Chez Ro

I started following Rotimi Alabi on twitter after he posted one or two pictures of some scrumptious looking meals. Being someone who is largely influenced by his stomach, I decided to sample his menu and I wasn't disappointed.

The first time I ordered I got the Asun (Spicy roast goat) Jollof with Grilled Chicken. The rice was rich, fragrant and nicely cooked. There was a good amount of tender and fatty asun bits scattered in the bowl which literally melt in your mouth. The heat from the Asun was present but not imposing, like a warm blanket. The chicken drumstick was smokey and well-seasoned and brought back some Sunday garden barbecue memories.

I wanted to wait till I tried something else from the menu to do this post so for last Friday's lunch, we ordered the Rosemary rice with Grilled Chicken and the Chicken and Mushroom Alfredo.

I wasn't surprised that the food quality remained consistent. The Rosemary rice smelled great and had quite a bit of protein. Sausage slices and fish bits were on ground and the piney notes from the fresh rosemary was present throughout. This contributed to a spiciness that builds up gradually on your palate. Once again, the chicken had that distinct smokey barbecue taste from last time. The marinade and slow roasting process make for really moist and flavourful bites.

A little helping of some kind of sauce would up the dish to the next level. There is quite a decent amount of rice, so it would be nice to add an extra layer of complexity to keep the senses tingling.

The Chicken and Mushroom Alfredo was also a pleasant dish. The choice of pasta was key because penne holds sauces very well. The Alfredo sauce was deliciously creamy and savoury. The undertones from the sautéed mushrooms and freshly cracked black pepper really came through in the sauce. The chicken was mostly breast meat, but it didn't have the characteristic dry chicken breast mouth feel. Having the pieces cut into small chunks is genius because it allowed the sauce to really permeate.

The Alfredo sauce could be a little thicker, so the top layer of the pasta gets a nice coating as well. The sauce could have also been watered down because of the condensation build up in the plastic packs as well, so maybe some alternative packaging could be experimented with.The packages showed up a little dinged up, so a word with the delivery guys could go a long way as well.

The handwritten notes are a beautiful touch that lets his customers know they are appreciated - it's the little things.

I definitely recommend trying out the food. The dishes are fairly priced when you consider the quality and serving size. To order, just send a DM.

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