Blessinglicious (Nigerian Street Food) — Restaurant in Toronto

TL;DR: Owner regrets giving out food that isn't hot and fresh and blames the experience on the first-time customer's taste buds.

Ok this review was difficult because I have a dilemma posting negative reviews about small businesses. In the end, here I am because it's my hard earned money after all that was exchanged for their product and there's too many red flags for this experience that I couldn't ignore. I really tried to let this one go but after the entire day I still felt liked I was duped out of $25.

The actual review : First time trying Nigerian food, not sure how authentic this place is but flavour-wise it was alright. I ordered the "Foodgasm" plate for take out and was very, very disappointed by the container when I opened it up. Moderate serving of Jollof rice, a few pieces of plantain (they didn't have Gizdodo apparently, they had just opened), and two of the smallest pieces of chicken I have ever seen. A drumstick very clearly on the small side and one of the smallest thighs I have ever seen. I'm talkin' about a thigh that would be the size of a large drumstick - and that's being generous because I've seen some large drumsticks. To top it off, the food wasn't hot by the time I got home in my 7 to 8 minute ride. Did they reheat this or something? Because if I had ordered this as delivery, the delivery person would have probably taken the unfair blame.

Overall I feel terrible writing this because it's a small business, but that was absolutely not worth the money. This is, at best, a try-it-once-for-the-Nigerian-cuisine-experience place that I can't recommend to anyone. You be the judge.

Edit: After reading some of these non-five-star reviews there appears to be several pointing out the food seemed reheated sometimes. That was the first thought that crossed my mind when I tried the food because it absolutely was not hot. I'd be willing to bet it was actually reheated - if it looks like duck right? I guess I'm not the only one that has had this experience and I really wish it weren't the case because it's relatively close.

Edit 2: The owner replied to me and told me they gave me an order that was already sitting there for a while packed from before (which attempts to explain why it was not hot at all, I'm talking barely lukewarm here) and they even looked at all my reviews to justify to themselves that I am unable to appreciate food from other cultures (I have 5 stars for a shawarma place and a jerk chicken place from what I remember of the top of my head). They also mentioned that they had a huge online rush order and they didn't want to keep me waiting so they gave me food that was sitting there because the delivery driver was late (what?). I never said anything about being in a rush and you'd think that a restaurant would have lots of hot fresh food if they were that busy after opening at 2 PM on a Tuesday. They're right about one thing though, they charged me $23 + tax = $25.99 (I should have wrote $26 instead of $25).

Edit 3: Sadly, downgraded their overall rating based on the owner response. They actually made this review easier to justify after they outed themselves for giving me food that wasn't hot (supposedly it was sitting there already for a while). If this place can't be bothered to make sure your food is hot then it already fails one of the most basic things a restaurant should do. I literally walked into the empty store and said "This is my first time trying Nigerian food" and was given this awful experience. You couldn't be bothered to give me hot and fresh food the first time, why would I ever go back a second time? The other negative reviews make so much...

The reviews definitely were NOT LYING. I walked into this restaurant and was immediately greeted nicely by the gentlemen. Very respectful and polite (something u e never seen from all these other naija restaurants).

The young lady that handed me my food at the end was also very polite and courteous. I’m ver very impressed with their customer service…keep up the good work.

Atmosphere is ok…not really a date vibe atmosphere but then again it’s a street food so it makes sense.

Now the food…a bit pricy for the portion but ver delicious. The jollof rice is surprisingly the best Smokey jollof I’ve had in any GTA restaurant…and it is even better than my jollof and I’m a really good cook lol. The suya chicken was ok though. The gizzard was spicy but nice…but the dodo had no sweetness at all…but maybe it was my taste bud from the zobo I had.

The Zion was good but for something that was suppose to be a large looked like a small and way too pricy…but it was good and natural. I wanted to support but I don’t think I’ll pay that price again for zobo lol.

Overall I had a great experience with this restaurant and will definitely be returning. When I posted this on my IG I got so much DM of people asking me where I got it but I told them this is not sponsored unless they are tryna bring me with them to buy me some food before I release the location lol. But I finished my food...

Upon entering Blessinglicious you can be greeted with pleasant West-African music and the smiling staff of Blessinglicious.

I have ordered the Gizdodo, Pepper Beef, Roasted Plantain, Suya Fish, Suya Chicken, Jollof Rice, Fried Yam, and Zobo from Blessinglicious. The food packs heat and is a symphony of flavours. The grilled meats have a lovely smokey taste and are extremely tender. While I have loved everything that I have ordered, my personal favourites are the Gizdodo and Jollof. I enjoyed it so much that I was inspired to cook it at home! I also really enjoy the Zobo drink. It offers a nice sweetness and floral flavour, which contrasts nicely from the savoury dishes.

Blessing and the staff of Blessinglicious have a passion for both food and customer satisfaction, and this is reflected in the food. They take pride in preparing their food in fresh and healthy ways that respect and highlight the ingredients. The staff of Blessinglicious are also very upbeat, kind, and want to ensure that their customers leave satisfied.

Needless to say, I have left...