Reviewed by Fredrik Filipsson · Visited Q1 2026
Lead Curator, Restaurants for Kings
The Restaurant
Lagos Mainland dining has undergone a serious reappraisal in recent years, driven in part by restaurants like Sycamore by Onebasket in Magodo Phase 2 that have demonstrated the mainland is no longer merely a practical compromise — it is a genuine destination. Sycamore has understood something that many restaurants on the island have yet to grasp: that the occasion itself is what a dining room should be engineering, not simply a backdrop for it.
The weekly event calendar at Sycamore is the structural argument of the business. Bottomless brunch Sundays turn the Magodo afternoon into a properly extended social ritual, with unlimited mimosas, cocktails, and a rotating menu that changes enough to reward repeat visits. Taco Tuesdays strip the formality from midweek dining and replace it with something unapologetically fun. Unlimited wings on Wednesdays deliver precisely the communal, hands-in-the-middle eating that a team needs after two days of the working week.
The kitchen's daily output beyond the event programme is a well-constructed Nigerian and continental menu — suya that has been properly marinated, jollof rice cooked over wood rather than gas for the characteristic smoky base, pasta and grills for guests who have not come on a themed evening. The drinks programme is serious: cocktails that follow recipes correctly, a beer selection that includes cold-enough Nigerian lagers, and a wine list that punches above the price tier.
The room itself is calm, clean, and well-lit in a way that makes conversation easy without the acoustic exhaustion that plagues Lagos restaurants that mistake volume for atmosphere. For groups arriving on a non-themed evening, it is simply a very reliable mid-tier mainland restaurant. On a Sunday brunch or a Wednesday wing night, it is one of the most enjoyable places to eat in the city.
Why Sycamore Works for Team Dinners
The physics of a team dinner require a certain environment: a room where conversation travels easily between the whole table rather than fracturing into pairs, a kitchen that can handle multiple orders arriving at different speeds without losing the thread, and a hospitality team that understands the difference between a social occasion and a formal meal. Sycamore by Onebasket delivers all three, with the additional advantage of a weekly event structure that gives a team dinner a built-in shared experience to anchor the evening. The unlimited formats — wings, brunch — remove the social calculus of who is ordering what and replace it with the uncomplicated pleasure of a shared table.
What to Order
On a Sunday, surrender fully to the bottomless brunch format. Begin with mimosas — they are mixed generously — and proceed through the rotating food menu at your own pace. The kitchen handles the brunch crowd with more grace than most Lagos weekend operations manage.
On other evenings, the suya is the correct beginning. Properly marinated, properly charred, served with the onion and tomato accompaniment that indicates a kitchen that has done this before. The jollof rice base justifies a main-course order. For groups who arrived on wing Wednesday, the answer is obvious: order early, order in quantity, and let the evening extend itself.