Café Royale is a popular lunch spot on Victoria Island just off the Lekki-Eke expressway that’s frequented by foreigners and locals in equal measure. The venue is divided into two halves: downstairs is Chocolat Royale, a small café and bakery with no seating that sells cakes, pastries and a limited selection of lunch items for take away. Take the steps upstairs and you’ll find Café Royale, which is more of a traditional lunch spot.

The dining room is open, clean and spacious, with white-tiled floors, simple tables scattered across the floor plan and waiters weaving around. Across the north edge of the dining room there’s a glass facade which looks out onto a covered outdoor patio, where another dozen tables and two sets of couches are set up. These seats look out over the Etim Inyang Crescent, which bustles with street vendors, assorted drivers and the parking lot. Though it’s a bit loud out here, there’s also a great perspective on everyday life in Lagos.

A wide spectrum of food and drink is available on the menu that’s atypical of standard café fare. Perhaps the best frozen smoothie drinks in the city are here from around N 1300, while Nescafe coffee, soft drinks and alcohol are also for sale. As with many Lagosian restaurants eager to please the widest selection of visitors, the food menu here is extremely eclectic, with entrées ranging from Nigerian dishes to wraps to burgers to salads to steaks available, all with prices ranging from N 2000 to about N 5000. Nevertheless, the food is quite tasty, and at N 4000, the grilled chicken wrap was an excellent selection.

It is also worth noting that like many of the local venues, Café Royal only takes chip and pin credit cards, so if you have an international bank, make sure your card either has a chip or you have a wad of cash within arm’s reach.