An outpost of progress
Restauracja-Pub Lagos
ul. Odynca 57
Telephone 844-4577
Hours: 2p.m.-last guest
Credit cards and reservations accepted
Three continents' worth of people who have never set foot in sub-Saharan Africa landed in Restauracja-Pub Lagos not long ago. None can say whether or not the food at Lagos is authentically Nigerian, or even particularly West African. We didn't even know if it looked like a restaurant from Lagos. We can confirm one thing: Lagos knows how to handle spice.
Lagos is relatively new (the restaurant, not the city, which has been a trade center since about the 15th century), and it shows as the front room still looked a little bit patchy and underdeveloped. The back dining room was fully dressed, however. It has that generic "you're not in Europe" thing going that seems to apply to many Third World-themed restaurants in Poland wood tables, straw-mat decor, phallic tequila ads and a Zywiec tap behind the bar. A decent African-themed soundtrack helped set a tropical tone.
A very small crowd moved through on a Wednesday evening, though clearly the place was generating some traffic. Could it be the food?
What is Nigerian food?
The Lonely Planet guidebook says, "Generally speaking, the food in Nigeria is nothing to rave about." Hmmm. Good start. "Peppery stews are common in the southern states, while menus of grains and beef are common in the north. There's also lots of snack food including fried yam chips, meat pastries and fried plantain." And the book mentions goat-head pepper soup.
Yam chips Yeah! Beef paczki Yum! Goat heads Super! Thankfully, no small, horned skulls were poking out of anyone's soup. But honestly, the Australian and the North Americans were left guessing what was what on the menu: It was only in Polish, though the proprietor said an English-language menu is on the way.
The representative of the third continent, Europe, being the only Polish speaker involved in this little outing, had to help us through the selections of African surprise and African salad and African soup. Afrykanski (or African) was a common description of the foods. Would it conjure up images from the heart of darkness? Evoke an urban jungle (Lagos' population is around 12 million)? Cause dysentery? Start a military coup d'etat?
One thing it certainly stirred was the taste buds that thousands of years of evolution have developed to tune in "hot and spicy," but that have been left dormant thanks to a regional predilection for the mildly bland. This food has kick. Rosol afrykanski (African chicken soup) is a thin broth with little cauliflower bits floating about. It is a nice thin broth with powerful spice.
"I think my lips are melting," Greg said. What a nice, scorching change from duller fare that pervades most menus in town.
Zupa afrykanska (African soup) is somewhere between goulash and broth with bits of meat and spices, and, unfortunately, bits of fat. It arrived hot, but not too hot, and spicy, but not too spicy that you have to grab for the nearest glass of something to drink.
With the main courses, the drewniak afrykanski (African platter) is literally served on a tree stump. Paul Bunyan might have carved the platter out of a baobab tree. The pork, cauliflower, broccoli and carrots mix was spicy but not too overwhelming. Big portions. One of our North American representatives, Roseanne, recommended that diners opting for soup, salad or a hot appetizer order one drewniak and share it.
Another option was the piers z kurczaka orientalna (or pulped bean sandwich with chicken instead of bread). Greg considered the huge pile of beans between two boneless chicken breasts to amount to a rather uncreative mass of fiber. And, for the truly unadventurous (me), there was the szaszlyk typical Polish pork shish kebab. It's very good but something tells me that it's more an acknowledgement of local tastes than a real exploration of African cuisine.
Celia from down under made the last attempt to truly branch into something representative of sub-Saharan entrees with the niespodzianka afrykanska (or African surprise). Aside from being "sweet" or "spicy," our waitress would not tell us what it was (that's why it's called African surprise, silly foreigners!). When Celia received the surprise, she did not cry, "The horror! The horror!" In fact, she appeared to like it. But out of respect for the theme, African surprise will remain a surprise.
Desserts were good in a tropical sort of way. Puchar Lodowy Kilimandzaro was a combination of raspberry, strawberry and vanilla ice cream topped with whipped cream, an orange slice and a kiwi slice. A little yellow umbrella are little yellow umbrellas common in Africa? topped it off for a nice little presentation. The nalesniki are, as usual, thick pancakes filled with something this time, tinned papaya and pear.
On the menu:
Zupa afrykanska zl.6
Rosol afrykanski zl.8
Piers z kurczaka
orientalna zl.20
Szaszlyk z poledwicy zl.21
Niespodzianka afrykanska zl.16
Puchar Lodowy Kilimandzaro zl.10
