February
seems to be the month for birthdays—five celebrations and counting.
Maybe people born in February are the type of people who like to
celebrate or are the type of people others want to celebrate. Whatever
the case, any excuse for food and cake.
Last
week, I was at Royale Express (not sure about this name…it evokes
trains, train stations and post offices, all not associated with good
food). It is located at the Maitama Amusement Park off IBB Boulevard. In
considering our options for where to go for a birthday dinner party of
seven adults, five children and one baby, we were sold by the idea that
it was new (a.k.a. ‘still undiscovered and eager to serve’) and
spacious.
Royale
Express definitely has space. The restaurant eating area is one long
rectangle; and there is a little waiting area by the door. Also
on the left moving further into the restaurant is an open bar with bar
stools while the seating area takes up the entire right side of the
room. Our tables had been set up opposite the bar with one of those
Chinese screens considerately providing us with some privacy from the
other two diners who were there. Or maybe it was shielding them from us.
Ordering
for a large group can be tiring but that is why appetizers are
necessary. Along with our drinks we had samosas and spring rolls to
nibble on while menu deliberations were going on. Unfortunately, the
spring rolls tasted sour and so were returned to the kitchen garnished
with a few snarky comments. Minus two.
Despite
being one of the last to order just so I could get a sense of what
everyone else was ordering, I still ended up with food envy; that
dining-out related illness where everyone else’s order is better than
yours. We finally got our orders in: two T-bone steaks, five lasagnas,
one plate of grilled prawns, one chicken kebab, one Spaghetti Bolognese,
several side salads and two burgers.
Alas,
the kitchen was short one T-bone steak and the waiters had no clue how
large their lasagna portions were. While ordering, we asked how big the
portions were so we could determine if the kids (five lasagnas) should
share. The waiter said authoritatively that the portions were small.
Let’s just say we went home with doggy bags.
The
Spaghetti Bolognese was excellent. The lucky diner made so much noise
about it that we all had to go round to taste it. So were the prawns
(not enough as usual), T-bone steak and the salads. However, the chicken
kebab (my choice of course) was dry and tasteless just like the
frozen-chips-in-a-bag which came with it. Nothing can beat freshly
peeled and cut Irish potatoes when fried just right. When it’s slightly
crisp on the outside and soft on the inside, it is heaven. As for the
lasagna, while a few came out piping hot through and through, the half I
‘tasted’ was warm on the outside and cold inside…like it had not been
microwaved long enough. Give it a miss – it was obviously not made fresh
and raised the ghosts of the deep pain and suffering I was caused by
days old lasagna served in one Italian restaurant in Wuse 2, a story I
will save for another day.
I
never made it to the restroom but there were no tell-tale dried food on
cutlery and plates, and I never got the urge to rub anything clean
before putting it in my mouth. There is absolutely no ambience to speak
of though, which might be a deliberate ploy to ensure nothing is
competing with the food but it does not even whisper ‘spend hours here
hanging out in comfort’. And it was a shame that the restaurant did not
have any high seats for toddlers…definitely worth an extra two points.
That
said, Royale Express’ management know about making their customers
happy and we appreciated the free crepes and ice-cream for dessert which
were obviously to make up for #SpringRollGate. The food is fairly
affordable and the Maitama Amusement Park has lots of parking and other
bars and restaurants.
Royale Express gets a Drumbelle rating of 16.5 out of 30*
|
Category
|
Score
|
|
Food
|
6/10
|
|
Ambience
|
1/5
|
|
Service
|
3/5
|
|
Affordability
|
3/5
|
|
Sanitation
|
3/5
|
*Each Friday DrumBelle's Diary will visit a different restaurant in Abuja and rate the experience
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