In many of such places, customers are made to sit on wooden benches while food is served, often in aluminium plates on wooden tables. Those bukataria operators who are a bit refined in taste go for plastic chairs and tables.
Such bukaterias are available almost in all heavily populated but low-income areas of Lagos. However, there is usually a higher concentration of them on the Mainland, especially in places such as Oshodi, Mushin, Isolo, Ilasamaja, Ajegunle, Ojuelegba, among others; and in Lagos Island (also known as Eko), especially Obalende, CMS, Ebute-Meta and Ebute-Ero.
One thing common to all such places is that with as little as N200, you are assured of a full meal, which could be eba, amala, fufu (all local meals made from cassava), pounded yam, rice, bread, yam, among others.
But the ‘big boys’ in Lagos seem to have a different idea of what eating should be, as evident in the kind of places they visit and the type of food they eat. While the common man’s bukaterias at best sound as local as they look (‘Iya Adunni Food Canteen,’ etc) or go without names at all, names of ‘big boys’ restaurants themselves suggest opulence and class.
It is not uncommon to hear Tush (a common Nigerian coinage for ‘Westernised’ and ‘refined’) names such as Shelaton, Saipan, Ikoyi Hotel Suya, Santa Fe, Ocean View, La Dolce Vita, Jevinic, Lobster Pot, Big Fish, among others.
Although elitist areas such as Ikoyi and Victoria Island play host to many of such high class restaurants, quite a few of them can be found in Apapa and some relatively expensive locations in Ikeja, such as Allen Avenue and Ikeja GRA.
Continental dishes usually cost more than local ones, but none comes particularly cheap.
In some of such places visited by Saturday Tribune, for one to be served a plate of food, he must be ready to spend between N6,000 and N10,000, while in other places a plate of food could go for as low as N2000, depending on the kind of food one desires.
Even popular fast food eateries in Ikoyi also cash in on the opulent ambience they provide to charge exhorbitant fees, as most food and drinks there cost almost twice what is charged for the same products by the same eateries on the Mainland.
Saturday Tribune’s correspondent had to pay N200 for 75cl bottle of table water at a popular eatery in Ikoyi, whereas the same bottle costs N100 or even less in other outlets of the same eatery elsewhere on the Mainland.
Continental dishes, which are in most cases vailable only in five-Star hotels, are also available in the ‘big boys’ restaurants — which are often owned and run by foreigners who use the opportunity to treat customers to their native diets.
For instance, there are some of these restaurants that are owned by Indians, Ghanaians, Chinese, Thais and Japanese.
Wines and tea served in those places at the request of the ‘big boys’ come from virtually all the continents of the world. There are wines from France, Chile, Australia, South Africa and China.
Even the ‘point and kill’ restaurants (term used to describe outlets where live fish are ordered and processed on the spot) for the ‘big boys’ also come with a taste and class totally different from the conventional ones. For example, at a popular ‘point and kill’ joint in Apapa, a plate of freshly killed and broiled cat fish pepper soup goes for as much as N4000. Of course, it is usually served in expensive plates, and in a room overlooking the extension of the Lagoon.
Business in such restaurants, according to information gathered, gradually picks up as the day winds up, but it reaches its peak at weekends, when rich men and women could be spotted driving to the premises of the restaurants in their expensive cars. Some come with their families, while some show up with their lovers.
A frequent customer of a popular and expensive ‘point and kill’ restaurant in Apapa, Segun Ojo, enthused: “I still don’t know any other place around Apapa where pepper soup is done better (than here). The point-and-kill thing works for me all the time. I love their fish. This is indeed a decent place to have a tasty meal after the day’s job. During my breaks, I also visit the place to have a bite of Shawama, which is fresh and mouth-watering. With as little as N3000, you are bound to have a jolly good time. This is the best around Apapa.”
At another restaurant in Ikoyi, obviously owned by a Thai, a foreign attendant revealed that everything at the restaurant is done to portray the tradition of Bangkok, where each dish is always well spiced.
“The cooks and waitresses are all Thai. We offer people a broad menu of fragrantly spiced dishes. Portions are very generous, and if you can’t finish your meal, you could take it home in a well packaged doggie bag,” she revealed.
SaturdayTribune
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