Tags: blogger food blogger Restaurant review Zambian Restaurant
Before I begin this review please note that Zesty Zoe is not affilliated with #Social Restaurant (The Social/Social Lusaka) and this review is solely based on personal tastes and preferences.
Let’s begin.
This location has been on our list of places to try since it opened, but between our love for Asian food and revisiting restaurants we loved so much, it seemingly faded into the back of our minds until yesterday.
We occasionally, and by occasionally I mean very often eat out, we both love food, my boyfriend and I, so we like to explore different cuisines; for this place however, I did not know what to expect, neither did he.
We got there and were greeted by our waiter at the entrance, we chose to sit inside even though the day was so beautiful, as we preferred to sit in the non-smoker part of the restaurant.
We chose to have two courses, starters and mains and when we ordered, we waited for what felt like an eternity. Really!
Gave us a little time to weigh our surrounding, and it was just.. okay. The music in the background was very ‘colourful’ for lack of better terms and I wouldn’t recommend this place if you were dining with children or were sensitive to provocative language. It was my first time here so I do not know if that was the norm in the restaurant.
Our first course came and we were excited, primarily because of how hungry we were after the long wait.
I ordered the chicken tenders here:
They were absolutely delicious! They came with a delicious and lemony dip and wow, just wow. I loved the flavour, the chicken was moist and the outside was perfectly crisp. I would order these a thousand time over.
My boyfriend ordered BBQ chicken wings here:
They were served with chips (fries) and a beetroot salad.
The chicken in my opinion was over fried, barely seasoned and the amount of BBQ sauce did not compensate for the lack of flavour.
The chips were fine. Nothing extraordinary, just, okay.
The salad was delicious. It had a great punch of flavour and the sweetness from the beetroot came through and was well celebrated. Delicious!
We finally finished our starters and had to wait another very long period before our mains were brought to us and I’ll admit that the main was not at all worth the wait. I did not like any part of it.
I ordered the chicken haka noodles here:
I had two or three bites and I was done. The chicken was painfully dry and flavorless, I just cannot comprehend how dry the chicken was.
The menu promised that the noodles would be cooked in sauces and have hits of ginger and garlic, but all I tasted was dryness and ginger. I didn’t enjoy my main at all.
My boyfriend ordered the butter chicken with naan here:
My oh my… the sauce in the butter chicken seemingly broke and was very grainy and unpleasant to eat. The flavour was below par and very unfamiliar to me as I’ve had butter chicken in restaurants and made my own, I don’t know if it should taste the way this one did, but I did not like it at all.
The naan.
It was dry and actually crispy and had absolutely no flavour. I again have tried different types of naan and not one have I had or made had ever been that dry. My boyfriend absolutely raves about naan and he didn’t even manage to finish two pieces. We were not impressed.
If you’d like to try this restaurant, it is located in Rhodespark at The Gallery Office Park.
In conclusion, the only thing I’d go back for is the starter I ordered, the chicken tenders. Those were grand.
Have you been to #social? What did you order and how did you like it?
Let me know in the comments below!
