Marcopolo Oriental Cuisine (Waterfront Restaurant) Lekki Phase 1 Lagos — Restaurant in Lagos State

Went with family on Valentine's day (14/2/2019), after calling ahead to make a reservation.

This wasn't done, as we had to wait for over 10mins to get seated at the table we had requested.

Waiters behaved like they were poorly trained, as they took orders wrongly, served poorly and behaved as though overwhelmed by the volume of clients in the restaurant.

Restaurant was at about 50% capacity and they behaved like they were totally unprepared for that volume.

It was an evening we did look forward to, as we wanted to experience the new location, ambience and crusine, but alas, it didn't go as planned.

Similarly, the food served was not as expected from a Chinese outlet, a bit bland and also pricey (I guess due to the location).

Moreover, It took 39 mins for the main dish to arrive after the starters and soups. We had to wait for the drinks, as they arrived 15mins after the starters were presented. So it was a waiting game all throughout the dining experience.

My take on this, are: the restaurant is yet to settle properly into this new location (earlier visit was made in September 2018 to it's new location).

The staff needs better training on delivery and knowledge of the menu, as they should understand that they are not doing the customer a favor by serving him/her. Their mien looked like they were too defensive and clients had no right to ask questions.

The waterfront lounge was still under construction and should be fun when opened, if properly run by experienced hands.

The ambience and night view of the Lagos lagoon waters, lights from the Lekki toll gate and Ikoyi residences, from the opened water front lounge, would give a very serene and romantic feel to the location.

It's a beautiful restaurant, great location, upscale interior, awesome ambiance and great place to take the family to, when the shortcomings...

The food, ambience, customer service was really nice. What I was dissapointed about was a mandatory service charge (put on the bill (outside of vat & Lagos State Service Charge). This service charge is a tip/gratuity for the service. Although in Nigeria, this is not a common thing, we will typically drop a tip (between 10% - 20%) on the table depending on quality of service. But not that a restaurant will make it mandatory.

When asked, they noted it Marcoplo's Managenent's decision and other Chinese restaurants in Lagos charge it. Now, Management's decision that will affect the customer needs to be communicated. I will expect a notice on the wall or even easier, put a one line item on the menu. Whether I read it or not, once i order from the menu, i am accepting that charge. At the end, that amount was removed from our bill and we happily paid. I still left a tip as I normally would.

Update - 22nd February, 2019

I went back there today (1st time after the above review) and guess what? They properly updated their menu & included the service charge note to it. The Management actually remembered me, came over to identify that they have updated the menu based on my comment. I was impressed, sad & blown away at the same time.

Impressed - That they actually corrected themselves & updated the menu (even if it is so they do not loose money from me)

Sad - That they new the correct thing but did not do it until I brought up the issue.

Blown Away - That one person can actually make a difference. I will attach new menu..Definitely had to take a picture.

P.S. The food was...

Food was PERRRRRRRFFFFEEEECCCCTTTT! I had to shamelessly take home leftovers.

However, while we were deciding on what to order, it seemed like the waiters were trying to get us to buy a bigger portion. One minute they say the medium platter is enough for three, the next minutes he was telling me a large is better for three people( maybe they get commission for convincing the customer to buy more 🤷🏾‍♀️).

One of the waiters that served us also had a really really hard to ignore Body Odour. In a situation where the service is important to the wholesome experience; I don’t think it’s wise to have someone like that serve customers.

Loved the food, drinks, decor, service, food( did I just say food again??! 😛) and the waterfront.

They also have high-chairs for kids, so I’d say it’s kids friendly (except for when they have parties and you have a sleeping baby-like in our case).

It’s also a great place to have parties. I think they have semi-private dining too. It’s also a great place to thrill an out of town guest, like a must-visit place in Lagos.

It’s also quite pricey, but my advice is to go with a budget and stick with it. All things considered, it’s the best Chinese dining experience...