The Freshly Ground Coffee Co.

17B Awolowo Road, Ikoyi, Lagos

0802 208 8021, 0809 0977 913

Happy new month guys! Sorry for being MIA but we back! You can connect with us via Instagram which is always live so follow on there if you aren’t. It seems Awolowo road in Ikoyi seems to have some hidden and not so hidden spots and accidentally stumbled upon The Freshly Ground Coffee Co.

At first glance, it looks like an abandoned building with loads of space or more like a ghost town with minor construction work ongoing. The major building has faded paint and the only reason one can tell there’s something going on in there is the signage that reads ‘Freshly ground – Café – Bistro – Bar – Grill’ at the entrance.

Spacious…

Freshly ground is located in a bungalow just behind the ghost building with visibly bright painting and its very lovely outdoor seating area which will be more conducive for evenings since the sun is not smiling. Initially  I had assumed the Café was a fancy coffee house if not for the signage which read that it was a Café, Bistro, Bar & Grill (CBBG for short abeg) and I was super delighted to see the products of one our Food Fair Vendors – Kaldi Africa’s Coffee beans on the tables.

Lately I’ve been avoiding fizzy drinks so its all about water, juices or smoothies and went with the Juicy Smoothie at Freshly Ground. Sadly, the menu did not spell out what fruits the juices were made of so I had to ask. Can’t seem to recall what the waiter said when I asked for a smoothie and she said they didn’t have plain smoothies and recommended the ‘Juicy Smoothie’ – a mix between juices and smoothies. This had passion fruits, orange, pineapples & grapes.

Alas! I understood the concept of the juicy smoothie when I had finished it and realised it was the smoothie left once the juice was gone. It was lovely btw.

For mains, ordered the beef burger with cheese  and spicy chicken wings but the waiter came back 15 minutes later with “Sorry ma, no Chicken Burger” so I asked for Beef Burger just in case the Chicken was the Prablem. Then she came back with “there is no bread” -_- But bread is so basic… So I then asked for Jumbo Prawns and response was “No Jumbo Prawns ma just 150g Prawns’. At that point I gave up though the waiter was quite lovely but its quite annoying when simple items on the menu aren’t available. After much thought, ordered what was available – the grilled chicken breast with lemon butter sauce (other choices available – mushroom sauce/spicy chilli sauce/black pepper sauce/rosemary sauce), parsley potatoes and steamed veggies.

The spicy chicken wings were out of the kitchen in 20 minutes BUT it was not spicy which I didn’t mind because I actually love pepper but instead it was sorta sweet-ish. The wings had this underlying freezer taste… I don’t even know again, tried the remaining pieces and the story was the same. Then there was some powder which I suspect to be cinnamon sprinkled round the plate and was irritating to my nose and made me sneeze quite a lot.

The wings were on a bed of green veg which were quite bitter but when mixed with the chilli thingy on the wings, it was Lit but the Wings itself were so basic and just there. Not bad but just there and not OMG-worthy if you get me. For the mains, this was out of the kitchen in 20 mins from the point of ordering and smelt soooo soooo good.

I really liked the lemon butter with the potatoes and reminded me of my childhood days when I’d have butter with yam – delicious. The chicken however didn’t seem well grilled as it was quite touch to cut up. The potatoes were well done. All in all, it was not a bad experience. Just wished most items on the menu were available and more effort went into the description of the juices. Next time, I’ll go in the evening and sit in the lovely area outside and have a shisha or two

Matrix	Meaning	Comment
	Ambience	Modern setting with loads of space which will be very ideal for birthdays and small gatherings. The cute outdoor seating is 10/10
	Food Quality	The Spicy Chicken Wings were not actually spicy and had a freezer like taste. The chilli sauce of the wings was really good though. The grilled chicken wasn’t well grilled and was a bit tough but the potatoes were awesome
	Location	The location is at the tail end of Awolowo Road which is not so noticeable and the ghost looking buildings don’t help. On the upside, there is good parking space here
	Price	Juicy smoothie – ₦1,200 Grilled Chicken Breast and Potatoes – ₦3,500
	Service Delivery	The service was awesome and staff were extremely pleasant. I’d go back here solely for this