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Jumoke is a pastry chef, with a degree from a college in London
BEATRICE ISOLA
Situated in the balmy Banana Island Estate Ikoyi, Lagos, Nigeria, and overlooking the sprawling landscape at the estate’s shopping court, is the Banana Island Patisserie, a cafe that has become a luxury hangout spot for residents of the posh estate to share a coffee or chat over well-made fruit smoothies.
This sunny Saturday afternoon, I walked into the café for a drink and a chat with the manager, Jumoke Hunponu-Wusu. She stands behind desk where freshly baked Croissants, muffins, cakes are neatly arranged. She is quite busy taking orders from guests who just walked in.
After waiting for a couple of minutes, Jumoke joins me. She tells me the idea behind The Banana Island Patisserie was to create a lovely environment where residents and visitors alike can come to share and enjoy good food, coffee and cake.
She is a pastry chef, with a degree from a college in London. She studied for three years to be a chef. She later decided to return home to Nigeria to change the way people experience café services.
Jumoke brings her expertise as a baker to fore with the freshly baked cakes, doughnuts and croissants. “The cakes are definitely made by me and the croissants. The other pastries we bake them fresh,” she says.
Clients have an option to book ahead for home delivery within the estate. “We encourage them to book ahead to make us adequately prepare for their orders. We bake all the pastries here. They are freshly baked. We bake every day, a million times a day.”
In addition to pastries, the Banana Island Patisseries offers tasty club sandwiches with an aside of French fries. You will surely enjoy the freshly brewed coffee and the variations of English tea. For lovers of pure juice, the café offers orange, orange and pineapple, orange, pineapple and carrot, pineapple and banana juices among others.
“We get grounded coffee seeds and we use a coffee machine that you just press a button on it and then it filters the coffee. It is still fresh coffee.”
A visit to The Banana Island Patisserie means you will have taste of its signature sandwiches.
A visit to The Banana Island Patisserie means you will have taste of its signature sandwiches. Their freshly baked bread comes in variant of: white baguette, multi-cereal baguette, country loaf, nuts, almond and cereal loaf, Panini and Bagel Sesame.
“I will say coffee, cakes and sandwiches are our signature meals. The coffee because it good and our bread is original. It is freshly baked. We offer different variants of bread. We have breads that are soft, brown, wheat and white breads with good textures. We toast the bread with a sandwich toaster and add fillings depending on what the customer wants— chicken, ham, turkey, cheese.”
If you want a home service, The Banana Island Patisserie delivers to your doorstep. “Mostly, we deliver in just Banana Island. Most of the time people call to place an order maybe for the next day. They tell us the time and we get it to them for that time otherwise it will be 30 minute within the time you place your order and you get your order provided you are on Banana Island.”
The Banana Island Patisseries is very affordable for those who live on Banana Island and its environs. Why not stop by for a rare treat?