Hello August! Welcome to my very first blog post for the month of August. I’m super excited for this one because I got to try out a restaurant that has been on my list for a while now and also catch up with a friend. I mean, talk about good vibes August am I right! Before we get down to all the juicy details, I just wanna wish all my readers a blissful new month. It has been 7 months of consistency and I’m super proud of myself and thankful to everyone who reads, likes or supports my blog in one way or the other.
Now to the Jist of the day, Taj Bistro! Taj Bistro is an open kitchen restaurant located at NO 1 Atabara street, off Kampala street, Wuse 2, Abuja. It is a breakfast, brunch, lunch, dinner and bar spot that is open from 9am – 12pm daily.
The restaurant is one that has been open for quite some time now but I have always avoided it because of the amount bad reviews I’ve heard about the place. I finally decided to check it out myself because I a few engagements there and here’s all you need to know about Taj! (The good and the bad…lol)
Ambience
It is beautiful! Honestly, the restaurant space is really beautiful. From the entrance, it gives quite the impression to it’s guests. There’s a beautiful neon sign that says ‘Taj’ decorated with flowers which makes it quite an attractive picture spot. The restaurant is quite spacious and accommodating. It features a bar, shisha lounge and an open kitchen. This means that you get a direct view of the restaurant kitchen while you dine. The open kitchen is one of the largest in an Abuja restaurant. It is really cool! The restaurant can take up to 25-30 guests at once. The also have provision for special events reservations.
Pictures at Taj!
The restaurant is definitely one of the top instagrammable spots in Abuja. I had to get a couple of pictures of my friend even though he was extremely shy.
Shisha Lounge
The shisha lounge is a secluded area in the restaurant for customers who would like to chill and have a smoke. It is beautifully decorated and has large see through windows which give you a view of the city. The windows can be opened for fresh air while the customers smoke and can also be closed and transformed into a cozy indoor space. The shisha lounge decor is so beautiful and can totally pass as a cute little cafe on its own.
The Menu
The restaurant menu offers a lot of food and drink options which are mostly pricey. I love that the restaurant menu is descriptive so it gives the customer an insight on what they are about to order. The budget for this restaurant is about N10 – N15,000 per person.
Now here’s what I did not like. Due to inflation there have been some price changes which affected the pricing of the menu and the management deemed it fit to effect the changes with a correction fluid pen rather than just print a new menu. This was highly disappointing, most especially coming from a supposed fine/standard restaurant.
Food & Drinks
My friend and I had some pretty different reservations about what we wanted to eat. I opted for one of the breakfast options and he got something from the main menu. We ended up having Nutella and banana French toast, tea selection flavour box, Thai special chicken fried rice & Fresh orange juice.
Nutella Banana french Toast – N5,500
It was a hit! I enjoyed every bit of it. The Nutella and banana French toast was plated beautifully and in a very minimalistic way which I loved. I had initially expected the French toast to be served plain with a side of Nutella that I can drizzle on the toast but it came differently. Each toast was spread with Nutella and it was great. The French toast was soft, warm and not soggy. It also had a nice cinnamon flavour added to it which made it bang. Although I loved the French toast, I couldn’t help but feel it was a little bit over priced.
Thai special chicken/shrimp fried rice – N6,000
the fired rice was very colourful and packed with many delicious ingredients. It was served in acute bowl. and was quite appealing to the eyes. My first initial thought was, where’s the rest of it? This is because the portion was really small for N6,000 and a main dish. The rice was tasty, the ingredients were rightly apportioned to the rice so we enjoyed it. The rice had a sweet and savoury taste because of the pineapple added to it. The rice portion was barely satisfying so I’d advice that if you’re ordering it, you pair it with something else to get a satisfying meal.
Shortly after we had the Thai special fried rice (with chicken), my sister ordered the same thing and her own dish was not very tasteful. It was partly burnt and the rice was very dry. This left some very questionable thoughts in my head as to the meal consistency of the restaurant.
Tea selection Flavor box – N2,000
After selecting this option from the menu, I was given a range of quality tea boxes to make a choice from. I chose the cinnamon and apple tea box and it was very nice. It was served in a beautiful tea pot set with honey (my choice) for taste. You can have your tea with sugar or sweetener if you’d like. I did not regret my selection at all, I very much loved the tea and the cute aesthetic that came with it.
Orange Juice – N2,700
The orange juice was freshly squeezed and served in a nice, adequate portion.
TOTAL BILL – NGN18,225 (incl 7.5% VAT & 5% service charge)
General Review
I had swell time at Taj! I enjoyed the beauty and serenity of the space while catching up with my friend. The service was great and I mostly enjoyed the food. However, I feel like there should be a few tweaks here and there to make the restaurant better than it is. The restaurant really doesn’t have a lot of street credibility when it comes to good food and its not a very good thing. I’d say my general experience was fair and I may visit again to see if they have gotten better.
If you have ever dined at Taj Bistro, do not hesitate to share your experience with me. I’m very much interested in all the details and I’m sure other readers will be too.
DIARY OF A SOFT BABE 