The 2015 Nairobi Restaurant Week took place between January 22 and February 1 with over 50 restaurants taking part. However after the week ended, some establishments opted to extend the offer for a few more days due to the high demand. It was time for foodies to indulge in their guilty pleasures all day long if need be. Restaurant week has been a proven tradition amongst many major cities around the world including Cape Town, London, New York and Tokyo. Last year saw Nairobi join this list and the restaurant week debut was amazing. The Star team had the chance to sample a few of the participating restaurants including Continental, Indian, Chinese and Portuguese cuisines.
1. Anghiti Restaurant
by Agatha Ngotho
Arriving on a Saturday evening, the Anghiti restaurant located at the New Rehema House, Rhapta Road, Westlands is fully packed with diners eager to enjoy Indian delicacies. The restaurant has a homely ambiance with a touch of Indian décor here and there. It’s suitable for family or romantic dinners.
We are ushered to our reserved table by a friendly waitress who brings us a menu. The table is not readily set but the complimentary cumin green Anghiti salad is a welcome distraction as the waitress sets the table.
The salad is fresh and crunchy and is a greater appetiser. We then enjoy the starter of barbeque chicken which is quite exceptional and only serves to build up your appetite for the next course.
There is a variety of dishes for the main course that include boneless mutton pieces, cooked in red gravy and the special chicken for the non-vegetarians. For vegetarians, the options includes white chick peas cooked in an onion or tomato gravy. All the dishes are either served with rice or naan accompaniments. We settle for the Anghiti special chicken with rice and cold cocktail juice. It hits just the right spot and is mouth watering. The chicken is well cooked and soft and bursting with flavour as is the norm with Indian cuisine.
The great food does not end there. For desert we can either have cold traditional cheese dumpling served with rich homemade saffron cream or a warm homemade milk dumpling served in a sweet syrup. Both were such a treat that you just must make time to try out.
2. Taste of China
by Brenda Okoth
Located inside the chic VIP Plaza, Westlands Road, Taste of China restaurant offers its clients a VIP lift from the basement straight to its lounge. We were warmly ushered to our seats on the balcony and served some sweet and salty carrots and cucumber appetisers; a great way to cleanse and prepare our palette.
For starters, we ordered a platter of chicken wings, medium spiced pork ribs and marinated satay lamb cooked in peanut sauce.
For the main course, we had the sweet and sour pork with vegetable fried rice and noodles. We assumed that the starters would arrive first, however it was brought in tandem with the main meal. Our culinary experience was watered down as we had to wolf down both meals before the food grew cold. That notwithstanding, what stood out were the succulent pork spare ribs and the chicken wings. Finger licking good is all that can be said. They were the highlight of our meal. The accompanying pineapple and mint juice went a long way in washing down the remnants of my meal.
Since I am not a sweet tooth, I went for the safer option of vanilla ice-cream. You can never go wrong with ice-cream.
The service was not very memorable though.
3. Ventana Restaurant
by Nduta Waweru
At the junction of Karuna Road and Lower Kabete Road is the Ventana Restaurant. We were seated outdoors to enjoy the cool breeze and a bit of sun.
For the starter, I had the mezze platter consisting of hummus, olive oil poached tomatoes, marinated olives, feta cheese, served with pita bread. The pita bread was crispy and went really well with the hummus and feta. The other option was spiced corn wheels, drizzled with fresh mint, black pepper and lime infused butter. The corn was soft and really delicious.
For the main meal we had the blackened Cajun chicken pasta and the creamy mushroom lasagna. I really loved the chicken with its thick and tasty skin and the pasta made for a great accompaniment. The food was quite fiery, so for those who are averse to chili, let the waiter know when ordering your food. The lasagna lived up to its name and was easy on the tongue.
For dessert, we sampled the signature Ventana Banana Split comprising of brown caramelized coconut crusted banana, cinnamon, vanilla bean ice cream, butterscotch whipped cream and maraschino cherries. We also got to indulge in the black forest cheese cake, served in a dessert glass. Both desserts were super sweet and the perfect ending to a sumptuous meal.
Commendable were the huge servings, which took effort to finish our food. The service was excellent, complemented with the great ambiance.
4. Adega Restaurant
by James Murua
Adega Restaurant is an upmarket Portuguese restaurant at the Lavington Curve Mall on James Gichuru Road. The sampling of the NRW menu was done on a Sunday afternoon and I found a few things that worked for it. At the back of the restaurant, which is on the second floor, there is a play area for your kids to enjoy as you had your meal. With such a child friendly space you can be sure that you can relax and enjoy your meal. There is also a balcony that allows you to have your meal outside while still being covered from the harsh elements which is where we were seated. The first real issue I had was the size of the tables which were quite big making it difficult to have an intimate meal with a loved one.
As we were ordering our drinks, I discovered that it is a non-alcoholic restaurant; 100% halal. This means that those who enjoy their tipple might not have the most ideal experience. For those who are non-alcoholic beverage lovers, they have a variety of drinks to accompany their meals. I settled for a strawberry daiquiri which went extremely down well in this Nairobi heat.
As a starter I had the trinchado which consists of chicken pieces spiced portuguese style. They were spicy and well marinaded which made them very delicious. The portions were very generous and by the time the main course came, I was a bit worried as I was starting to get full. My partner ordered the prawn rissoles which are numbed pastry pockets filled with prawns in a spicy, creamy sauce. Again very tasty and with healthy portions.
The main meal option was the spring style chicken which came with French fries accompaniments. Again the portions are humongous and I confess that they intimidated me a bit before I took up the challenge and started eating. The chicken was well prepared and would feed an army. The chips were crisp just like I like them. My partner settled for the grilled tilapia which came with a variety of vegetables including cauliflower, kales, cucumber and a carrots and cabbages shredded combo. The food was well prepared and went down well for both palattes - we were sampling each others meals.
The service at the restaurant is excellent and if you are in the neighbourhood, you want to give it a trial.