Sabor

14 Adeola Hopewell Street, Victoria Island, Lagos.

0818 894 0000

Sabor is fairly new entrant in the restaurant space in Lagos but the location is not that new. The word ‘Sabor’ is Spanish but its not a Spanish restaurant. The occupant of this space used to be 411 which I visited sometime then and it was just there but was always empty and at some point was DV8 Restaurant and Bar and that died a slow death too. This is above Nitro club which has undergone several name changes since 2003 when it used to be A-Bar (those who know, know). I remember this so well because of Prom Night (lol)

When Sabor popped up on my social feeds, I was excited to see that Chef Nkesi was part of the team. I mean, her food is so so good and only expected that this would be a fair comparison to her first baby – HSE Gourmet.

So the bae and I called and made reservations for our birthday here and arrived at 7.30pm and perused the menu for a bit and eventually placed our orders at 7.47pm and in 20 minutes our food was served.

The Space is really neat, compact and pretty and minimalist is clearly the theme they were going for and it works. What I really like is the ceiling.

Now lets talk about the menu for a bit. I appreciate when restaurants face what they know how to do best and not attempt being a jack of all trades by lumping up all sorts of cuisine. A quick glance at the menu and one could easily tell it was limited and focused. 6 starters, 8 mains, 2 burgers and 4 sides – Simple and short!

For the edibles, ordered the Blackened Baby Chicken and Mash & the BBQ Pork Ribs also with Mash

Blackened Baby Chicken with Mashed Potatoes and a Medley of Vegetables

The Mash is perfect! The gravy is also really tasty and the blend of the vegetables with avocados worked really well today. No complaints here at all. The Chicken was a different taste for me and was super super tasty.

Blackened Baby Chicken (N7,300)

BBQ Pork Ribs

The Pork Ribs was not disappointing too and the spicy tartar sauce was good. The only snag with the ribs was that it wasn’t as tender and didn’t fall off the bone easily but it was not tough. I guess it was just firm enough not to scatter I guess. It was just perfect to eat with the hands – no time for fork and knife for this. Cleared our plates nicely!

BBQ Pork RIbs (N8,250)

Drinks

For drinks, you can choose from cocktails, to wines, juices and soft drinks – which is what everyone does but its now a question of how extensive the drinks menu is. At Sabor, it’s a limited drinks menu as well which may or may not be expanded over time.

We ordered good ol’ Chapman and the Rosemary Gin Fizz. The Chapman was quite basic and the Gin Fizz was lovely – not too strong with the Gin base and just right. I probably should drink more and explore more with drinks right?

Chapman

Almond Nut Brownie – Best Dessert at Sabor

For dessert, it was just sinful. The type of food sin that takes you back to day 1 of a diet or fitness regime. We had the Almond Nut Brownie with Caramel Sauce and Two Scoops of Ice Cream! It was the Bomb!!! Its so filling and it would be greed for one person to eat alone trust me. You certainly want to share that jedi jedi round I tell you.

Almond Nut Brownie

Final Thoughts

Chef Nkesi and her team certainly did a good job at Sabor. From the décor, to the food, to the staff, very well done. The staff were not loitering and were not all over the place unlike some places in Lagos where its almost like they are hurrying you to leave (lol). Totally loved our experience here and we will definitely go back to try out other things on the menu. If I was to give a score over 10, I’d say an 8/10.

	Ambience	It is memorable and has a cool tone to it
	Food Quality	Really tasty and not one to forget in a hurry
	Location	The parking is limited in the actual space itself but street parking is available but the street is really busy
	Price	Blackened Baby Chicken – ₦7,300 • BBQ Pork Ribs Kebab – ₦8,250 Rosemary Gin Fizz – ₦3,000 • Chapman – ₦2,000 Almond Nut Brownie – ₦4,000
	Service Delivery	Courteous staff, good timing and good service in general