Off the bat, the menu from The Vue: PanAsian Restaurant in Abuja appealed to me. I’d followed them for a while so when my friend suggested we have our first dinner of the year there, it fit nicely with my Q1, 2020 plans. You see, reviewing is a serious thing. if you fail to plan….blah blah blah…?

And so we agreed to meet, 5 of us, for a ‘hello 2020’. All casual and laid back until we got into The Vue. So thankfully, there wasn’t a requirement that diners dress a certain way, but there were groups in a celebratory mood and one party had its invited guests dressed like they were going to the Oscars!!!!! I started wishing I’d dressed up real good even though I knew we didn’t look out of place.

But I digress ??.

The menu boasts dishes from a variety of cuisines: Vietnamese, Japanese, Thai, Chinese and Indian. So we knew we just had to try a range. Friends are tired of me. So would you, right? Hold that thought though, we’re having a group dining experience soon and you do want to participate. ??

Anyway, dinner done, it’s time to dish. As always I’ll be talking from taste to price and the juicier bits between.

Ambience: 4/5: This could easily be a 5 cos lighting, colors, accent etc…everything was so welcoming and chic and yet not stuffy. But there was a faint smell where we sat that was off-putting. Other than that, both the indoor and outdoor dining areas were beautiful, just look at the shots!!!!

Cost: 4/5: Asian cuisine pricing hovers around the same range in Abuja really. Naan between 600 and 800 Naira depending on the kind, soups go for 1800-2800, biryanis from about 3,200 except if you’re going for prawn dishes which are almost twice that. Similar pricing…no surprises, pleasant or otherwise.

Customer Service: 2/5. We were given menus and then nothing… had to keep signalling before being attended to. Then we kept smiling and teasing and joking to coax warmth out of our waiter who didn’t introduce himself. To make matters worse, orders were mixed with someone else’s and we got a sushi tray that wasn’t ours. It also didn’t make sense that the appetizers were so slow in coming that some of the main dishes arrived before some appetizers

Product aka Food & Bev: 3/5: Here’s why:

?? Lamb biryani. No major surprises. Really tender meat and very flavourful rice. Biryani is such a pleasant experience quote often anyway

?? Pad Thai noodles. Shockingly sweet, drowning out the other expected flavors. It was okay when eaten with the lemongrass and chili fish but on its own..nah

?? The lemongrass and chili fish was just nice..but the lemongrass flavor was totally missing. There wasn’t even the subtlest of hints

?? Salmon Sake Nigiri: raw salmon on a bed of vinegared sushi rice, served with wasabi. The sushi rice was bland and the whole experience didn’t pack the punch sushi typically does

?? Wasabi Cottage Cheese. I’d never tried that. Crispy deep-fried cheese hits your tongue with a strange muskiness that’s almost off-putting and then the taste becomes really pleasant. As far as new experiences go, that was really interesting

?? Thai Corn Cake. Corn Fritters made with whole corn kernels and spicy Thai herbs. It was interesting since I’d not had it before but not so much that I’d order it again.

?? Drinks. Too sweet. Each drink was shocking in its sweetness. Even the Mint Cooler was so sweet I couldn’t get it all down and that’s one of my favorite cocktails. We had to keep diluting each drink to get them to normal levels

Overall experience: 3/5. For what it offers by way of anticipation, The Vue could do much better. But would I do it again? DEFINITELY. The Vue offers Vietnamese, Thai, Japanese, Chinese, and Indian cuisines. That’s an Asian holiday right there. And I still haven’t had squid so…..I’m definitely going back!!!

?Novare Mall, Wuse Zone 5, Abuja

?08178888812

So! Thoughts? ?

Hugs

Nkechi