Alexandre Bakery and Pastry Shop

Alexandre Bakery and Pastry Shop, Yaya Centre

I have a confession to make. As someone who considers herself a “junior foodie”, one would imagine I would be up to date on all things food in this city. To my great shame, I only recently found out about Alexandre when a friend of mine suggested we meet there one Saturday afternoon.

In my [poor] defense, living minutes away from The Junction means that all other malls have been properly neglected. My visits to Yaya Centre have been limited to the infrequent visit to the Post Office on the 1^st floor (and even that’s every few months, if I even remember to get the mail). I seem to have imaginary blinders on because each time I have been to Yaya, I have simply made a beeline for the Post Office and I am out in under five minutes. Now, if I had bothered to casually stroll around the mall, as people are wont to, I would have noticed Alexandre’s location on the ground floor. And once you notice it, it’s pretty hard to miss it.

The café section of the bakery is brightly lit and simply furnished with a few tables and brightly colored chairs. It was very busy when I got there and was unable to find a seat so it’s probably the kind of place you visit during off-peak hours or simply do a quick take-away. The showcases in the bakery section are chock-full with all kinds of pastries, breads, cakes, and cookies—a kind of pastry heaven (if you’re into that kind of thing). Even with the hive of activity in the café section, the staff members are very helpful and it wasn’t long before one had secured me a little table, wiped it down, and offered me a menu. With the tables practically touching, it was certainly not the place or time to have a chat with a girlfriend so I was quite pleased to notice an upstairs seating area which was much quieter. The mezzanine is furnished bistro-style with wrought iron furniture and is fairly small but perfect for a light meal especially when the sun is out though it can get a little draughty.

Luckily for us, it was a lovely evening so we ended up looking at the dessert section of the menu. The menu is quite varied, offering pastries, desserts, sandwiches, quiches, tarts, and even salads. It had been a while since I’d had an ice-cream so I got my fix courtesy of the “Dame Blanche”, a classic made of vanilla ice-cream, whipped cream, and warm molten chocolate. Their portions are very generous and it took me a long while to finish my ice-cream. It’s certainly not an adventurous ice-cream but it was certainly yummy and I was very pleased with it. The ice-creams come with peculiarly shaped spoons which, if nothing else, make for a great talking point. My friend had the tiramisu which comes with espresso-soaked ladyfingers and a creamy mascarpone filling. Fortunately for my friend, I don’t care much for tiramisu so I didn’t sample any of it but she gave it a definite thumbs-up. We weren’t there long so we didn’t try much of the menu. Their website boasts of a cinnamon-apple bread that’s supposedly very popular so I will definitely try that soon and see if it lives up to the hype.

I’m happy to have discovered Alexandre( however late it might have been) and will be sure to stop treating Yaya like some forgotten stepchild and see what else I’ve missed.

 

 

Update:Swahili Beach Hotel

Situated in beautiful Ukunda, it was an immense pleasure to once again visit this hotel. This is my favorite hotel at the coast. I wanted to share some of the pictures I managed to take before all the fun started. As I said in a previous review, this place ticks all the boxes. I love it.

Bar area..waited here whilst they were checking me in.

how beautiful is this?

Entrance to my awesome room

Living room



Lounge area in bedroom



Terrace

 

Brew Bistro

Brew Bistro, Piedmont Plaza, Ngong Road

Seemingly just in time to enjoy one of our last sunshine-filled weekends, my friends and I decided to have lunch at Brew Bistro & Lounge last Saturday. Despite living a stone’s throw from “Brew”, I’ve only ever sampled from their bar menu on nights out with friends. An extension of the Big Five Breweries Company, Brew is best known for its wide selection of beers, all brewed on-site. With a live DJ or band, depending on the day, Brew is a popular night spot filled with what one would call the young and upwardly-mobile set in Nairobi; the kind of place one goes to see and be seen.

The dining section is only opened for lunch for groups of 20+ people and then only with a reservation. We didn’t know this so when we got there, we were seated on the terrace. With the management’s fairly recent decision to place banquettes along the side of the terrace, what has resulted is a very crowded and cluttered-looking area. We tried to sit at one of the banquettes but the nearest table of six people was so close to us it felt almost like we were sitting on top of each other. I am exaggerating (just the tiniest bit) but you can definitely forget trying to have an intimate or formal meeting unless you don’t mind other diners over-hearing your conversation. We moved on from a banquette and settled for a table in the middle of the terrace where we had an audience of only two to three waiters at any given time.  This was definitely the lesser of two evils so if you’re a guy trying to get out of the “friend-zone” I’d definitely not recommend lunch at Brew. Dinner, maybe.

