Testing our Tastebuds in Nairobi

Guest Delight is everyone’s business. This hospitality philosophy is what drives the core of Angama. But how can we delight our guests if we do not understand what their expectations are when they come and stay with us? As Camp Host of Angama Amboseli it is important for my team (food & beverage) to have a sense of what our guests could be eating and drinking around the world, and I wanted to expose my team to this in any way possible. So, what better way than to take a trip to Nairobi to understand what the best restaurants on our doorstep are cooking?

Eager to experience all that ‘The City Under the Sun’ had to offer (both professionally and personally), I left Angama Amboseli with a team of six (two Butlers, Paul and Andrew, and four Chefs, Tiya, Alfred, David and Joseph) to Nairobi.

Our culinary tour started off excellently as we sat down for lunch at Cultiva (Nairobi's current trendsetter). I loved the beetroot salad drizzled with blue cheese dressing, but every dish ordered became a firm favourite for the team. Besides the food, the service was seamless; they showed a good sense of teamwork, and you could tell that the coordination of staff is efficient – it quickly became understandable how Cultiva was gaining its reputation.

The next day, we headed up to The Crafty Chameleon for lunch. It was impressive to see how they have made their services unique, with the addition of a craft brewery in the middle of the restaurant being a brilliant touch. For the menu, you had to scan a QR code on your phone; this left the team flabbergasted at how technology simplifies things in today's world. We would not implement this in the more natural safari world, but it was a fun experience for the team nonetheless. I would definitely recommend The Crafty Chameleon to anybody who loves a fun gastro pub.

It wasn't all food as we popped in at Spring Valley Coffee in Lower Kabete. Here, we went through the whole process of coffee roasting from the beans to cup.

Our food tour wasn't complete without a visit to Brown's Cheese Farm, where we learnt about the processes behind all of their cheeses. We then enjoyed pizza for lunch — great inspiration and ideas for using their incredible cheeses at the Amboseli pizza oven in the Tortillis Woodland! We also sampled naturally fermented drinks like kombucha, a first for some of us, and it seemed to go down very well with the team.

Ankole Grill was where one of my favourite memories from this trip took place ... Tiya decided to try something new for dinner and ordered West African mbuzi (goat in Swahili) and groundnut stew served with rice and kachumbari (fresh tomato and onion salad relish). It turned out to be too hot to handle, while, on the other hand, it seemed easy as pie to Andrew. 

We wrapped our food tour with breakfast at River Café in the Karura Forest and lunch at Open House (one of Nairobi's best Indian restaurants).

On this tour, we quickly realised that we have very high standards when it comes to service and food. We not only broadened our taste buds but also had the opportunity to discuss what our guests could be eating elsewhere, what we could improve on, or what we could take back to the lodge. Needless to say, Tiya will not be taking the stew recipe with him.