-
Addis Ababa Restaurant
Unlike the Ethiopian capital itself, this place is easily missed as it's tucked away up some stairs in an otherwise unremarkable block. Locate it and you'll also find good authentic food and occasional live music.
-
Alan Bobbé's Bistro
The talented M Bobbé established this superb French bistro in 1962, and Nairobi gourmets and gourmands alike have been worshipping at his culinary altar ever since. Even reading the chatty handwritten menu is enough to send the palate into raptures. The interior, doused in red velvet, adds perfectly to the recherché ambience. Reservations and smart dress are encouraged, cigars and pipes are not. Look out for the poodle above Koinange St.
-
Bangkok Chinese Restaurant
The Bangkok has been in business for a number of years but was clearly named by someone with no grasp of geography, as there's virtually nothing Thai on the menu at all. If the disappointment gets too much you can always crack open a bottle of Moët.
-
Beneve Coffee House
A small self-service chop shop that has locals queuing outside in the mornings waiting for it to open. Food ranges from stews to curries, fish and chips, samosas, pasties and a host of other choices, all at low, low prices.
-
Blue Nile Ethiopian Restaurant
One of those rare places with a character all its own, Blue Nile's quirky lounge couldn't be mistaken for anywhere else, painted with stories from Ethiopian mythology - if you've ordered one of the many goat dishes, it's best not to read the panels about poison until you've finished your meal! For the full communal African eating experience, order the seven-person doro wat (spicy traditional chicken stew) with a few glasses of tej (honey wine).
-
Café 21
More of a cafeteria than a purebreed coffeehouse, the neat little 21 does both full meals and snacks or 'bitings'. Sandwiches, grills, pasta and lamb chops all feature, and there's a lunch buffet.
-
California Cookies
If your sweet tooth needs pulling, try this busy biscuit bakery for a dose of sugar.
-
Carnivore
Vegetarians, please look away now. This is hands down the most famous nyama choma restaurant in Kenya. At the entrance is a huge barbecue pit laden with real swords of beef, pork, lamb, chicken, camel, ostrich and crocodile. As long as the paper flag on your table is flying, waiters will keep bringing the meat, which is carved right at the table.
-
Chic Joint
One of our favourite new bar-restaurant discoveries, chic might not be the first word that springs to mind but grills, stews and nyama by the kilo should never go out of fashion. Fresh fish is delivered daily and the tilapia is generally excellent. The patio seating is separated from Uhuru Hwy by a thick hedge, with some sizeable speakers providing music in the evening.
-
China Jiangsu Restaurant
A stylish rooftop restaurant above the Soin shopping centre. Prices are very reasonable considering the classy balcony setting, and the food's not to be sniffed at either.
-
Advertisement
-
Chowpaty Pure Vegetarian Restaurant
A great Indian vegetarian restaurant. The menu is as much a manifesto as a food list, but the food is excellent and includes lots of South Indian dishes such as dhosa (lentil pancakes stuffed with vegetable curry).
-
Dancing Spoon Café & Wine Bar
This bright canteen serves good Western and Kenyan food into the evening, and it's a great place for a steak and beer before you take in a movie.
-
Etouch Food Court
A central collection of cheap'n'easy fast-food joints such as Nando's, Chicken Inn, Creamy Inn, Pizza Inn…you get the idea.
-
Fiesta Restaurant & Bar
Despite the Latin resonances of a Hispanic name and bright adobe-style décor, the brand-new Fiesta doesn't have anything remotely Tex-Mex on offer, concentrating instead on a fine selection of upmarket international dishes. Staff are smiley and almost unnervingly eager to please, and the chefs do themselves particular credit on some very un-Kenyan recipes such as nasi goreng and pork chops with a honey and mustard glaze. The popular bar area occasionally hosts low-key live crooners.
-
FK Restaurant
This immaculate daytime cafeteria at the rear of an office block makes an appealing alternative to the grubbier canteens around it; there's an interior gallery area if you like to look down on your fellow diners. The special breakfast is good value.
-
Furusato Japanese Restaurant
Behind the Sarit Centre, this is a very stylish place with seductive set Japanese meals including sushi, teppanyaki and tempura. The sushi and sashimi here are delicious. Reservations are recommended.
-
Hong Kong Restaurant
A bright-red restaurant with good food and not too much clichéd décor. It's the cheapest proper Chinese in town and is accordingly popular.
-
Kahawa
Kahawa has an unusual coastal theme - the counter even resembles a traditional dhow, complete with mast. The menu, however, is anything but old-fashioned, proffering an ever-changing cavalcade of unexpected specials to complement the grills and steaks, from frittata to a 'Mexican breakfast'. Speaking of breakfast, this is indeed a good spot to take the most important meal of the day.
-
Kengeles Bar & Restaurant
Run on the lines of a Western chain restaurant, Kengeles' impressively varied menu encompasses burgers, grills, Mexican, African, Indonesian, Asian and buffet options, and the open-air balcony is a fine place to dine. On a quiet night, though, the service can be truly lousy. The chain was rumoured to be in financial difficulties at time of writing, and had also seemingly fallen out of favour with Nairobi council.
-
Advertisement
-
Malindi Dishes
A great little Swahili canteen. As the name suggests, this place serves great food from the coast, including pilau (curried rice with meat), biryanis and coconut fish, with side dishes such as ugali , naan bread and rice. You'll get a grand feed here, but it's a Muslim place, so it's closed for prayer at lunchtime on Friday.
-
Nyama Choma Place
This place is highly rated by Kenyans. There's a butchery where you select your meat and then it's tossed on the barbie - any day of the week you'll see clouds of delicious-smelling smoke rising from the restaurant. It's best to come in a group as meat is sold in the form of whole goat legs or complete racks of ribs. Chips or ugali are also available.
-
Nyama Choma Stalls
A definite step down the scale, but worth it for the atmosphere, are the backstreet stalls near the Railway Museum, behind the Shell petrol station. Foreigners are a rare sight, but you'll be warmly welcomed and encouraged to sample other Kenyan dishes such as matoke (mashed plantains). A decent lunch should cost no more than around KSh200 . There are similar stalls near the Kenyatta National Hospital, but you might not want to eat so close to sick people!
-
Panda Chinese Restaurant
With the best Chinese food in Nairobi, this very classy restaurant is hidden away on Kaunda St.
-
Pasara Café
A stylish, modern bar-brasserie with good snacks, sandwiches, grills and breakfasts. After it turns into a popular upscale bar.
