Our last couple of days in Lagos and we’re still discovering more excellent restaurants, thanks to our friend
OK, I don’t know what they do to the coating and cooking of these prawns, but they are just crazy good. This is actually the prawn appetizer, not the one with curry sauce, because I felt like you could see the prawns better. Also loved the edible decorations on nearly every plate — really shows the pride in their food and artistry as chefs. (Photo: Carol Cole-Frowe)
Gary, who has taken it on as a mission to help us culinarily cram as much into our last few days as possible.
And of course, that means it was an absolute requirement that we go to Gary’s favorite Thai place, Bangkok restaurant on Muri Okunola Street, Victoria Island in Lagos.
It’s another fairly modest-looking restaurant that serves up consistently excellent food. And the best of that was ridiculously good Prawns in Red Curry Sauce, maybe the best shrimp dish I’ve ever had anywhere.
The food was so good and I was so distracted by my darn toothache, that I didn’t take my typically good notes on my iPhone. Sigh. But I’ll pour what I remember into this blog and maybe our friendly readers will get it.
Bob and I ordered Angry Duck to split. I confess that we probably ordered it because we love duck and who can resist a name like Angry Duck? You could hear our Angry Duck sizzling like crazy coming out of the kitchen and our guess was that’s why it’s called Angry Duck, or maybe it’s usually spiced at a No. 5 on a scale of one to five, and we ordered it at No. 2, which I’m not sure our lovely Thai waitress really understood. Didn’t matter, it was fragrant and tender — just first rate.
Pineapple Rice with cashews, onions, red bell pepper.
Another hit dish was the Pineapple Rice, which I seem to remember that Gary urged us to get. Oh my. It was laden with all kinds of goodies — cashews, red bell peppers, onions, more. The pic off the iPhone doesn’t do it justice.
The saddest thing was getting to-go boxes of Angry Duck and Pineapple Rice, which the restaurant happily supplies, getting them home and somehow leaving them on the kitchen counter. I was not happy and said a bad word or two.
The chicken satay appetizer was also excellent and different from how I’ve had it in the States. It was pounded thin with a dry rub that I couldn’t identify, with three sauces on the side that ranged from mild peanut sauce to put-some-hair-on-your-chest hot sauce. I would expect nothing less from Bangkok.
The ambience of Bangkok could be improved, but I was so intent on the scrumptious offerings we’d ordered I barely noticed. You don’t go to Bangkok for the ambience.
The dish that was different than what I’m accustomed to was the Pad Thai that another friend Bob L. ordered. The
Bangkok’s version of Pad Thai
noodles were paper thin as were the chicken strips on the top. Hot pepper flakes and peanuts were served on the side of the dish. He liked it, so no complaints there.
All of the wait staff I encountered were Thai, which goes to the authenticity of the food.
Prices were reasonable and the portions were generous. Lots of tasty leftovers to take home and we all did.
Hours are 11 a.m. to 11 p.m. Reservations not required.
Next post: some of the people who have made it possible for us to be in Lagos for four years. We love them.
— Carol Cole-Frowe
