Shiro Lagos was designed to impress you. From the grand scales to the double volumes to the massive statues, you will be impressed. Shiro means ‘castle’ in Japanese and they definitely brought castle drama to this space. It looks lush, rich, detailed and lofty.
It’s on the verge of imposing, but by the time you sink into the tasteful furniture, you’re comfortable.
Shiro Lagos is located at the Landmark Center, right next to Hard Rock Café; so it’s in good company. My party of three was ushered to a nice table on a higher level, so we had an impressive view of both the restaurant (booths, private seating, group seating), bar and outdoor seating (there’s also an outdoor bar plus beach view of Eko Atlantic).
We ordered the Crispy Duck Maki and Prawn dumplings first. Both delicious! My friend professed love to sushi that afternoon, so well, you must believe how good it was. The crispy duck was really what did it – so flavourful and spicy.
For our mains, we had Chicken in Spicy Laksa sauce, Beef in Basket with Bell Peppers and the Thai Prawns curry. We shared two portions of steamed rice with our meals. The Thai Prawns were really good. The Chicken in Laksa sauce was okay.
The Beef in Basket meal was… well, discombobulating. When the waiter suggested this meal to me, I had no idea the basket in the name would be literal. I had expected a stir-fry meal, but instead I got stiffened noodles shaped into a basket with the beef and vegetables sprawling out of the structure. It made for interesting display, but not eating.
I did not like the tough chewy nature of the noodles, even after mixing it up with sauce – it felt too much like eating raw Indomie. But the beef was soft and the right kind of spicy, so I ended up eating it with the steamed rice.
Shiro Lagos is the posh snazzy restaurant you want to go on a date to, have a birthday dinner – or maybe even propose (so long it’s not a weekend because it gets really full then). The one thing that marred the experience for me was this smell of disinfectant that kept wafting towards us at some point. We later discovered it came from whatever liquid the cleaners were using to mop. You definitely don’t want to inhale something that strong when eating spicy food.
That aside, Shiro Lagos is an experience you should consider indulging in. Yes, it will be a pricey indulgence, but it’s fine dining for a reason. The food is good, the music is non-intrusive, the ambience and space are absolutely gorgeous. Shiro Lagos aims for magnificence and for them, that isn’t out of reach.
