Ci Gusta — Restaurant in Lagos State

The setting/style is quite lovely. It is quite similar to the setting of Eric Kayser in Victoria Island, Lagos. They need to create a designated area for customers who want to vape or smoke, away from non-smoking adult customers and children. On the food, honestly, I wasn't impressed. We had to ask the waiter if there was complimentary bread or something for the table for us to eat while we waited for food. He got us some bread and flavoured chilli oil. The bread was bland and really hard, and we would have preferred the option or combination of a little flavored oil and a spread (e.g. butter). For starters, we had the pollo croccante. It was ok, and as we later discovered, it tasted much better than the dishes we had for our main course. For main, we ordered the grilled salmon with steamed vegetables, gratin and sauce. The sauce was way too salty and they poured a lot of it all over the salmon. Instead of gratin, they gave me mashed potatoes (without informing or asking us about the change in our order). The steamed vegetables were only broccoli and carrots. Honestly, the broccoli and carrots were the tastiest things on the entire dish. We also got the risotto polo cremoso. Taste was just "meh". The dish lacked colour. It was below average in taste and appearance. We ordered the fruit waffles, but they gave us the chocolate waffles (without informing us of the change in our order). The waffles were nice though. We also ordered chicken nuggets and fries, but the waiter forgot to include it in our order. When we saw the chicken nuggets and fries on the table next to us, we were kinda glad he forgot to include it in our order. It looked so basic, and the chicken nuggets looked too brown, as though they had been in the fryer a little bit too long. Burger King's chicken nuggets have a golden crust, look much better, quantity is more and they are almost 50% cheaper if not more. For drinks, we had the mango passion drink and orange juice. The mango passion drink is really sweet; it was nice. I would like to have it again. On service, their hostess welcomed us at the entrance. She seemed lovely. Not sure if it was a last minute decision to assign a staff as the hostess, because she was dressed too casually for the role (she wore flat slippers). However she was very nice, warm and welcoming. The waiters were very nice and polite, but they definitely need a lot more training and a system in place. They are not familiar with the items on the menu. I asked one of them about the "granita" and he didn't know what it was. They were so disorganised. They had some challenges identifying which table to bring the right food/drink ordered. However, there was one guy the rest seemed to be consulting to confirm where to take an order to, even though he was also a waiter. The guy seemed to know everything whether or not he was the one who took the order in the first place. It's a new restaurant, so there is a learning curve and hopefully they will get better as they grow. I will like to visit again, but maybe after a month or two when (hopefully) the restaurant has improved on its food...

Our Order: Starters and their ratings: • Spinach Artichoke Dip (2/10) • Chicken Wings (3/10) • Fries (7/10)

Main Course and their ratings: • Pepperoni Pizza (3/10) • Smoked Salmon Pizza (2/10)

Ambiance (8/10): Family friendly, clean, music was not too loud. Great for a lunch date and casual meeting. Bathroom was clean and hygienic.

Customer Service (7/10): Our waiter was attentive, knowledgeable, and friendly.

Overall Food: Artichoke Spinach Dip(2/10): We may have gotten the wrong order because there was barely any artichoke, spinach, and the cheese on top was poorly melted. The flavor was just off.

Chicken Wings (3/10): They were bland to say the least. The saving grace was the BBQ Sauce. The Spicy Sauce is undercooked blended tomatoes and peppers. The Mayonnaise tasted like something out of a cheap bottle.

Fries (7/10): Crispy and slightly salty.

Main Course (Pepperoni Pizza (3/10) & Smoked Salmon Pizza (2/10): Both pizzas had an excessive amount of salt and had a significant amount of oil. It will not be wise to visit the doctor any time soon because of the excessive amount of cholesterol in the food. The crust was too thin so the cheese slid right off. I could deal with that, but the salt made it hard to consume. We could not finish either pizza as the saltiness was overwhelming.

Overall Experience: Customer Service was good; Ambiance chilled; Food was appalling, nothing to write home about

Overall...

Ci gusta!

Italian for “we like it!”

This is an immaculately pristine property, with floor to ceiling glass walls admitting an abundance of natural lighting and expanding already scenic views. With two-level sitting, there is ample space for guests and proper spacing. Central air conditioning is superb.

Located close to Coronation Bank’s properties in Victoria Island Lagos, it is relatively easy to find.

Everything about this place is excellent, from the polite and well-dressed waiters, to the soft Italian music playing in the background (and unobtrusive to conversation), to the lovely table mats and cutlery with the brand name printed, to the assortment of Italian meals, breakfast options, pastries and drinks.

The Nutella croissant, chocolate cake and Pineapple juice were good. The Roast Beef Sandwich was okay, but I don’t like cheese thus it wasn’t a memorable one. I requested a spicy sauce to replace the ketchup which was served with the French Fries, and my request was obliged immediately. 👍🏾

I admire the inclusion here too, there is a smoking section. The Italian manager went round to check on his guests, super. The bill took a while to be provided after I’d asked for it, because the place had become busy. A small service flop which has been forgiven.

The place is recommended for lovers of Italian cuisine, individuals, couples, families and lovers of...