Ox Restaurant And Bar (Victoria Island, Lagos)

31 Kofo Abayomi Street |  09044444454 | Instagram

Ox is a restaurant and bar located in Victoria Island. The décor is pretty, kind of Nordic. They have both outdoor and indoor spaces which makes sense since it’s a lounge. When you walk, in, there’s a lobby with murals, a hallway that leads to the outdoor space, and the door to the indoor space is on the right. There are beautiful murals on the wall, however, the decor seems mismatched, they couldn’t seem to be able to decide between Nordic or Pan-African.

I really liked the wooden slats with the light and how they interact. They sort of reminded me of the Northern lights.

There was music playing in the background which was nice too.

When you walk into the indoor space, there’s a bar directly opposite the door, and the entire left wall was made of glass; which lets in lots of natural light. Unfortunately, it was not a very sunny day, it had rained earlier, so I didn’t get much of that light. I was seated at a table for two, facing the left wall.

I heard someone speaking (quite loudly) from above and I looked up and saw that there’s also a lounge area upstairs, with another mural on the ceiling. Pretty.

It was pretty hot though, which was unpleasant. True to their name, there was a lot of ox/bull elements in the décor; I wouldn’t have expected any less.

The menu was a mounted barcode on the table, of course. You can find the menu here.

STARTER AND DRINK

I started with Yam Fingers which cost ₦4,200 and a mocktail called Rosemary Buds, which also cost  ₦4,200.
They arrived on time, just five minutes after I ordered. The drink was really sweet, but I have a massive sweet tooth, so I quite enjoyed it. The dominant flavour was pineapple. I didn’t really taste much else until I got to the bottom and tasted the soda they had used. The flavours were layered, which was nice.  It was a well-made mocktail.

The yam came with two sauces. One chilli sauce and a cheddar cheese one. The chilli was better, obviously. Although I might be biased because I like pepper and I don’t like cheese. I don’t think cheese belongs with yam. Sue me!
The yam was well made, crispy on the outside and soft on the inside. It was sweet, the way new yam often is. I enjoyed this.

MAIN
When the waiter brought my starter and drink, he didn’t come back to ask if I’d decided on the main. When I was finally able to get his attention, I ordered fish and chips, which was ₦9,500 on the menu on their Instagram Page. However, when placing my order it cost ₦11,500 (they need to update their Instagram menu with the new prices). The fish and chips took much longer than my starter, about 35 minutes.

The music got louder as it got darker. This was distracting, but it’s a lounge so I guess they were prepping for the night. The fish and chips finally arrived and it was not impressive at all. Plating: ZERO!
It came with vegetables but I guess they were supposed to act as a bed for the fish coz I didn’t see them until I dug in. This dish was absolutely not worth ₦11,500.

I didn’t like the fish. The crust seemed to contain too much bullion seasoning. That’s what it tasted like. The vegetables were nice, adequate spice, adequate crunch.

The service could have been better, the person attending to me seemed irritated and was not as attentive as he could have been.

Ox Restaurant And Bar Summary

	Ambience	It is pretty nice, with murals on the walls and elements of oxen decor.
	Food Quality	The chips were a tad too salty for my taste. The bites of fish tasted better with the vegetables: zucchini, carrots, and broccoli.
	Location	Easy to find. Adequate parking
	Price	Pricing is $$ Total damage came to ₦19,900 Yam fingers – ₦4,200 Mocktail – ₦4,200 Fish and chips – ₦11,500 View Restaurant Menus here
	Service Delivery	Less than ideal. My waiter abandoned me at some point and I almost had to beg for the bill. (4/10)

Have you been to Ox Restaurant and Bar? What was your experience like? Tell us about it in the comments.

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