Places in Lagos| Cafeteria

Cafeteria is one of the relatively new spots in Lagos and it had been on my places to visit list before the coronavirus pandemic. Their Instagram page is so vibrant and inviting and I looked forward to trying out their food some time. So it was no surprise that when I finally decided that I was ready to go out to eat, I chose Cafeteria from my list.

Though restaurants and bars had been allowed to operate with some safety regulations in place since the middle of August, I was still reluctant to go anywhere until last Sunday when I stopped by Cafeteria for lunch with my friend, A.

The restaurant is at the same spot Sweet Kiwi used to be on Akin Adesola Street in Victoria Island, so it was very easy to find. As soon as I approached the restaurant, I realized that I probably didn’t choose a good day to visit because there were so many cars and I feared I wouldn’t find parking but I found a spot on the main road which wasn’t too far off.

AMBIENCE
As soon as I walked into the premises, I took some photos of the name sign. I didn’t care that the restaurant had glass walls and all the customers inside could see me. I must admit that the restaurant looked smaller than I thought it was but when I walked in, I realized it wasn’t all that small because there was enough room to fit about 30 people or more. Though the restaurant had a “no mask, no entry” policy, all masks were off inside and all the tables were occupied. My only saving grace was that my friend arrived before me and was already seated so I took my seat. A had to wait for a while to get seated so I guess being a bit late wasn’t so bad.

The restaurant has both indoor and outdoor sitting (which I found later after I had already eaten). The indoor area has a booth chair, single seats and high stools perfect for working while grabbing a bite. The staff were courteous and in no time, a waiter appeared with a menu for me.

MENU
I thought the service was going to be a cafeteria typesetting as the same suggests but it turned out that it’s a regular cafe where you sit and get served after placing an order from the menu. The menu is similar to what you get from any cafe and it’s categorized into seven sections; eggs & more, pancake lovers, french toast & waffles, melts, wings & more, salads, and desserts. I liked the idea of the all-day breakfast and there was no way in hell I wasn’t going to have a cheat day.

WHAT WE ORDERED
As you can see, the menu is very interesting and it took us some time to place our orders. For drinks, we ordered two iced teas though A had already ordered soda water while waiting for me.

Our drinks came and it was time to place our food order. We agreed to try one meal from three sections so we ordered, Sweet Chilli Wings, Prawn Pesto Melt (inspired by the group seated next to us) and French Toast Berry Bliss with a side of eggs and sausage. We both agreed that it may be a whole lot of food but our stomachs were ready to consume the lot. The wait wasn’t long even though we had a wrong order brought to us initially. When the food came, I was a little overwhelmed and didn’t know what to try first but of course, I started with the fries.

The fries were crunchy just how I like them and I moved over to the scrumptious Chicken Wings. In my opinion, they were the best thing out of everything we ordered. The French Toast wasn’t too sweet without the syrup and I liked that. The Prawn Pesto Melt wasn’t bad after a couple of bites but I bet the Chicken sandwich would taste much better. I was stuffed after eating but I was equally satisfied.

SERVICE & CUSTOMER EXPERIENCE
The waiters all had masks and gloves on and moved briskly to clean a table when its occupants left or serve a new table when customers walked in. Our waiter kept coming by to check on us while we were eating and the manager also came by when we were done eating to ask if everything was okay. I had spotted her earlier checking every table and giving orders to the waiters as she moved about. It was obvious that they pay attention to detail here and I like that very much. I only wish there was some social distancing but I heard every restaurant is back to business as usual in Lagos.

A’s COMMENTS
The chicken wings were great and the fries were perfect. The prawn sandwich not so much. It was just alright in my honest opinion but hey, what does one really expect from a prawn sandwich? French toast was well done but I probably consumed my calories for the whole year in one seating. The waiters and I believe the manager, came a few times to ask if everything was fine. It was a pleasant afternoon indeed. Upon leaving, we discovered there was also an outside seating area. We kind of wished we knew as we might have settled to seat outside. Will I be coming back? Yes. It’s a great option and an all-day breakfast place with great service is always a good idea.

DAMAGE
~ Soda water – N800
~ Sweet chilli wings – N5,800
~ Combo French Toast Berry Bliss – N8,000
~ Prawn pesto panini – N4,600
~ Iced Tea (Pineapple) short cup – N2,100
~ Iced Tea (Ginger) short cup – N2,100

Cafeteria is the perfect place to grab a quick bite, and it’s also ideal for breakfast, lunch or brunch. I’m going to visit again soon.

P.S. this is not a sponsored post. All opinions expressed were not influenced.

Have you been out to eat recently?

Mariam Shittu