Peppercorn Avenue Marries Thai and Indian in Lekki
Peppercorn Avenue
6A Otunba Adedoyin Ogungbe Street, Lekki One, Lagos
NOSA: So we got this question on Twitter a couple of days ago,
NOSA: There is an abundance of places to eat in Lekki, but the bulk are terrible. Given all the development and its slow devolution to Festac (no shade), no one has thought to build more decent spots to eat in Lekki.
FOLLY: Yeah, Nosa is absolutely rude.
NOSA: The menu at Peppercorn Avenue is 50% Indian and 50% Thai. It's also color-coded for good measure.
FOLLY: Most times when a restaurant has multiple cuisines, they have an Encarta volume as their menu and it's all pretty bad. I appreciate that Peppercorn, in spite of offering both Indian and Thai, was able to keep their menu both streamlined and organized.
NOSA: We went Thai with our starters, ordered the Momos, Por Pia Chae, and Kai Yang.
Momos are dumplings. They were a bit thicker than gyoza or the dumplings you'd get at a Chinese restaurant. That said, I really liked them too.
FOLLY: The texture and taste of the dough/casing, I'm not sure what the technical term is, was very similar to a pancake.
NOSA: Dumpling packet? Dumpling container?
A bit of a random funny story, an Indian minister wants momos banned.
Por pia chae are Thai-style spring rolls. I'm a bit of a neophyte with Thai food, but is there any difference Thai-style spring rolls and regular spring rolls? Because the por pia chae weren't like regular spring rolls. The crust was a lot thicker and as a result, absorbed more oil, which bothered me.
FOLLY: It's like they used multiple layers of the phyllo pastry.
NOSA: Per the menu, kai yang is synonymous with Thai street food. It's probably their "suya". In some restaurants, it's listed as "Thai Barbecue Chicken"
The chicken was super tender and tasted like it got punched to submission. This is a good thing, by the way.
FOLLY: Yeah, mate the chicken was definitely pounded with a hammer. Not a regular hammer, the meat hammer kind of hammer.
NOSA: You have to order these if you check out Peppercorn Avenue.
Kai Yang
You have to order these if you check out Peppercorn Avenue.
NOSA: For our mains, we went with the most obvious items on the menu. I did Indian, while Folly did Thai.
FOLLY: Naturally, I love Thai food and I love pad thai. I’ve eaten so many so I feel like I can be a good judge.
NOSA: I ordered the Chicken Tandoori and the Cheese & Olive Kulcha. The absence of cheese naan on the menu made me a sad panda, but cheese kulcha felt close enough. The big difference is the use of a leavening agent. Naan uses yeast, while kulcha uses baking soda. So yeah, it's basically the same thing. The kulcha was delicious but the dip made me a bit nauseous.
FOLLY: Yeah, I didn’t try this. Olives, cheese, and naan it was a no for me.
NOSA: The chicken tandoori was absolutely perfect. Tender chicken seems to a be running theme at Peppercorn. Shouts to them for not serving Crossfit chickens.
FOLLY: I guess we can conclude that they do amazing things to chicken here. I was a bit disappointed by the lack of beef pad thai. EVERYBODY knows that beef pad thai is the bizness, everything else is counterfeit. Quote me outside!
NOSA: I wasn't a big fan of the pad Thai, to be honest. It tasted a bit off.
FOLLY: That it did. There were a number of stray vegetables including carrots and mushroom. I have nothing against either but both have no place in a pad thai. It was also a bit tasteless and dry.
FOLLY: It definitely needed a lot more seasoning.
NOSA: Again, why mushrooms?
POSTSCRIPT
NOSA: Like HSE, Lekki doesn't deserve Peppercorn Avenue. A Thai place in Lekki? Come off it! That said, Peppercorn is a lot stronger with their Indian food compared to the Thai. The Thai is at Pattaya's level, some ways off Orchid House
FOLLY: It’s still very far from Orchid House but well above Pattaya’s level. Don’t let Nosa lie to you.
VERDICT
DAMAGE
Momos - N1800
Kai Yang - N2800
Chicken Pad Thai - N2700
Tandoori Chicken - N2700
Cheese & Olive Kulcha - N1800
Vegetable Spring Rolls - N550
PARKING
The parking situation is a bit of a disaster.