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 30th. 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 12th 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.
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