Small chops are a national treasure, an assortment of joy on a plate, and should never be regarded as anything less. Whoever decided that putting together puff puff, chicken, samosa, spring roll and gizzard on a plate was the way to go must have received some divine inspiration, because it slaps. And that’s on Mary had a little lamb!

Of course, people have gotten more creative with their line-ups, but those items formed the OG small chops plate. If you’re like me, and can’t wait till the occasional owanbe to satisfy your small chops cravings, the vendors who churn them out every day are lifesavers. They’ve made small chops available to the everyday consumer, and I am grateful for it. So, for your sake (but mostly mine), I’ve rounded up a list of the best spots in Lagos to get tested-and-trusted small chops — and as much as this may grate on some nerves and potentially cause fight here, it was worth it.

P.S. I lowkey don’t rate mosa, but let’s not talk about that today. I will take a brief moment though, to thank God yam puffs were abolished. That was a dark time in small chops history.

12 Baskets Foods

Rating: 9/10

Damage > N800 — N3400 per pack | N4000- N25000 for platters

When it comes to small chops in Lagos, I personally believe in 12 Baskets supremacy. They’re the OG small chops vendor and they’ve delivered on quality for over a decade. They currently have three branches in Lagos and one in Abuja. For a fresh taste of their chops, I ordered from the Lekki branch. We had to call when we got to the supposed address because it just looked like someone’s home from the outside; there was literally no sign of their presence at the gate — very weird.

Anyway, we got in, ordered, and our small chops was delivered in less than 10 minutes – excellent wait time, in my opinion. At the time we went, there were limited options so we settled for the N 1000 ‘Grab n Go Pack’ which is: 1 samosa, 1 spring roll, 1 barbecue chicken, 5 puff puff and 5 mosa. The more expensive pack options had items like fish, prawns, snails, corn and kebabs, so lots of variety 👌🏽

Of the 5 vendors I tried, I rate 12 Baskets’ barbecue chicken and puff puff the highest. The chicken was exquisitely spiced and succulent, while the puff puff had the perfect crunchy texture on the outside and just the right amount of sweetness. The spring roll and mosa were decent, but the samosa wasn’t their strongest suit; it wasn’t tasty enough.

Bonus points: the small chops came with complementary Bigi drinks (don’t you judge me), plus I’m a sucker for cute packaging, so I loved the pouches the chops came in. 

Ed Note: The addition of 12 Baskets to this list (especially so high up) has caused fight at EatDrink HQ and we’re currently considering ex-communicating Oyinda.

Uncle Stan’s

Rating: 8.5/10

Damage > N700 — N4000 per pack | N6000 — N38000 for platters

Uncle Stan’s has been around for nearly a decade — most people don’t know that. They tout themselves as the best small chops maker in town, and they’re not far from the truth at all. One thing about Uncle Stan’s? They fry their small chops to crispy perfection. Another thing about Uncle Stan’s? They will make you wait, but it is (admittedly) worth the wait. My friend and I went to their cute walk-in spot at Jubilee Mall in Lekki Phase 1. The wait, on the other hand, was not cute as it took nearly an hour for my order to be ready. I guess it helped that I was sitting under AC with music playing, rather than standing outside under this wicked Lagos sun.

I opted for the Premium Pack which had 1 samosa, 1 spring roll, 1 barbecue chicken, 1 gizzard, 1 fantail prawn, 4 mosa, 4 puff puff and 1 fish finger, which I thought was needless because of how small it was (I mean, if the fish was a finger, it was definitely a pinkie). My friend ordered a starter pack which didn’t include the chicken and prawn, and even that took about 45 minutes. Nonetheless, the small chops was DELICIOUS.

There was no single miss on any item’s taste and texture but my favourite thing, in particular, was their samosa. It was exquisite, folks 👏🏾👏🏾 Uncle Stan’s is also good on variety — the more expensive pack options had items like sausage, snail and kebabs. To be honest, my only grouch with them was the wait time.

