CASPER & GAMBINI’S

I’m beginning to think the restaurant business in Lagos is one of the great cake walks in the global hospitality industry. Is there anywhere in the world restaurateurs are having it this easy? Yes, here, there are skilled staff challenges, there are the g

Casper & Gambini’s is currently Victoria Island’s restaurant hot ticket. Its new, fresh, everybody’s talking about it, everybody wants to go there (and some people want to be seen there) A global brand with restaurants all over the Middle East, Lagos is one of its first forays into Africa and no doubt a welcome addition. Located on Agoro Odiyan, off Adeola Odeku, bang in the middle of the business district, it’s a very interesting space that crosses between a restaurant and a café. Now that we have gotten the statistics out of the way, now to the meat of the review:

DESIGN

The restaurant cannot be missed. That is to say you cannot drive or walk by it without at least noticing it or at most, staring. It is definitely an architectural treat. It is walled by glass which has natural light streaming in during the day for those indoors and for passer’s bys at night, can see the goings on inside the restaurant with its mood lighting.

AMBIENCE / DÉCOR

Its décor is not quite minimalist and largely to my eye unresolved. It seemed as if the interior designer was torn between going for marbles and rock to cover the floor level of the restaurant, and then ended up going for both with a result that made my eyes water and not in a good way. The design on the floor is sort of compensated for by the ceiling which is marked by metal bars affixed with bulbs. But because the rocks are so dark and the interior colour is a very broody grey, the lights up ahead don’t do much for the room itself, not during the day at least. So the ambience was to me slightly cave-like which wasn’t helped by the fact the waiters were also wearing a dull, uninspiring grey.

SERVICE

It is hard to associate this word with this restaurant and I would lying if I did and you know where our Sunday School teachers taught us about where liars go…

I got to the restaurant on a busy Sunday around brunch time with three friends and it took a while to get a table. This I can surely understand and I was fairly impressed that a restaurant could be packed so full. You know, economy being hard and all that jazz.

We finally got a table after about fifteen minutes. It took about another twenty for the menus to come. This was very confusing as waiters were darting around the restaurant but it seemed for some reason that we were invisible. The restaurant was mostly packed full of expatriate families, at the time.

When one waiter finally deigned to bring us a menu, he forgot to bring along with it an apology. He started taking orders, and I, at this time, considerably stuffed with dissatisfaction, asked how long the food would take. He confidently announced that it would take 20 minutes. The food arrived 47 minutes after he left our table.

FOOD

What this place lacks in service, it makes up for in food. Two of my friends had the Chicken & Spinach salad, one had Prawn Suya and I had a Maghuerita Pizza. Conversation slowed down considerably during the meal and one friend’s plate was wiped clean literally within minutes of the waiter dropping it on the table. My pizza was thin-crusted, incredibly well-sauced perfection and has made me swear off fast food pizza a la Domino’s etc. It was really that good. I sampled my friend’s dishes. The prawn suya was a tad too crunchy but delicious. The chicken and spinach salad was very well-seasoned and was layered with surprises. Also, to note, the restaurant’s food presentation is stellar. It demands a few minutes of appreciation before digging in and a shot of guilt for doing so, disrupting something that looks so perfect. MENU: A bit of everything really, mostly Continental Cuisine. DAMAGE: Average (one-course) meal with drinks costs N5, 500

RECOMMENDATION

• Go for Dinner on a Weekday (Monday maybe?) they apparently don’t do very well with rush hour brunch, weekday break lunch, weekends, or any other time when a restaurant should be busy.

• Enjoy the food without the poor service experience and ORDER TAKE-OUT

VERDICT: Three Stars.