CAFÉ VANESSA, Italian Restaurant
89B, Agoro Odiyan Street), Victoria Island, Lagos, Nigeria
+234(0)806-123-0003
I was
car-hunting when my eyes fell on the landscape that is Café Vanessa. I knew
right off the bat it was a new spot and promised I would take the time to check
it out sooner than later. The perfect opportunity came around during some
random public holiday this month (side note – holidays shoved midweek are the
worst. They feel like sick days most of the time and it’s a pain getting back
to work right after).
Anyway, I made
lunch plans with E to check it out. Right from the second we walked through the
door, the service was effusive, in fact, almost overwhelmingly so. First, we
had a mini tour of the place. Turns out the restaurant is the front of a club
called Auto Lounge (which I’d heard about but never been to) and they had only
been open for a month.
The décor and
set-up reminded me of Bistro Lounge – not a lot of space but they did miracles
with they had. One half is a more casual setting with comfy chairs, magazines
to peruse, and cozy cubby spaces by the windows. The other half is the more
formal restaurant with the usual settings. A door then leads into the actual club
which is quite large and would be the ideal space for a surprise party or
something of the sort (not that I’m not secretly hinting my loved ones…not
really).
Finally, we
settled down to eat. I was a little disappointed with the menu as it was not
expansive at all. I don’t quite want a manual but a pamphlet doesn’t quite do
it either. Their drinks menu, on the other hand, was quite the handbook but we
weren’t drinking that day. The fare was mostly Italian but they had some steak
and lamb options on there. As it was, I had a hard time deciding what to get
but eventually opted for the shrimp fettuccini while E got the shrimp ravioli.
Verdict – YUMMY!
The sauce was just right, the pasta was al dente, and a hefty sprinkling of
cheese topped it all off. I loved it and it definitely made up for the limited
options. The serving was just right and so we had no problem scraping it all
up. I would definitely return just for the pasta and the service as well.
Pros:
Lovely set-up
and décor, and you get the option of going casual or staying formal depending
on where you decide to sit.
Great pasta
dishes.
Free Wi-Fi.
Service was
quite overenthusiastic. They did get points taken off for messing about with
the check more than once at the end, though.
Cons:
Points off for the
limited menu options. I mean, how do you
not have chicken options??? Sorry to reinforce the stereotype but as a black
woman, I love me my chicken.
Prices for some
dishes, such as the steaks, are rather steep.
Their fresh
pineapple juice needs a lot of work. I struggled to get mine down as it was
thick and tasteless.
Ideas for improvement:
Expand that menu
ASAP.
Have light fares
to folks to munch on while waiting for entrees – bread, nuts or something. They
did improvise and serve pineapple slices when we complained.
Improve
non-virgin drinks as fresh pineapple juice was a poor representative.
3.7 stars out of 5
L.
No comments:
Post a Comment