BACKGOUND
I like a good meal so I was elated when the call came in from my client to meet him for a business lunch at his choice of restaurant, Sweet Sensation on Bode Thomas Street Surulere, Lagos. What better way was there to discuss business if not over a good meal (even though I remembered my mother always saying while I was growing up: ‘don’t talk while eating’.).
MY EXPERIENCE
I always try to get to my meetings 15 minutes before the client arrives. This allows me to settle in and get comfortable with the environment (though sometimes I use this period to review my strategy). As I walked into Sweet Sensations I was fascinated by the ambience. This is supposed to be a quick service restaurant so I was overwhelmed at the detail in set-up and arrangements of seats, tables and lights.
To place an order at the counter one has to go through an L-shaped maze, which allows customers to walk through the entire food point, set like a buffet, and thus get to see all the meal options and make a choice. Orders are served less than one minute.
I needed is a glass of orange juice till my client arrived. I was getting distracted by all the appetizing meals when I got a call from him to say he would be unable to make the meeting – stuck in the lunch-time traffic – so we rescheduled for the next day. Though disappointed about the meeting, I could still have my lunch.
A man in front of me had ordered a Yamarita. It looked so good that I also ordered the exotic-looking meal and sat next to him.
At first bite I was taken way back, a couple of decades. I remembered how my mother used to make wonderful meals, and she would say that you can only judge a good meal by the first taste. This must be what she meant – and this was good. Yamarita is yam chunks with garden egg sauce topped with beef, Pomo (cow hides) and boiled plantain. My food partner noticed how quickly I ate and asked if it was my first visit! He said that this was one of the signature meals of Sweet Sensation, the only restaurant to serve it.
THE BEST PART:
After a round of Yamarita, my new friend told me the best was yet to come. He said we should have something called GPS. I laughed. GPS – Global Positioning Satellite? No, it was Geneve Pepper Soup. We ordered GPS and yes, truly, this was the best part. GPS is a goat meat pepper soup. My new friend was a guest of the Marketing Manager of Sweet Sensation who joined us and told me the meal was named after an award they received in Geneva, Centura Era International award (QC 100 Gold category) for outstanding total quality management (TQM) in Switzerland.
SIGNATURE DISH:
At Sweet Sensation every meal is a signature dish because you always find a touch of their swagger (as their new campaign suggests) in all of the more than 60 different mouth-watering varieties, but specifically the Yamarita, Grillo, Soul Food (a medley of beneficial vegetables tossed in olive oil), GPS and Farmers’ Pottage – delicacies you won’t find in any other quick-service restaurant in Nigeria.
LOCATION:
Sweet Sensation has 23 outlets nationwide, with 21 outlets alone in Lagos. Everywhere you go in Lagos you are can be sure to find one.
VERDICT:
This is really the place to enjoy a good meal, particularly for the health-conscious types – all the oil used is low in cholesterol and low in fat. An added bonus – you can even call in and place an order for any meal you want, they will deliver it in a jiffy. Thumbs-up to this place.
LANRE FAGBIRE
Fact File:
Corporate Head office, 3 Opebi Road, Ikeja Lagos
Tel: +234 1 7748777, +234 1 7732236, +234 1 4701530
Website: swagger2sweetsensation.com