With West African-inspired flavours and British ingredients under a roof of minimalist fine dining, Ikoyi may not be authentic, but it’s puzzlingly innovative
Restaurant criticism, a little like black pudding, does not benefit from close scrutiny as to its beginnings. How I choose which restaurants to sprinkle my own brand of fairy dust on is the question I’m asked most, but the answer rarely pleases. It’s complex, fickle, flighty.
Ikoyi, for example, named after an affluent district of Lagos, has pirouetted around my “should go” list for at least six months, tumbling downwards into the “distracted by shinier, newer things” pile, before rallying upwards again via another food scenester’s tip. People who love food, or rather the food scene, have certainly taken to Ikoyi.
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