The menu is pan-global, offering a fusion of French, European, and Asian cuisine.  It is fairly extensive with several appetizers and a comprehensive vegetarian section. If you’ve dined with vegetarians before it’s hard not to feel sorry for them as most places have a paltry selection of vegetarian dishes—you’re lucky if you find more than two vegetarian dishes. At Brew, vegetarians can choose from a wide range of dishes including lovely sounding ones like the porcini risotto (a risotto with porcini mushrooms, parmesan cheese, and some black truffle), or the naughty-sounding magic mushroom threesome (a Chinese steamed bun with marinated mushrooms, truffle oil, and truffle cream).

Meat lover that I am, I turned to the ‘Butcher’s Block’ section. I ordered the rump steak with a side of hand-cut chips and the honey, rosemary and thyme sauce. My friend ordered the ‘Tournedos Oscar’ which is a round and thick cut of fillet beef stuffed with lobster accompanied with asparagus, rosemary potatoes, and a béarnaise sauce. We both ordered our meat medium-rare—more rare than medium.

 

For drinks, I had a yummy and oh-so-refreshing glass of fresh passion fruit juice while my friend had the Simpils beer-a German pilsner-style beer crafted and brewed in-house. The drinks menu is very extensive, comprising beers, more cocktails than I care to count, all of four mocktails, liqueurs, shooters, teas and coffee (boozy or otherwise), and other soft drinks. Wine lovers are also very well catered for as they have an extensive wine list with their cellar boasting more than 1,000 bottles of wine. If you’re tired of Nairobi establishments where you can only order wine as sweet or dry, ordering wine here makes for a refreshing change.

Our meals were on the table in at least half an hour. The presentation of meals was excellent and I was particularly delighted by the little ‘building’ they’d constructed out of my chips. My steak was perfectly done to my preference and the sauce made for a tasty accompaniment. I tasted my friend’s tournedos (yes, I am that person sticking their forks into everyone’s plate and trying everything out) and I instantly wished I’d ordered the same. The tournedos was perfectly salted, and so tender it was almost like chewing a meat-flavored marshmallow—my taste buds didn’t know what had hit them. From that point, my steak tasted rather like sawdust in comparison. In all fairness, had I never tasted my friend’s dish I’d have been raving about my steak. Fortunately for my friend, he practically inhaled his meal so I didn’t have another opportunity to foist a chunk of his meat onto my own plate. My poor steak long forgotten, my friend and I literally had a full-on conversation about just how good his tournedos was. As we did so, the chef came to greet the diners at the table behind us. I was quite pleased to see the chef is nicely chubby. Am I the only one who thinks a chef that looks like he enjoys the fruit of his labor can be trusted? I mean, if he thinks his food is good, then we’re more likely to also be convinced. Just me, then? Yes, no? Finding a skinny chef, in my opinion, is akin to finding out that either Ben or Jerry of Ben & Jerry ice-cream fame is lactose-intolerant and a vegan to boot! It simply makes no sense.

Despite the cluttered ambience and odd influx of flies on the terrace, the attentive waiters and low-volume music made for a nice-enough experience. Because where two or three Kenyans are gathered, one is bound to be late, the straggler of the group came long after our lunch plates had been cleared. She ordered the chicken wings and a cocktail called “Mamba”, a drink made of dark rum, spiced rum, Sambuca, Bacardi, cachaça, and some fresh orange and pineapple juice which is probably just to ensure one doesn’t end up plastered on the floor! If you’re after a proper stiff drink, that’s the one to go for. Happy hour is from 5-7 pm and there is a BOGOF on all beers and mojitos. By 6 pm the place was starting to fill up and the music’s volume was turned all the way up and our lazy, quiet Saturday was done with just like that. I went from being suitably dressed for the day to looking wholly inappropriate compared to all the girls in their skyscraper heels and short frocks (I quite like that word ‘frock’). By 8 pm, the party was in full swing with the DJ playing the latest R&B and hip hop hits from the night before. On a side note, do DJs just assume people won’t go to the same place two nights in a row? One of my friends, having been there only the Friday before, knew the whole playlist!

I am yet to have my proper dining experience at Brew as I hear the dining section and chef’s bar make for a great experience. I’ll be sure to try both out, make my own judgments, and share with y’all. In the meantime, I’ll be here dreaming about the Tournedos Oscar!

