Third Time, Best Charm (Noir, Lagos)

Remember the third experience I mentioned in My Noir experience?

It has happened and I am totally charmed!

I’m going to tell this story in reverse mode because I understand that some of you only care about the food and this post offers more…..

For last, we shared a carrot cake just because our stomachs were extremely filled up but our throats needed to be dessert-ified. A very indulgent plate of yummy moist cake with rich velvety icing and a scoop of smooth (not too sweet) ice cream…..simple yet exquisite!

Mains….

So this is what I originally ordered for…..Lamb Chops. I really just wanted meat. But it came and the size scared me. Actually I knew there was wahala (Trouble in Nigerian Pidgin English) when they brought me special cutlery…..

The way 007’s eyes litt up as he looked at this lamb dish made me realize this was his thing and as luck would have it, his order was more my thing so we switched….

Now mine….Grilled Prawns served with Bok choy, Potatoes and Bouillabaisse. Guys, this was an emotional moment for me. Anyone that knows me well knows that I am obsessed with two places I have actually never been to, France and Cape Town, South Africa. This stew hit the French love button and also gave me Julia Child (French Cuisine Chef) chills….the happy kind of chiils. It was my first time having Bouillabaisse (French cuisine: fish based stew) so I’m not going to say “oooo it was cooked to perfection”, I don’t even know how it should taste traditionally but for my tastebuds, it was magnifique! You have to be a seafood lover to appreciate it though. Of course I can talk about the prawns which were “grilled to perfection” *laughs*, potatoes….well done and the baby corns had that beautiful crunch (funny story, I can’t stand mature corn).

One green I have never tried is bok choy and Food Network show Chopped has taught me that it has a “slightly” bitter taste. I was not about to risk meddling any form of bitterness with such goodness so I left it untouched.

 007 was very in love with his meal, it came with a bowl of rice and he hardly said anything till he cleaned his plate up, it’s a shame I forgot to take a picture. But I was allowed a tiny serving at the beginning…..

I am quite sure that you can tell how tender the lamb was just by looking at this picture so I won’t bother goshing about it. The sauce was interesting, a peas and eggplant mash with a healthy dose of mint. My short experience with this dish was definitely 💯, highly recommended for meat lovers!

Starters….

I had smoked salmon in orange vinaigrette….The eating experience of this dish right here was as beautiful as the look…..

I tried to make layers….Crusty French bread, chunk of smoked salmon, spinach leaf, spoonful of smooth avocado purée topped with microgreens dressed in the orange vinaigrette. The result was a very fun yum bite!

I’m definitely not the biggest fan of capers….

007 had the Marie-Rose Shrimp Cocktail which I believe was served more pretty but someone was too hungry to wait for me to tour the salad bar….

I ended up not trying anything from this bar because….gluttony would have been the case.

You should know that I chose for us to sit here because the floors oozed subtle monochromality (which I’m loving these days) and the lady in that painting. Look at her eyes, do you see tears or simple blue eyes? I see tears. Before then, I had gone over to another intriguing art section….

These four were definitely on some serious journey and I wanted to be part of it so I got one of waiters to to photograph me with them….

Staring at this picture, I was reminded of those cage fights I see wrestlers do on TV so Nope nope, journey cancelled, some of us only know how to eat. My photographer must have seen how excited I was because he decided to show me “something I would I like”, he ran off to get a key and walked me up to the terrace I didn’t even know existed.

Just as I was thinking that this would be perfect for smoking guests, he showed me the exact thing he thought I would like….the wall!

I picked every word except “sing”, my singing voice is liable to give headaches.

At this time, hunger had crept up on me so I went back to my seat to study the menu….

Errrr looks like I skipped one part….the journey from the terrace back to my seat. The paintings I had passed on my way up were actually like a reverse mirage on my way down. They looked like a bunch of colors but they were actually a mother and her child….

Indulging, I tell you!

Before now, we got our bread basket and drinks.

I can’t remember the name of our drinks, not even sure they had names, we both just wanted sweet vodka based drinks and we didn’t regret our choice.

Now, let’s go back to the beginning…..

I got a message from Noir, Lagos saying thanks for the last review and all which hardly ever happens, a lot of restaurants think food bloggers just want free food forgetting that when we want to write about them, they don’t even know who we are or when we come…..one reason I love back portraits (let’s see how you recognize me *hehe*). So yes, I got to text back and forth with this person through instagram dms and she seemed so passionate about the restaurant and food in general. We finally agreed that I had to come in a third time because apparently I had not explored the restaurant to the fullest.

The next thursday,  I dragged 007 to lunch. As a usual fine diner, his opinion would matter to me. We arrived at about 2pm and I was double impressed at the door, we had two people to welcome us, one stayed back and the other walked us to the perfect table.

I asked for my Instagram friend who turned out to be the owner, Marie Louis….a dainty and graceful lady….I will be sharing a back portrait of her soon. We got talking about my last visit and I was made to understand that the Noir specials were actually appetizers so No, my escargots portion wasn’t small. She further explained that the salmon that we felt was dry was actually pan-fried and meant to be crisp on the outside. And I explained that as a typical Nigerian who has to buy salmon really expensive in my country, I never imagined that it was ever cooked in a different way apart from the TLC way *laughs*. We both agreed that their waiters need to explain the dishes well to customers in order for us to understand what we are ordering.

In all, I was very impressed with my third visit, definitely another instagrammable spot in Lagos. And yes….another delight….the music was very light and French. 007 was also sold and began mentioning the friends he couldn’t wait to bring here.

On our way out, we went into the supermarket on the ground floor (I mentioned this in the first post)….007 was in love with the #fitfam section.

Apparently, some of the items here are things he thought he could only find abroad.

I was more interested in this…..

Only those who visit will understand!

As we finally left the building, I caught a glimpse of the heart of Noir…..

Thankfully, I had taken a picture there earlier…..

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