Nok, a dining destination in its own right can be found at the rear of luxury concept store, Alara, annexed to an outdoor space with a kaleidoscope of colours.

 

The chic black walls in the indoor restaurant serve as a canvas for contemporary African art whilst basket chandeliers hang elegantly from the ceiling. There’s a tiny bar space within the restaurant where you can perch for a drink ahead of your lunch / brunch / dinner reservation. Yes, do make a booking for dinner in the weekdays and at the weekend for sure.

If you want authentic naija jollof, this is not your jam. Senegalese chef, Pier Thiam, a pioneer of  ‘Modern African’ dining, designed the menu. He’s put a spin on a number of traditional dishes from across Africa, playing with familiar ingredients but presenting them in fairly nontraditional ways.

 

We ummed and aahed over the menu, there was lots we wanted to try. Somehow we got co-erced into ordering the Chicken Piri Piri (₦4500) - wish we'd stuck with our instinct and skipped  this - completely inoffensive but just rather unmemorable. The "Red-Red" Beans Stew with Steamed Plantain and ugwu (spinach) on the otherhand was rich and delightful and the serving is very generous, a great option for vegetarians /vegans; though if you're not a fan of oil in your food, you might want to pass on this.

 

Cocktails shouldn't be liquid sugar but pretty much everywhere we've been seems to think that it should be including Nok - The Dre Beets, The Gidi Scent. Personally, we'd just stick to spirits and mixers.

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Can we talk about the desserts for a minute? The Agege Toast with Soursop Jam & Vanilla Ice Cream (₦3,000) - massive thumbs up. The Chocolate Tart with Salted Caramel & Baobab Ice Cream (₦4,000) - simply sublime - moist, decadent but not sickly sweet and the ice cream is just velvety deliciousness.

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They need to fix their aircon situation indoors; the flies are a major bane but we imagine there isn't a whole lot they can do about that.

 

There's a range of levels of waiters / waitresses, from newbies to experienced. Our waiter was impressive, well versed on the offerings and delightfully charming. He'd clearly tried the meals and had a point of view on them or perhaps he was just a convincing actor who'd learnt his script well but we doubt that. So, yes, It's possible to have well trained front of house staff; Lagos restaurants, abeg INVEST in your people. Sure, they may jump ship to a rival restaurant for more money but if you have that mentality, your customer service will never thrive. Rant over.

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The outdoor garden has a separate menu - it's grill focused. The jerk chicken wings are good and the suya (both beef and chicken) is another solid option. The goat eaters amongst us dug the sliders. The Kelewele (seasoned fried plantain) was fine. The jollof rice? Don't bother.The Nok Garden Mezze is an easy option that would please many and is decent value for money, though we've just realised they never served us the Grilled Wara Cheese...

 

This leads us nicely to the service, the lady who attended to us just seemed put out and irritable. Let's just say the indoor and outdoor service don't tally. 

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Nok is not fine dining nor is it wildly experimental. It's comforting food taken from various parts of Africa, passed through a slightly alternative lens and plated nicely. It's offering up 'Modern African' eats in a chic, cool setting with service (indoors) that's of an international standard.

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We are napkin, menu and toilet fascists. We also don't want to spend 2hrs waiting for our food.

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Napkins: proper napkins, yay (side note, their crockery is banging)

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Menus: simple refined paper menus, some a little tired and could do with a reprint but overall a thumbs up.

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Toilet: the indoor toilets are good. The outdoor ones a little rickety; could do with a spruce up 
 

Wait time: reasonable