Chopstix ‘n’ Grill kitchen

Rating: 8/10

Damage > N4000 — N5500 per pack | N7000 — N19000 for platters

Chopstix ‘N’ Grills has served the University of Lagos, and its environs, for 6 years. Small chops isn’t the main thing Chopstix does — they have a bunch of other fast food options — but they do it well. They have a walk-in spot at Unilag and also do state-wide delivery (well, within reason). I ordered from Ketu and paid a delivery fee of N1000. It took about 2 hours to get my order, but I have to factor in the distance and traffic the rider may have encountered. The attendant I chatted with on WhatsApp said it would take 30 minutes to an hour for my order to be dispatched, but you know… Lagos stays Lagosing.

I ordered the 7k platter which had a rather generous serving of 8 samosas, 8 spring rolls, 8 barbecue chickens, 30 puff puff and 20 mosa. The puff puff was divine and I really enjoyed the samosas and chicken too. The mosa and spring rolls were just decent. As for variety, Chopstix also has that in the bag. Some of their options had items like banana fritters, corn on a cob, prawns, kebabs, snails and corn dogs.

Also note: Their small chops options are better suited to 2 or more people, as there’s no small pack option.

Papa’s Grill

Rating: 7.5/10

Damage > N1000 per pack | N5000 — N25000 for platters

Yooo, it took me 3 days to order from Papa’s Grill in Lekki! I went to their kiosk on the first day in the late afternoon and they were out of small chops. The next day, I tried to order from Bolt Foods but the small chops was unavailable AGAIN (meanwhile, their other fast food options were very much in stock). When I called to ask them if the small chops would ever be available, the lady explained that their platters were available but they were not selling the 1k small chops that day. But ma’am, it’s literally the same contents in both but with different quantities — HOW is it not available? I sha left it that day, but as the resilient queen that I am, I tried again early in the morning the next day and they finally had it.

The 1k small chops had 1 samosa, 1 spring roll, 1 barbecue chicken, 5 puff puff and 4 mosa. They all tasted pretty good, especially the chicken, but the samosa and spring roll weren’t fully fried/well done — there was still some soft crust on the outside.

The delivery fee within Lekki Phase 1 was N800 and I didn’t like that they used a Paystack payment channel, rather than a direct bank transfer. My bank card had issues, so I had to pay via the bank channel in Paystack and there were some technical issues. It just added unnecessary steps.

Finally, Papa’s Grill doesn’t really have much variety of options; even their platters only have snails as an additional item. Bonus points, though: They also had cute pouch packaging, and I found it thoughtful that the delivery came with gloves.

Downtown Grill

Rating: 6/10

Damage > N900 — N3500 per pack | N8800 — N22,300 for platters

Downtown Grill has 4 branches in Lagos and 1 in Abuja. This is another vendor that doesn’t just do small chops, so the small chops options themselves are limited. The only 2 single-pack options were the N900 pack and the N3500 Small Chops Max pack. I ordered the latter, because with a delivery fee of N1000 from Lagos Island to Lekki, it just didn’t make any sense to get the former. My friend and I shared the box. The attendant I chatted with via WhatsApp said it would take 1 hour, 30 minutes for processing and delivery and at that exact time, the rider called me asking for directions.

Now, this rider! There was a miscommunication about the directions, which I, in part, take responsibility for but he was extremely rude, yelled over the phone and hung up on me at some point. I normally wouldn’t include a rider review, but his delivery box had Downtown Grill’s branding on it, so I figure he officially works for them. I wasn’t too too pissed about it because the attendant kept following up with me and apologised. At least, there was good customer service from one end.

Anyway, to the main thing. The Small Chops Max pack had 2 samosas, 2 spring rolls, 10 puff puff, 10 mosa, 1 chicken kebab and 2 sausages. That chicken kebab tasted like Lot’s wife rubbed her hand around it — wayyy too much salt, but I’m choosing to believe it was a one-off. The puff puff could also have used just a little more sugar, and the mosa, samosa and spring roll were just decent. On the plus side, I liked that they included fried sausages.

Any vendor you think should have made the list? Leave a comment and help our small chops ministry.

Oyinda is a writer and lover of knowledge. When she's not reading random stuff on the internet, or putting finger to keyboard, you'll find her chopping the life of her head.