly positive. I got excited to visit the restaurant and grabbed along my partner in crime. We had a good time and we appreciated the effort being made to create “African fine dining,” but in all honesty the hype was a bit overstated by some of your favorite restaurant/food critic bloggers. Then again, maybe I don’t have a refined palate, who the heck knows? However, one thing we really enjoyed were the cocktails. We spent some time at the outdoor garden after dining indoors. We decided for our next visit, that cocktails at the garden and ordering off the garden menu would be the right plan.
The weather was perfect this Sunday and we decided it was time for that second visit to Nok. Nok garden simply put is beautiful; with the bamboo plants, the woven lamp shades and subtle African décor. There are many options for seating; we have lounge seating and dining tables for different group sizes. We found seats and ordered cocktails with high life music playing in the background as the clinking and clacking of bamboo canes became louder as the winds picked up.
Food & Drink menu
I ordered the Red alert (Malibu, prosecco, hibiscus, pineapple juice) and she had the Lagosian (Cointreau, brandy, strawberry, lime.) Both cocktails were delightful. The balance of booze to sweet was just right.
Red Alert & The Lagosian
The goat sliders on the menu looked interesting, it isn’t everyday people make meat patty from goats. We ordered that alongside the Nok BBQ beef ribs with spicy cornbread. Bae ordered a side of plantain mash to go with the goat sliders.