Once in a blue moon, your office workload is light; a walk to a colleague’s cubicle for any reason (gist) becomes an imperative. Then you get back to your cubicle and stare blankly at your computer screen with your eyes firmly planted at the right bottom corner. You exasperatingly wish ‘can it be lunch already’? We have all been there before I’m sure. Well, this day I got the bat signal for lunch with shorty whose work clock wouldn’t move fast enough. Our lunch destination, Truffles Restaurant & Bar at 45A Sobo Arobiodu Street, Ikeja Gra, Lagos.
Reaching the restaurant, the façade of the building is really striking. I personally liked the metal work design built; covering the front of the building and there was a nice outdoor sitting area.
It should make a cool spot at night to just lounge with a drink in hand and apparently there is Hookah if that’s your thing. Entering the indoor restaurant, you are struck with the black painted walls and the room is dimly lit; the dark wood tables and seats gives the space an intimate lounge feel. Again, I feel this is a cool spot for happy hour but it’s always happy hour somewhere in the world right. We picked our seats and the menu was brought to us.
We ordered mocktails and a starter of chicken spring rolls before we decided what to have for our main course. I had a mint infused lemonade mocktail which was pretty good while she had ‘The Couple’ frozen style mocktail that was an infusion of strawberry, cranberry juice, grenadine & raspberry syrup.
For our main course, I ordered the jollof rice (I was told by a certain someone that she heard it’s the best in Lagos) with barbecue turkey and extra side of plantain. She ordered the Penne Di mare which is pasta with seafood such as shrimp, calamari and fish cooked in their special tomato based sauce. She asked for the fish to be substituted with chicken. This took a bit of explanation to get across to the waiter and yup you guessed it, a big mistake was made with the order. We probably should have expected it since this simple task seemed so confusing to the waiter.
The food took forever to get out, I mean FOREVER. Eventually, the spring rolls came out and it was really good. Yummy was the exact word to describe it and we got excited for our main courses. The mains finally came out, the jollof (not the best jollof ever) and barbecue turkey came out perfectly fine with no complaints here. Now to the pasta, what should have been essentially seafood pasta with the fish substituted with chicken turned into only chicken pasta.
A police report had to be filled for the missing shrimps and calamari. Their faces were put on milk cartons. She had already eaten it half way before wondering where the shrimps and calamari went. The waiter tried to explain that it was an option of just one protein hence just chicken even though the menu stated different. After the waiter went to check with the chef at the back, he admitted a mistake was made and there was no remedy for it but an apology. We ended up paying seafood money for just chicken. The waiter was a really sweet guy and we weren’t in the mood to make a fuss. We already spent enough time at the restaurant.
Truffles has a lot of potential and the food isn’t bad. The prices are pretty decent too. If they can work on the time the food comes out or accurately let customers know your food will take a while to get to you might help. The waiters are quite friendly although they might need better training on their knowledge of the menu.
If I find myself in Ikeja for happy hour, I might just give them a try again.
Lunch Breakdown
Mint lemonade: N1,400
The Couple: N1,500
Chicken Spring roll: N2,200
Penne Di mare: N5,800
Jollof/BBQ turkey: N2,100
Plantain side: N800
Opening times
Mon: 5pm – 12am; Tues – Thurs: 11am – 12am; Fri-Sun: 11am – 1am
Tel no:
09059985945 | 08024547573
Have you ever been to Truffles? How did your experience go? Speak your peace in the comment section.
*prices written are based on the time the visit was made and is subject to change by the owners.
*Reviews are based on opinions and personal experiences, and may differ from person to person