Guilty pleasures that must be indulged



Diabolical roasting pit at the Carnivore restaurant

It does not seem the politically correct thing to do in a country that has so many beautiful safari parks and a variety of wild life, but there is a guilty pleasure in eating at the smart, famous and expensive Carnivore  restaurant in Langata, a suburb of Nairobi, where the waiters invade your table with wave after wave of a bewildering variety of spit-roasted meats until you literally surrender by raising a white flag at your table.  Almost the Sweetest Taboo.

Alligator & ostrich on the menu

We went for lunch on a week day and the car park was filled with smart cars and the dining area packed by businessmen with their customers.  The fishy crocodile and gamey ostrich were definitely acquired tastes so we stuck to the safety of lamb, chicken and beef.  Although the service and ambiance was interesting, it did not warrant spending an entire afternoon at the establishment.

In fact, due to its historic inheritance, there is a variety of cuisine in Nairobi ranging from expensive English cuisine to the exotic Indian extravagance of the reasonably priced Haandi, in the Westlands shopping mall in central Nairobi, where the Illiad-sized menu will keep you undecided until the exciting aroma and your hunger gets the better of you.  If mixing smart shopping and cuisine is on your list of things to do, then one of the nicest places to escape to is the Village Market on Limuru Road a few miles from downtown Nairobi.
 

Ro Ro Chinese dining at Village Market

Here the wives and children of Nairobi's expatriate community while away their day in smart cafes and food malls around pleasant, artificial waterfalls and lazy courtyards.  We found the wife of the Chinese owner of the Ro Ro Chinese restaurant owned restaurants in a number of countries in Africa.

We rounded off a busy day with tea and English tea cakes in the open air patio at the Karen Blixen Coffee Garden and Restaurant overlooking lush green gardens and lawns.  As we discussed the sights seen and people we had met during the day, a bustle of very officious and well-dressed men and women suddenly gathered around the entrance to the main restaurant and luxurious wooden bar.  We were told that the Kenyan vice president was visiting. 

Bird table in Karen Blixen Coffee Garden

The crowd soon disappeared as a monsoon-like shower had everyone scurrying off with their umbrellas to their cars and calm and tranquility returned once more to the gardens that now glistened in the refreshing rain.  The low and whispered conversations continued, at the tables under the covered verandah that surround the elegant house, well into the cool evening as dusk fell and we planned what we were going to do in the days that followed.