From ox's balls to beef stew, Avril-Ann Braganza braves up to try all kinds of Kenyan dishes
A quick scan through the menu at Tamambo Karen Blixen Coffee Garden brought me to the 'Journey through Africa' section; just what I was looking for. On our first day in Nairobi I was itching to try something African and picked the Zanzibari samaki wa nazi, assuming it would be chicken. But as the neatly plated dish was placed before me, I wasn't happy to find out it was fish. Hunger pangs made me dig in anyway and for the first time in my life, I actually enjoyed a plateful of fish. Served with rice and spinach, the well-cooked red snapper was an explosion of coastal flavours – coconut cream, ukwaju (tamarind), dhania, garlic, ginger, tomato and a hint of chilli. Light yet filling, and delicious, there couldn't have been a better option, especially as dinner was planned at Carnivore.
Described as the ultimate 'Beast of a Feast', Carnivore is the stop for you, if you are one. There's a little white flag on our table. "Put it down when you can't eat anymore," explains a waiter. And so it begins: every few minutes, carvers return to our table with skewers and Maasai swords laden with beef, chicken, crocodile, camel, lamb ribs, turkey, pork chops, beef sausages and even ox's balls till we admitted defeat and scrammed to lower down the flag before another carver could magically appear by our side. Served with an array of sauces, the meats are roasted over charcoal. Served as a meat ball, tha camel meat is soft and tasty, but I couldn't finish my helping of crocodile, which was chewy or ox's testicles, which reminded me of pâté. We wash the meal down with the in-house cocktail Dawa, which means medicine or magic potion in Swahili. Prepared on a portable tray by Dr Dawa, the 'medicine man', it's a tasty mix of vodka, lime, sugar, honey and ice.
While trying exotic meats was certainly an experience, the simple beef stew served at Cottar's 1920 Safari Camp, in Maasai Mara was unforgettable. Served with rice, the tender, melt-in-the-mouth meat, marinated in flour, salt and pepper is cooked with onion, freshly ground black pepper, tomato puree, beef stock, thyme, carrots, potatoes and peas. An absolutely divine meal, it reminded me of my grandmother's curry that no one else has been able to recreate so far.
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