 

 

Nairobi Restaurant Week: Oasis Restaurant

Oasis, Southern Sun Mayfair, Parklands Road

My other restaurant jaunt courtesy of Nairobi Restaurant Week saw a bunch of us settle for Oasis at the Southern Sun Mayfair hotel. To be honest, after a lot of back-and-forth over whatsapp groups, my vote for Oasis was simply because their menu had FOUR desserts on offer. I must have been in serious need of a sugar fix because the thought of having the wonderful opportunity to choose from two kinds of cheesecake or chocolate mousse totally won me over—sod the fruit medley (a fruit salad is a fruit salad is a fruit salad!) In any case, the rest of the menu, we all agreed, was very good and since none of us had been to Oasis before, it was settled.

The restaurant is located next to one of the hotel’s swimming pools, has quite an informal atmosphere, and has an outdoor seating area adjacent to the pool which must make it great for daytime dining. The restaurant specializes in buffet dinners with live-cooking stations. As far as I could tell, other than the hotel residents who shuttled in intermittently, there was only one other group ordering from the NRW prix fix menu. I initially thought that would work to our advantage as the wait staff had only two tables ordering a la carte. However, once the latecomers of the group finally rocked up (almost an hour late!), the service was incredibly slow. Our waitress, Dorothy, bless her heart, was so timid and quiet she was literally whispering to the table—and there were seven of us! Taking drink orders took way too long as did getting the wine list. When it did come and a bottle ordered, my friend who had ordered the wine let me know that it wasn’t the one she’d selected. All the same, with spirits high and desserts to look forward to, we let it slide.

For starters, between the seven of us we ordered deep-fried calamari rings, the chicken, avocado and mango salad, and the tomato and tamarind soup—and endured a half hour wait to get them to the table. In fairness, we realized that the meals were being prepared at a different kitchen when we noticed that our meals were being delivered by three people in those room service contraptions. I can be very finicky about service delivery so I’m afraid I was that person who kept pointing out just how long we had to wait for everything. That said, my calamari rings were absolutely delicious. They were fresh and not rubbery (as calamari can sometimes be) and came with a wasabi mayonnaise that I would gladly have had on its own (it was that good). The rest of the starters were just as good although the boys were sad to find that the chicken-avo-mango salad was a cold salad. Serves them right for being so late to dinner.

For my main course, I had the beef fillet topped with a blue cheese sauce and accompanied with potato wedges and grilled vegetables. I was slightly disappointed that my beef was well done even though I had ordered it medium rare. It was slightly chewy but very flavorful thanks to the blue cheese sauce. Two of my friends ordered the lamb chops that came with grilled vegetables and rice, and they were quite pleased with their choice even if the vegetables were slightly overcooked. My friend who had ordered the chicken parmigiana dish had reason to be the most satisfied of the bunch. I tried some of it and instantly wished I’d ordered the same and not been swayed by my love of blue cheese (the stinkier, the better).

Beef Fillet with potato wedges



Chicken parmigiana

Lamb chops with grilled vegetables and rice

 After making the case for Oasis on the basis of how many desserts were on offer, I was really hoping that they would live up to my very grand expectations. I was torn between the strawberry cheesecake and the mango and chocolate mousse but eventually settled on the latter—something I was very happy about once I tasted everyone else’s dessert (giving the fruit medley a miss, thank you very much!) The mousse was YUM! Big shame the portion size was so small. It was actually a normal-sized dessert but I enjoyed it so much I wished it had been at least two times bigger. Two of us had the orange cheesecake, one the strawberry cheesecake, and one whose friendship I shall reconsider, had the fruit medley. It figures that the fruit medley was made up of big slices of fruit while my chocolate mousse was of meager proportions. Ha!

chocolate mousse

Orange cheesecake

Strawberry cheesecake

Fruit medley

 

My experience at Oasis was one of those where the great company thankfully more than made up for the shortfalls in anything else. While the food was good, the service left A LOT to be desired. In hindsight, I would return to Oasis to enjoy the buffet dinner where the food is already prepared and I can do without having to sit for long periods of time waiting for my meal—and I can eat as many desserts as I can stomach!

 

Nairobi Restaurant Week - Moniko's Restaurant

NAIROBI RESTAURANT WEEK 2014

Kui Kihagi

If you doubted that Nairobi is becoming an increasingly cosmopolitan city, the premier Restaurant Week proves otherwise. Already a fixture on the restaurant scene in major cities like London, New York, and Cape Town, Nairobi’s very own Restaurant Week kicked off on January 30^th. In sync with Kenya’s Golden Jubilee year, more than 50 restaurants around the city each came up with different prix fix menus priced at either Ksh. 1250 or Ksh. 1750.  Nairobi Restaurant Week (NRW 2014) has proved so successful that it has been extended to the 12^th of February, with 20 restaurants participating. Not ones to sleep on such a brilliant opportunity, my friends and I decided to try out two restaurants during NRW 2014.

