ILE, "home" in Igbo, is a Nigerian dinner theatre and tasting menu in someone's apartment…read more
Nigerian and West African food is not new to me, so my review is based on my familiarity with various regional and tribal dishes that I love - my experience is beyond simply the recent popular fufu and egusi.
There are two menus and service times: 1. A four (4) course dinner theatre experience for $120 per person that starts at 5 p.m. and 2. A seven (7) course for $220 that's at 8 p.m.
I made my reservation for 2 via Resy for the 8; they ask you to arrive and wait in the lobby, but you aren't greeted and seated in the apartment till 8:30, and don't start eating till 9 - rather annoying of a wait time.
My original reservation was for December, however, I didn't get to go until January due to a COVID-19 outbreak amongst the team. I did get an e-mail with a 15% discount for the delay, however, I wish I had remembered to bring that up to the team at ILE when I paid because they didn't take it into account with my final bill. Also, note to everyone, there is a 25% service fee - they do clearly advertise this when you make the reservation.
Ultimately, this experience is for extroverts as dinner is at communal tables - I did know that it was a communal experience, but ended up being seated with two rather loud and extroverted couples at a table, which dampened our experience.
The dining tables are in two areas - when you walk in through the door, to the right is the open space kitchen-dining area and to the left is the second dining table.
This is dinner theatre via storytelling; the chef introduces each dish with music and story of that ties back to the ingredients - really cool concept and I did appreciate the narration style & storyline, however, it was a drag after the second dish.
This entire thing could have been a 1.5 hour event, tops; instead, it was ~4 hours long, with each dish being eaten in less than 5-10 minutes - far too much time between the dishes.
It's a BYOB establishment with no corkage fee, and they do serve a Nigerian wine for a charge per pour.
Zobo (non-alcoholic) is served gratis - you can have as many refills as you want; for those who may not be familiar, zobo is the same as sorrel or jamaica; it wasn't too sweet and perfectly tart-y.
Here are the seven dishes we had:
1. Starter bread, hummus, and chutney: The sweetness of the charred bread was quite well-balanced between the creaminess of the hummus and the sweetness of the chutney.
Enjoyed this very much.
2. Shrimp salad: Enjoyed the jollof sauce but we only got a medium shrimp and a half; disappointed with that quantity.
3. Goat pepper soup: Pressure cooked goat with pepper soup poured into the plate afterwards. I wish there was more pressure-cooked goat - the quantity was not enough; that's how the pepper soup I've had has been.
Enjoyed this very much despite the quantity.
The soup was poured out of an IKEA plant watering can - I have the same one.
4. Nigerian snail: A bit overcooked; larger than Vietnamese or French snails, and slightly earthy.
5. Fish, rice, jammy duck egg, corn, and micro greens: I forget what it represented, but for the price of the entire event, there was barely any fish or duck egg; served in a cute pot that reminded me of my childhood serveware.
6. Jollof & beef: The jollof was smokey, but not spicy enough, with ribeye on a separate plate - loved the suya dust. You can add wagyu for another $35 or 75; we opted out to not upgrade - can't remember eating my jollof with wagyu before.
Enjoyed this very much.
The chef did later let me know as we were leaving that I could've asked for more jollof but were trying to balance quantities; I do appreciate that they wanted to avoid wastage, so don't want to give too much upfront and have it end up in the trash, but would have been nice to know while being served.
7. Oil cake with "custard" with berry coulis: Chef Eros said this a custard, but it really was ice cream in texture and consistency; the presentation reminded us of a wedding table decoration. It was all not too sweet, so that was nice, but too much show.
Every other dish was so-so and lacking flavour and/or quantity.
Service is pretty good - the chef's brother, Cortez, was our server; very attentive but not hovering.
Since this is in a home kitchen, there are 3 folks working constantly in the kitchen, Chef Eros wondering around, and 2 servers-of-sorts; there are only 6 burners.
Parking is scarce - you can e-mail ILE and ask them to reserve a guest spot for you for $15, and it will get added to your bill at the end.
It might be worth taking an Uber if you prefer.
Overall, while it was an interesting experience, it's not for me; the dinner theatre, communal aspect, long wait to eat, small quantities, and the price being far too high aren't it. I'd rather go to Veronica's or my mate's house.
It's *perhaps* a good starting point for someone unfamiliar with Nigerian/West African food in an intimate setting.