The Mysterious Lecker CafePosted by Nosa O on March 01, 2018Lecker Cafe 5A Tokunbo Omisore Street, Lekki Phase One, Lagos. NOSA: European expats haven’t left much of a dent on the Lagos dining scene. Actually, non-Indian/Lebanese expats haven’t left much of a dent at all. You could perhaps explain it by attributing it to the transient nature of their stay in Lagos. You’d have a point too, but that doesn’t make it any disappointing. FOLLY: I'd say it has to do with when they came to Nigeria and Africa but they've been colonizers for a minute now so that doesn't explain it. I think it's probably has to do with their seasoning style and African tastes and I'm going to leave it at that. NOSA:This disappointment is why I was particularly overjoyed when I found out there was a place in Lekki serving German food. FOLLY: I wasn't disappointed oh. NOSA: Now, I’ve never had German food so I can’t verify it’s authenticity. Neither has Folly, also. This didn’t stop us from talking about the food like some experts, however. I mean, that’s the very premise of this blog. Lecker was pretty empty when we got in. Empty like there was no light and the waiter was gisting outside. That type of empty. FOLLY: I was impressed that it was a real restaurant because I was so sure the Instagram account was an exaggeration and it wasn't really a place. This was because both times we tried to visit, they were mysteriously closed. 
Crunchy Chicken Wings NOSA: The menu was a bit too extensive for me. Ok, maybe not extensive, but just full of things I wasn’t interested in. I came for German food so 5 pages of not-German food was not appealing to me. FOLLY: I agree. The menu was one of those that had too much of "everything else". NOSA: We started with the Crunchy Wings. When restaurants are this empty, they usually don’t have a lot of menu items available. Don’t know if it’s by design, but it’s something we’ve observed. At Lecker Cafe, the entire appetizer section, sauf chicken wings, was unavailable like Uber when they promise Krispy Kreme donuts. FOLLY: We also had to substitute the coleslaw for fries. NOSA: It also took forever to come out, but when it did, it was well worth it. The wings were pretty excellent but super expensive. 
FOLLY: The pricey-ness of it was really apparent to me because both Wingsville and Wings N' Sides serve a comparable portion of wings for about half the price. That said, neither of these places makes crunchy wings half as good as Lecker's did. NOSA: I could also almost taste the percentage of the price going to rent. Minus the price, the lack of napkins on the table was slightly annoying. I know I said the wings were great, but they were not finger licking great. Can I, at least, clean up after myself? FOLLY: Ah yes, we had to ask a couple of times to get those. 
Jaeger Schnitzel mit Spaetzle od. Pommes u.Garten salat NOSA: If the appetizer took forever, the mains took almost an eternity. By the time Folly got her food, I was already done with mine. And I waited quite a bit before I started eating. FOLLY: I imagined that their kitchen just has one person who is both prepping and cooking. That can be the only reason for the delay - except they had to do a quick errand to Ebaeno for ingredients. NOSA: For my main, I ordered the chicken escalope - basic entry level stuff. It came with some German dumplings, which tasted like pancake batter, and the crunchiest vegetables. The name on the menu is a bit of a mouthful - Jaeger Schnitzel mit Spaetzle od. Pommes u.Garten salat 
Chicken Escalope NOSA: My main took me by complete surprise. I didn’t expect it to be as good as it was. The dumplings get tiresome after a while, but the chicken was so great. Seasoned to perfection. FOLLY: I don't often order chicken escalope but from what I observe/taste from Nosa's plate they usually just have a similar creamy sauce. I really liked the unique spicy spin Lecker had with their creamy sauce. The menu described it as Hunter's sauce. 
Rosemary Garlic Lamp Chops FOLLY: Everything was going so well until my meal arrived. NOSA: The Rosemary Garlic Lamb Chops, with potato gratin and ratatouille, from the other side of the menu. The non-German stuff. 
Potato Gratin FOLLY: The ratatouille was the only thing I enjoyed about this. Oh, the rosemary garlic herb rub was also pretty legit but it sucked that it was so chewy. The potato gratin was no good. It was pretty dry and had way too much egg than butter or cheese. NOSA: The lamb chops were so goddamn chewy. And the thing didn’t even come with a steak knife. If you know you’re going to serve rubber, at least be helpful. FOLLY: Everything was going so well until my meal arrived. The ratatouille was the only thing I enjoyed about this. Oh, the rosemary garlic herb rub was also pretty legit but it sucked that it was so chewy. The potato gratin was no good. It was pretty dry and had way too much egg than butter or cheese. POSTSCRIPT FOLLY: A bit pricey but it was a good experience minus the wait time the tough lamb chops. NOSA: A "Yes" from me. Avoid the non-German stuff. VERDICT 
DAMAGE Chicken Escalope - N5200 Crunch Chicken Wings - N3850 Rosemary Garlic Lamb Chops - N7000
PARKING Street parking available. |