Introducing Ikoyi, 2026
What image does the word Ikoyi conjure up?
If you are a gastronome, surely your mind turns towards the restaurant of the same name, in London. At this particular Ikoyi, restaurateur Iré Hassan-Odukale and chef Jeremy Chan offer a menu inspired by Nigerian themes and flavours, to the obvious delight of diners and, it seems, Michelin inspectors. The former seem happy to foot the bill (the prices are, I am told, somewhat higher than at the Pret A Manger next-door) in order to experience Chan’s culinary creations first-hand. The latter were sufficiently moved to award the restaurant a star in 2018. Followed by a second star in 2022.
Alternatively, if you are a globe-trotting traveller, or a professor in African studies, or maybe just a native of Nigeria who has never dined out in London, chances are your thoughts will turn to the affluent district of this name in the city of Lagos. Ikoyi is Lagos at its most polished and privileged – an island of leafy avenues and grand mansions, where the exuberance of the city gives way to an older, quieter language of wealth. It is a world of palms and stucco, diplomatic residences and discreet high-walled compounds, of wealth sheltered behind bougainvillea and security gates, distanced from the hum of the African metropolis.
Two very different versions of Ikoyi.
And what of the third Ikoyi, the wine?
