EKO House — Restaurant in Rockville

A MUST READ before you go to Eko House!

Long Post ‼️ I rarely give reviews online, but by the time you finish reading this review, you’ll agree with me that this exception was worth it!

I have been to many Nigerian restaurants in the States, and I can tell you unequivocally that my experience at Eko house is absolutely the best till date. I was in town for work and I needed to give a “Naija” treat to my executive bosses, so my friend recommended this restaurant. Considering my past experiences with Nigerian restaurants, I decided to check out the restaurant a day before the dinner… around 4 pm on a Monday. Unknowingly to me, they open at 5 pm, and they are usually closed on Tuesday(the day of my dinner) and Wednesday! Despite this, the chef (Vlad) and the 2 owners (Francis and Yomi) chose to attend to me. I met them while they were having a meeting, and the restaurant was undergoing some form of maintenance.

Service: Vlad got up to make the food while Yomi and Francis kept me company throughout! They went above and beyond to make sure I had a great time on Monday evening AND a “celebrity- type” special treatment on Tuesday evening with my bosses. They made an exception to open just for the 3 of us!!! I mean, the real deal that all these celebrities experience when they shut down a restaurant just for them to dine. 😁Vlad came in on Tue (his day off) to cook for us, and Yomi was there to do the serving himself - the whole 3 course meal.

The food: Now let’s talk about the food…. You know how you can tell if someone can cook? Ask them to make “efo-riro” 🤓. Their efo riro was out of this world! You will make those sounds you never knew your vocal cords were capable of 😁. The jollof rice, peppered tilapia, plantain, yam fries, small chops, chicken peri-peri, and did I mention the efo riro?! Oh, the efo riro! 😁 were so yummy. My Caucasian and Russian bosses haven’t stopped thanking me for this experience. They even took left overs home to their spouses. Let’s just say I suspect someone might be getting a raise pretty soon 🤪

The restaurant: The restaurant is easy to find just behind Dawson’s market. The inside is very spacious and clean. They have a centred bar area with all the drinks you can think of. The ambience is relaxing and has this high-end classy feel. You won’t regret going there.

Finally, the cherry on the top, Vlad, the chef,...

If it was possible to rate this place a .5 star, I would. The entire experience was terrible from beginning to end. My mother and I went there to celebrate my birthday- a girl’s night if you will. The best part of the night was our comfortable seating in the booth.

We had a reservation and had to wait fifteen minutes to be seated despite that. After we were seated, there was music playing and we had hopes that the wait time was just a fluke. We were sorely wrong; the night continued to go downhill from there. It took about 20 mins for a waiter to help us and take our orders. It took 30 mins to get a simple glass of water, 20 more minutes for my mom to get a glass of wine (which she was overcharged for) and 40 mins for me to get a cocktail. The cocktail was adequate but it was very difficult to order more than one. It took two waiters at least 30 mins to accquire a drink menu and then after that I waited for an hour for a second drink that didn’t come before deciding it wasn’t worth it.

Now on to the food, it was the disastrous. 40 mins after ordering the waiter randomly drops off a complimentary appetizer of plantain chips which was vile. It tasted of sawdust and vibes. On top of taking forever to bring out the appetizers, entree and sides, the food was tasteless. The jollof rice portion was miniscule but the most alarming was how pale the rice was. In confirmation with the paleness of the rice, it was absolutely tasteless. It was as if they had dumped all the pepper at the bottom of the bowl and forgot to mix. The suya was nasueating and not well seasoned. The gizdodo was abominable. I’ve never had plantain that has emotionally upset me. It was very terrible. The only manageable plate of food was the calamari which had a nice aoli.

Now for the ambience. It started off well. The music was nice and recognizable. But then apparently it was events night. Instead if enjoying nice music, it was as if we had been transported to a loud, boisterous market with many speakers trying to sell us nonsensical things. If it wasnt a pidgin game, it was a romance mystery novel, or a raffle. The noise became intolerable especially when our service was so terrible. Definitely would not recommend to anyone or see that...

Decided to try this place one night...happened to be a Sunday night. We walked in and the gentleman at the host stand was reading a book and acted as if we were bothering him by asking for a table. He asked us if we had a reservation. We stared at the completely empty restaurant that could seat 150 people and wondered if he was being serious. Strike one. He then brought out his iPad and wanted our name, our phone number, and our email...presumably to spam us with unwanted marketing. Thankfully, my wife refused to give him anything other than our name. Strike two. He finally closed his book and begrudgingly sat us at a table. I wondered if he wished we would leave so he could go home. We ordered cocktails. Ordered a vodka and soda. Turns out they did not have soda, so they mixed in sprite instead, thinking we would not notice the sugary substitute. Strike three. The food was actually quite good. I'm not African but I can appreciate that it was likely quite authentic, and it would have otherwise been a very pleasant experience if the service was not so horrible. If you want good, authentic African food, go now, because there is no way this place will be in business 6 months from now.....empty restaurant combined with horrible customer service equals a soon to be...