Cafe Mesi and No5 Lounge are two new restaurants that occupy the same building and are located in Lekki Phase 1, Lagos. Cafe Mesi is on the ground floor and serves breakfast and brunch meals, while No5 Lounge is a restaurant and lounge on the top floor.

My sister, Lateefah and I stopped by the spot recently for a late lunch and here’s how it went.

AMBIENCE
Cafe Mesi is a bright and welcoming space. I love the mix of brown and green tones of furniture and how the colours blend with the art and other decors in the space. It’s picture ready.
No5 lounge gives you an option of serious or relaxed sitting with their wide booth chairs on the terrace and single chairs indoors. Both spaces have enough seating to accommodate many customers at the same time. Cafe Messi is open from 10am to 10pm, while No5 lounge’s opening hours are from 5pm to 2am.

MENU
Though we sat in Cafe Mesi because the lounge wasn’t yet open for business when we arrived, we were served from the lounge’s menu. The food menu for No5 Lounge is categorized into five sections with a combination of local and international meals to choose from. I liked the cocktails menu because it had a selection of signature and classic cocktails.

WHAT WE ORDERED
For drinks, I chose Rude Boy and Lateefah chose Strawberry Daiquiri. We chose Ewa Agoyin Dip to start and Chicken Burger and Seafood Pasta for mains.

We were served two complimentary bowls of groundnut while we waited for our orders, and we had a brief photo session before our drinks arrived during this time. Lateefah loved her daiquiri, especially because it was perfectly blended and wasn’t dripping easily like the ones she’s had at other restaurants in Lagos. My cocktail was lovely, but maybe a little inappropriate for 4:49pm😂

The Ewa Agoyin Dip was served next, and it was a lot of food. How is this a starter??? I asked our waitress if the serving size is usually like this, and she said no. So, I guess we got lucky. We dug in, and it was tasty. It was perfectly cooked beans with plantain and pieces of beef in the sauce. We couldn’t eat much of it to avoid not being able to eat our main meals. So, we set it aside to be packed to go for us.

Up next was the Sea Food Pasta and Chicken Burger and fries. The pasta was mouthwatering (I’m not even exaggerating). It had a variety of seafood meat and it was yummy, spicy, deeply satisfying and not too oily. On the other hand, Lateefah didn’t dig her Chicken Burger much because it was sweet. I tried some of it and tasted sweet sauce, most likely honey-based, which is not bad if you don’t mind a sweet Burger.

SERVICE DELIVERY & CUSTOMER SERVICE
As soon as we walked in, we were welcomed and ushered to seats of our choosing. Our waitress was warm and available when we needed her. However, I wish she shared the menu for Cafe Mesi, too, because we had already ordered before we understood the place’s concept (two businesses in one building). The owner explained this to us when she came by to confirm if everything was going well. Parking is fair but will be a hassle during peak hours. The staff all wore masks and there was a bottle of sanitiser on every table.

DAMAGE
Strawberry Daiquiri ~ 5500
Rude Boy ~ 6000
Ewa Agoyin Dip ~ 5600
Seafood Pasta ~ 10500
Chicken Burger ~ 7800
Our total bill was N35,900 (which included take away pack of N500). There were no additional charges.

RATING
Food – ⭐️⭐️⭐️
Drinks – ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️
Service – ⭐️⭐️⭐️
Ambience – ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️
Overall Experience – 7.5

Cafe Messi is a nice spot to grab breakfast or brunch, work from or have a meeting at. No5 Lounge is a great spot for after work vibes, pre-game or date night.

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

Mariam Shittu