Restaurants in Abuja

There are loads of restaurants to choose from in Abuja, ranging from cheap and cheerful to expensive and exclusive. Unfortunately TripAdvisor is not so up to date in Abuja and so one has to look further afield to get information on all the good restaurants available. I’ve tried to visit as many as possible to really get a feel for what’s available, and I’ve put together my favourites here.

THE LIST: Welcome2Abuja.com’s Top Restaurants in Abuja

Welcome2Abuja.com top 3 restaurants in Abuja (based solely on my personal opinion 🙂

1. Four Guys – overall the best food and best atmosphere of all the restaurants that I’ve tried in Abuja so far, but it comes with a hefty price tag…. read my review here.
2. City View – City view comes second on the list because it’s the best Lebanese restaurant in Abuja, and I love Lebanese food. The atmosphere outside is nice (please note that the outside seating area is not immediately obvious and the inside area is nowhere near as nice) but they don’t serve alcohol. Nevertheless, the food is amazing and we often have home delivery (you have to call them).
3. Uncle T’s – With a similar atmosphere to Four Guys and solid food, Uncle Tee’s comes in third place for me. I’ve been a few times and when I want a decent, fun evening with a beer garden vibe, this is my goto. It’s located in Jabi, on the back side of the lake near Jabi Lake Park.
4. BluCabana is the best restaurant in Abuja according to TripAdvisor, and I can see why. It’s a large, bright, friendly space next to a pool which provides the aquatic atmosphere. The food is mostly pretty good and the menu is huge. All in all, BluCabana is a GREAT restaurant and I highly recommend it, but the Lebanese food is slightly better at City View, and the atmosphere is better at FourGuys, IMHO.
5. Kapadoccia – At first I thought that a restaurant in a cave sounded a bit gimmicky, but I was really bowled over by the food, and the cave theme is actually pretty cool. The menu is available online here. They have a branch in Lagos too and you can tell that the owners really know what they are doing. Great food, great service, great drinks – well worth a visit.
6. Cilantro Maitama – Beautiful setting, calm atmosphere and good Indian food. Everything was very nice.
7. La Taverna – The food is great and the view is nice but we were a little disappointed by the service. We were sat next to a generator which was loud and the music kept stopping, which ruined the atmosphere.
8. The Pasha – Oldest Middle Eastern Restaurant in Abuja (apparently). Great food, cheap, OK atmosphere.
9. The Gazebo @ Fraser Suites – I had high hopes for this restaurant int he poshest hotel in Abuja, but it was a bit of a disappointment. It’s a buffet restaurant (they do have A La Carte too but the focus is the buffet) but for some crazy reason, they are still applying COVID measures (in September 2022!) and won’t let you serve yourself. The food was OK and the service was nice. The hotel is posh and it felt good to be in a large, clean space so if you’re in the mood for eating as much as you can (/want!) and you want a bit of poshness, check it out. However, the Italian restaurant by the pool looked much nicer, so we will check that one out next time.
10. Jake’s Club – Posh restaurant, sometimes live music, amazing views. We had a poor time because they made mistakes on everything we ordered. For example, they didn’t know what an Aperol Spritz was, so they just brought a shot of Aperol. Inside the lighting is BAAAAD, the really need to remove some strip lights. The view is stunning and worth going just for that, but it will never become one of my favourite restaurants in Abuja.
11. Coco Cafe – Despite the name it’s more of a restaurant than a café. It has great views over Jabi Lake and the park. It was nice, but the food took a long time to arrive. I would like to go back because I think that we might enjoy it more next time.
12. Miso Japanese and Thai restaurant offers Japanese, Thai, and Chinese cuisine all cooked by a Bangladeshi chef, and a great view. However, the great view is the only great thing about this restaurant as we found the food to be quite mediocre. The rooftop area is pretty cool and would make a nice place for sundown cocktails, but the restaurant itself did not excite us as much as we’d hoped. Note: This restaurant is located in the Summerset hotel.

Welcome2Abuja.com’s Top Cafés in Abuja

There are also some great cafés in Abuja, which are quite different from the restaurants and so I feel they deserve their own section.

1. Brunch Club – as the name suggests, they offer Brunchy type food and I can confirm, it’s really good (except for the English Breakfast which looked mediocre). With a really nice atmosphere, the Brunch club is (for now) Welcome2Abuja.com’s top café in Abuja.
2. The Café @ Fraser Suites – this café has only high seating, but great food and service. It’s small but clean, friendly, and organised. If I lived nearby, I would probably go everyday.
3. Lomo Café – This Chinese-owned café in Jabi has a great atmosphere and really nice food (menu), and it’s really close to my house. The staff are welcoming and they often have something going on in the cafe such as an art show, etc, so for me it’s the number 2 café in Abuja (that I’ve been to so far).
4. Saffron Café, Maitama. Another café with a great little atmosphere. It’s part of House 43 and whilst it’s a separate entity when you arrive, it doesn’t seem to have it’s own online presence so you just need to follow House 43. Saffron is especially outstanding for its bakery (cakes and pies) which are worth going for all by themselves.
5. Cube Cafe – this café is in the compound of the French Institut. It’s a really friendly place to hang out and the menu is good, not amazing. They hold quizzes every Thursday which are apparently really fun and they are currently expanding, so likely to become even nicer. Definitely worth a visit.
6. Metro Café – although they’ve obviously put a lot of effort in, my experience with the food wasn’t great. HOWEVER, I have found that full English breakfasts in Abuja are never good and so I’ve stopped ordering them. So maybe I would prefer it next time if I had something different. The people were nice and the place is ok, but not mind blowing.

Places I Want to Try

There are so many more to visit. Here’s a list of restaurants that I’ve heard great things about and I hope to visit very soon:

Restaurants

1. Charcoal Grill – designed for the meat lover, Charcoal Grill looks delicious and fun. Interestingly, one of the only with their own websites (the other links are all Instagram)
2. The Six by Lovitoz – This is a private dining restaurant, which I think means that you don’t share the dining room with other people. Personally I like an atmosphere but one day I hope to check out the Six and report back. The food does indeed look like some of the best in town.
3. Wakkis is said to be the best Indian food in town.
4. The Gazebo @ Fraser Suites – surely the best hotel in town must have a fantastic restaurant?
5. Aldo’s – Lebanese food with a lake view. I can’t believe that I haven’t been yet 🙂
6. Duo Restaurant – I’m not so impressed by their pics but friends have said good things.
7. House 43 – Saffron is good so I imagine House 43 would be too!
8. Faji Steakhouse
9. Chi Thai
10. Nyoko

Cafés

1. Strobrie Cafe
2. Boozy Breakfast (just for the name)