 

Moniko’s Restaurant, Valley Arcade

An increasingly popular restaurant, Moniko’s has a no-fuss-no-frills atmosphere with what I can only describe as kick-ass food. The garden restaurant, with its stark white outdoor furniture and water fountain, is the perfect setting for a great meal or cold drink with friends. It’s exactly the kind of place where one whiles an afternoon and evening away. With the sun still setting quite late, it was still light outside so my friend and I decided to sit in the garden restaurant and “get our grub on!”

To our great surprise, Moniko’s actually had a FOUR course menu! For Ksh. 1250, that is a total bargain. To maximize our experience, we both decided to order different items off the menu so we could compare the different items. This, of course, is only wise to do if you don’t mind someone eating off of your plate. We both had the pineapple and mint juice which was delicious. It had just the right amount of mint to give it a refreshing kick. I have previously had disastrous experiences with pineapple and mint juices at other restaurants so I was quite pleased that my gamble paid off. With only two choices of soup, I had the salmon and asparagus cappuccino while my friend had the watercress and lemon soup. I quite preferred the salmon and asparagus soup as I found the watercress and lemon soup too tangy for my liking.

 

I love cheese so when it came to selecting a starter, it was a no-brainer to order the goat cheese which was served on a bed of beetroot and rocket salad, and drizzled with a raspberry and balsamic reduction. YUM!! The soft texture of the goat cheese and crunch of the rocket made for a wonderful combination of textures, and the peppery taste of the rocket was a lovely complement to the sweetness of the beetroot and raspberry reduction. My friend had the seafood and spinach roulade which was accompanied with mustard seed sauce. Though his starter was on the smaller side, it was flavorful.

 

The service, courtesy of our waiter Saro, was efficient and we didn’t have to wait more than 5 minutes for each new course to be delivered. After soup and a starter, I was already quite stuffed by the time our main courses were delivered. My friend had the grilled fillet of Laikipa beef which came with porcini mushrooms, crispy onions, croquette potatoes and grilled veggies. Though the beef was a tad too salty, the potatoes and grilled veggies were perfectly done. I ordered the duck (later substituted with chicken), which was braised in a creamy tree tomato, lemongrass and star aniseed sauce, and accompanied with vegetable rice. My dish was pleasant enough but nothing to write home about (although obviously it made it on this blog).

 

For dessert we had a delicious Kenya tea parfait topped with a berry coulis.

 Needless to say, we were stuffed at the end of dinner. I had a large cappuccino to top it all off (something I regretted at 3 a.m when I couldn’t fall asleep), while my friend kept going with the pineapple and mint juice. The great thing about Moniko’s is that even without the super competitive NRW price, the usual menu is affordably priced and it’ll remain a go-to favorite for drinks and/or a meal even after the NRW fuss has come and gone.

SECRET GARDEN

Hello people, I am back after a long time to share my experiences in the eating world. I guess I have lost enough weight to allow me to eat out again...hehehe!! Onto the first restaurant I visited recently.

Secret Garden is a restaurant located in 14 Riverside Drive, Nairobi. I had heard a lot about this restaurant from friends, so when I got the opportunity to go...I decided why not!

 I guess it is called Secret Garden because it seems tucked away in this office park. It has indoor and outdoor seating. We opted for outdoor. It was quite busy and only one table was available. Lots of people seemed to be having their lunch meetings.

We got down to business right away. I ordered the sweet pork chops, please note that the waiter confirmed my order before going to the kitchen. My friend ordered the chicken. Once again our very friendly waiter read the order back to us.

Food was on our tables in 15 minutes. I looked at my food, very aesthetically put on my plate. However, I wondered since when pork looked like this; but I was hungry so I kept my mouth shut.

The lamb chops

 

Chicken

 

Tasting my "pork", it tasted just like nyama choma. I thought perhaps my senses had gone kaput. So I forced my friend to taste it. After almost eating half my plate, he agreed with me that it was not pork at all, and there was nothing sweet about it. I called a different waiter who told me that I had been served lamb chops. He called the waiter who served us. Our dear waiter was baffled as to what I was complaining about as he was sure I had ordered the lamb chops. This mind you is the same waiter who read back my order to me to confirm he had written down the right thing. I asked him to check his notepad and hey presto!!!I had indeed ordered the pork.

So we had to wait 15 more minutes for the right order. Yes, I wanted what I wanted. If not that I was in good company, I am sure the diva in me would have come out!
So finally pork arrived. It was delicious. I really hadn't liked the lamb chops earlier, I felt they needed to be marinated more to give them flavor.The pork though was amazing. It was well cooked, tender, sweet but not too much.

Finally!!amazing pork.

We were too stuffed to have dessert though, so maybe next time.