Category Archives: Nairobi

Bar/Cafe/Restaurant, Beverages, Cocktails, Kenya, Nairobi, Spirits

Dawa

Updated on 2 Comments

I’m feeling thirsty. No, not that kind of thirst—water can do nothing for me right now. I mean THIR-STY thirsty. Catch my drift? (It’s Friday, don’t think too hard! ;-)) So…this evening, I’m going to take inspiration from all the honey and lemon I have been handling for my hair and make a Dawa. What? You don’t know what a Dawa is? Hmmm…let me tell you a little more then. A Dawa (Swahili for ‘medicine’) is a popular Kenyan cocktail that was popularized by Carnivore (the famous meat eater’s restaurant) and other restaurants owned by The Tamarind Group. It’s a simple … Continue reading Dawa →

Culture, Nairobi, Tanzania

Bridal Shower & Kitchen Party Stories

Updated on 10 Comments

Hi…so did you miss me these past three weeks? Please excuse the silence—it’s just that I got caught up in a flurry of activity related to a cousin’s wedding. You know how weddings can be. But how so exciting! This wedding was particularly exciting for me because it was the first truly Tanzanian wedding I was attending in 18 years. On top of being a great opportunity to catch up with the Tanzanian side of my family, I was looking forward to this wedding because I knew it would offer me a chance to attend some typically Tanzanian wedding functions for … Continue reading Bridal Shower & Kitchen Party Stories →

Nairobi, Product Reviews

Bags Whose Name I Know Not…

Updated on 17 Comments

As a child, growing up in Côte d’Ivoire, I found myself at the Félix Houphouët-Boigny International Airport quite regularly. Often, it would be to send off or welcome my Dad to or from one of his many work trips, but at other times, it would be because I, some other member of my family, and/or one of our many visiting friends and relatives were headed to or from yet another destination by air. Whatever the case, it was during these frequent visits to this airport that I first became aware of the item that I would like to tell you … Continue reading Bags Whose Name I Know Not… →

Arusha, Beverages, Hotels & Accomodation, Moshi, Nairobi, Spirits

Gilbey’s Gin vs. Gordon’s Gin: Which Do You Prefer?

Updated on 28 Comments

In my early twenties, my drink of choice was a gin and tonic. I loved gin and tonics because they were so refreshing. Poured over a lot of ice, a cool gin and tonic went down smooth with just the right amount of fizz and caused me little trouble the following morning, what with gin being a white spirit (as the say: the darker the spirit, the worse the hangover). Whenever I would order a gin and tonic in Nairobi, though, I would often get asked a question that I was rarely clear on how to answer. The question was “What gin … Continue reading Gilbey’s Gin vs. Gordon’s Gin: Which Do You Prefer? →

Bar/Cafe/Restaurant, Beverages, Cocktails, Dar es Salaam, Nairobi, On The Internet

Cocktail Tip: Make Your Own Cocktails

Updated on 16 Comments

In the comment sections of my posts about Soho’s and Mercury Lounge, some readers and I shared our views on the quality of cocktails served at some of Nairobi‘s most popular bars and nightclubs. In that discussion, Mercury Lounge and Casablanca were named as establishments that were thought to serve good cocktails, while Hidden Agenda and Soho’s came up as places to avoid when in search of a good cocktail.

Bar/Cafe/Restaurant, Beverages, Ethiopian/Eritrean Food, Nairobi

Ethiopian Coffee: The Best Coffee According to Me

Updated on 11 Comments

The growing and preparing of coffee is a longstanding tradition in Ethiopia. Ethiopia is where Coffea arabica, the coffee plant, originates. Although coffee is now grown in various parts of the world; Ethiopia still accounts for around 3% of the global coffee market. Today, I’d like to tell you how I first discovered Ethiopian coffee and how it became my favourite coffee of all. Keep reading until the end of this post where I share a video about the Ethiopian Coffee Ceremony and how coffee is generally drunk in Ethiopia. At university, I would drink coffee all the time. During the day, … Continue reading Ethiopian Coffee: The Best Coffee According to Me →

Bar/Cafe/Restaurant, Nairobi

Kosewe / Ranalo Foods (Nairobi)

Updated on 21 Comments

Kosewe/Ranalo Foods 1st Floor, Balfour Hse. Kimathi St., Nairobi Tel: +254-(20)-2249728 www.ranalofoods.com When I am in Nairobi, I often get requests from friends that are visiting from outside the country to take them to a restaurant where they can taste authentic Kenyan food. Of course, I could take them to a place like Blanco’s, which is upscale and serves Kenyan-inspired cuisine, but for real, everyday Kenyan food, the perfect place, in my opinion, is Kosewe (also known as Ranalo Foods), on Kimathi Street in downtown Nairobi.