Hard Rock Cafe Lagos

Plot No 3 & 4, Block XVI, Water Corporation Road, VI, Landmark Village

0908 198 8888

Finally went to Hard Rock Cafe, Lagos (“HRC”) which started operations in December, 2015  on Valentine’s Day and surprisingly even though we did not make a reservation, it was not as busy as we thought and so we did not have to wait in line – Yay. FIL was quite late to the party (2 months late which aint bad) but quite glad that Lagos got its very own Hard Rock Cafe and hopefully this might pave the way for other brands to come here *fingers crossed*. First thought was wow this place is huge with really high ceilings and in looks and all that efizzi like the HRC’s  I’d been to in Europe.

Now looking at the menu, HRC has a variety of drinks and shakes while for food, the menu is limited to Starters, Salads, Burgers, Sandwiches, Entrèes and Sides (French Fries, Onion Rings, Twisted Mac and Cheese and Smashed Potatoes). Did not bother with Starters and went straight for the mains. Initially thought I’d have preferred to have their Steak instead but the price quoted did not make sense to me for a range of ₦8,200 – ₦9,400

                                                       Love the Stairs – quite video shoot ready…

Instead, I ordered the Herb Grilled Chicken which is Two (2) boneless chicken breasts marinated with fresh herbs, garlic and pure olive oil, grilled on top of smashed potatoes with fresh vegetables, oven roasted mushrooms and light chicken gravy – Whew! You just gotta love how these places describe their meals, you just begin to salivate instantly really. So imagine how I felt after reading that! haha!

For drinks, went with their ‘Alternative Rock’ with a Wildberry Smoothie – A Frozen Delight of Fresh Bananas, Pina Colada Mix, Orange Juice and Monin Raspberry and later on had a ‘Lovely Rita’. The Lovely Rita aka Strawberry Margarita was quite nice but strong enough to leave you buzzing. As for the smoothie, it was just alright.

Funny story here.My date however is kinda a fish person. I don’t like fish that much except its Grilled Catfish or Tilapia and the likes. Anyways, on the menu it was listed as ‘Jollof Rice & Spicy Sauce’ served with either of the following three options – Grilled Caribbean Chicken, Grilled Fish or Grilled Shrimp’. I was sure I heard him ask for the Grilled Carribean Chicken with Fries instead of the Jollof Rice (and I was wondering why he didn’t opt for Fish but little did we know that they know his natural preference…)

I mean, the way Nigerians take Jollof Rice seriously, it is not something you would want to attempt trial and error with at a place like HRC where the specialty is clearly not J.Rice so safer option was Fries.

My food came at the speed of light literally as order was placed at 5.51 pm and got it at 6.11 pm (under 20 minutes) but his food was lost and then we asked our waiter where his meal was and when she eventually brought his meal, it was (a) Not Chicken (b) It did not taste like chicken (c) Presentation was quite poor (d) It was apparently fish (e) It did not look like fish (f) for the price quoted, it was ridiculous for ₦5,800 (g) The kitchen had run out of chicken and we were not informed

                                                       This does not look like Fish and Chips nah!

We tasted the ‘Fish’ only to realise it was not Chicken and he was not having that! So they asked that he chose something else and placed a new order for the Classic Club Sandwich – Toasted Sliced Bread Layered With Rich Mayonnaise, Iceberg Lettuce, Tomato, Smoked Pork Bacon and Thinly Sliced Grilled Chicken (I really love these descriptions mahn!)

I really liked the Grilled Chicken and it made sense but His didn’t despite the change in order as he described the sandwich as being ‘just there’. I guess to compensate us for the wrong order, we weren’t charged for the sandwich as well. We moved on to dessert hoping it could make up for the disappointment of his meal and looking at the price range, we were like errr this much for dessert?

We ordered the Carrot Cake (I love love Carrot Cake) and the Cheesecake made with Oreo Cookie Pieces and boy the pieces were huge (I guess thats why its the price it is then) but again what else did we expect for an American restaurant? 🙂

We could not finish the cakes and packed it with us to go and I had mine with Tea the day after.

Thoughts

Ambience: Its beautiful. Love the high ceilings, the decor and the beach/water front seating area outside. Its also well spaced with a lovely bar

Food Quality:  Major points for the herb grilled chicken. The mash was creamy smooth and light. The sandwich was not so great – bleh

Location: Very easy to find as it is located in the same space as Landmark Event Centre and there is enough car park space.

Price: HRC has some funny charges that are slipped into the bill and honestly I still don’t understand the rationale for all those taxes. Total food cost was ₦ 14,666 and Total Damage inclusive of VAT of 5%, Service Tax and Service Charge – ₦ 17,599

Herb Grilled Chicken – ₦ 5,800

Oreo Cheesecake: ₦ 3,300

Carrot Cake: ₦ 3,300

Lovely Rita: ₦ 2,000

Wildberry Smoothie: ₦ 1,800

Pepsi: ₦ 500

Service Delivery: Besides the mix up of His order, I was quite happy with the timing of my meal. The waiter was courteous and was quite apologetic about the mix up. HRC is a pretty neat space and also suitable for larger parties/group outings and general vibe is great.

HRC is opened from 12pm – 12am for the restaurant and the bar is opened till 1.30am