A long weekend was upon us, and a dinner
conversation culminated in a quick trip. Maya and I didn’t plan a lot, but we booked our air tickets and rooms in a nice boutique hotel. We didn’t know what
to expect of Lagos, so we wanted to atleast be in a nice hotel. As we sat at
the airport in Abuja waiting to board for what seemed like eternity, we
researched for art galleries and fine restaurants, adding to our existing list.
The flight was delayed by 4 hours, and we were starving by the time we got to the Nordic
past midnight. But we had a relaxed dinner, sitting by the pool with
cool breeze for added bliss.
After a prolonged breakfast at the Rye the next morning, we headed to Nike Art
Center – our first stop for the day. It is a 4-storey treasure house of art
work – paintings, metal work and wood work by various Nigerian artists. There we
met Madam Nike herself, much to our pleasure. She was quite indulgent, proudly showing us around and enlightening us about pounded yam. She changed
into traditional finery and a headgear and graced us with a few pictures. Nike Art
Center was the best we visited in Lagos. Thought Pyramid Art Gallery was good too. We also visited two other art places, not a lot to write about but they are contributing to the expanding art scene in Lagos.
We tried out several restaurants,
some recommended, some researched. As a big part of our trip was about food, I must
make mention of three favorite restaurants. R.S.V.P. piqued my interest because
of its name, and the place did not disappoint us. The ambience was perfect for
dinner and the food, fabulous. Shiro in Landmark Boulevard was next. The place
was royal with a high ceiling and larger than life statues, and the highlight was the imposing face of the Buddha. The restaurant offered a serene setting, which
was complemented by flavorful Pan Asian cuisine. The day we were leaving Lagos, we squeezed
in SLoW for lunch. The attraction was its central courtyard, which housed the
bar area. Sunlight streamed in from the open roof above and tall plants
formed natural boundaries in the restaurant. No wonder its website described itself as a tropical brasserie. The roasted harissa cauliflower served with
quinoa was exotic in its presentation and taste. While we also lunched at the
Cactus and the Ocean Basket, they didn’t make it to my favorite list. Our
evening poolside coffee and drinks at the Nordic was no less enjoyable, which
was on repeat mode every single day we were in Lagos. And to make it special,
it rained one evening. The pluviophile that I am!
The trip came with a fair share
of amusing misadventures. W Lounge came highly rated, so we made a visit post
dinner on day two. But out we were in 2 minutes, the music was so
loud that we could barely hear ourselves. As we waited for an uber at the corner
of the block, a lady came to us asking politely if she could drop us at the
hotel. Equally politely, we said no. That’s when she started getting a bit
pushy and insisted we allow her to drop us. Immediately our alarm bells went off and we scrambled back to the entrance of W lounge. There
we were, mid-career independent women who have traveled the world scurrying like
little children. It was an experience that had us bursting into laughter for
many days after.
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As we got ready say goodbye to
Lagos, we had a little time to kill in the hotel lobby. The lobby had an
interesting collection of coffee table books, but I was particularly fascinated
by The James Bond Archives. I am a huge 007 fan and have not missed a single
007 movie, so I wondered why I never knew about the book. And unlike many
typical coffee table books that contain more pictures, this book had riveting details from the movies and the movie making process. I managed to rummage through a few pages as
we waited for our taxi to the airport. The book was massive. And presumably popular, it was out of stock on Amazon!
Food and art sums up our trip well. I think we did a lot for 3 days, although we missed visiting the highly rated Moist Beach Club (I am not kidding, that’s the name of the place). I don’t know if I will make another personal trip to Lagos, but if I do – I will repeat the restaurants. And see the ‘real’ Lagos.
