LEVELS Nigerian Cuisine STL

 

Very near the hotel that Counterpublic reserved rooms for us artists is the restaurant LEVELS Nigerian Cuisine located at 1405 Washington Ave, Saint Louis, MO 63103.

I don't think I've had Nigerian food before. i walked in the place and it was hoping for dinner.

i sat at the bar counter and ordered off the dinner menu. Everyone was super friendly.

Meat Pepper soup, Suya burger and a non-alcohol drink, that's what i ordered. 

There was a side of plantain, which they don't call plantains. They were swamped with a big party in the main room so it took 45 minutes to get my meal. Once it came, they were very apologetic but i told them it was absolutely fine. I was enjoying myself and I brought the book I'm currently into.

 I first got the Meat Pepper Stew. i originally ordered goat but they were out of goat so i got beef. It was really really delicious. It was spicy for sure but it was good-good so I ate the whole thing. i would pay for that LEVEL of spicy the next morning LOL. 

The plantain's were perfect, tender, warm and sweet. The burger was very good but I regret now that I didn't order a rice dish instead. The burger was too ... "American"?. i think the rice would have also countered the spicy soup for my old digestive system. LOL. over all I really enjoyed the meal and the staff.

A couple of fun notes:

1) A man dressed very Hip-Hop was to my left at the counter. First he was by himself and then a young woman joined him. She was dressed in a very business like attire.  It's not polite to eavesdrop but they were very animated and vociferous so it's like an invitation to eavesdrop. The guy had produced an event. He hired the woman to help organize the event and I think do some marketing. There was a difference of opinion regarding compensation, scope of work and oddly, conduct. Long story short, it was unclear to me if they would ever work together again although i think they will. It was more dramatic than the book i was reading and again since I waited 45 min to get my meal, it was kind of a perk of sorts. I wish they both well and success.

2) Evenings later in the week, i was in an Uber and the driver was from Nigeria. I mentioned Levels and he laughed. "that thats the place people take out of towners when they want to impress them." 

Not too long ago, his family had brought a relative, an auntie from Nigeria there. She ordered the exact stew i did and she did nothing but complain about it all night. The Uber driver and I got a big laugh out of his story. He and I like to cook. He said that his wife, also from Nigeria, is an excellent cook and sometimes they cook together, however, he said there's something inherent, culturally, genetically that makes "Nigerian women" better chefs than "Nigerian men". He said no matter how much he tries, his meal is never as good as hers, even though his grandmother taught him since age 6. Of course, we are both laughing as he's telling this story but perhaps there is much truth there for one reason or another. Which brings us back to his Auntie. I guess the chef at Levels is male and of course once she learned that, it was open season for Auntie's critique. It was a wonderful exchange during our all too short Uber ride in STL.