Going out in Nairobi intro and The Carnivore

If you make the decision that it is too dangerous to go out at night in Nairobi then I can't help you with this. I was told by my boss when I first arrived that I should never leave my house after dark, with the next breath she gave me evening classes to teach twice a week. She wasn't very helpful in some ways.

However if you've a bit of pluck (and I would still advise some degree of caution) then there are a whole load of places to go out at night. I was going to split everything up into bars, clubs and restaurants but they don't split very well. Everywhere covers all of these functions. I guess some places are better than others so I'll try to make that clear.

I lived in Langata so this is very Karen/Langata biased but tough.

Because I'm having a bit of difficulty working out links on this blog, you can find the various places that I'll talk about here:

Talisman in Karen
The Veranda in Langata
Handi and Haveli Restaurants, Westlands and on the airport road
Muthaiga Country Club

Having just been back to Kenya, I've found out that the Outside Inn, and the Black Cotton Club have both closed down now. This means that there are very few options for going out late in Karen/Langata. You can go to the carnivore, or there are tamer options in the Rusty Nail or Karen Blixen Coffee garden, but if you want to dance it's Carnivore or Westlands. If anyone wants to set up a nightclub in Nairobi, there'd be quite a demand for it in Karen I'd suggest


The Carnivore

This is an obvious place to start. Probably not worth a trip for the food if you are a vegetarian. They have a famous all you can eat meat feast which includes as much game meat as is legal at the time. I don't know if the rules have changed recently but there was a law that put much of the variety off the menu. This is a bit of a shame but actually you get an amazing meal whatever the law happens to stipulate at the time.

The start you off with some bread, then you get a baked potato, salad and the rules. While your flag is flying you want more meat, you can knock your flag over if you want a breather and eventually you will have to surrender.

Then comes the meat. Waiters are busy at all times with huge spikes with joints of meat on them. It is definately worth trying everything they have on offer (don't fill up on sausages). My favourites are warthog (I know they are sweet but they taste so good) and ostridge meat balls, actually, ostridge is superbly tasty in any form.

While all this is going on there is a good amount of hustle and bustle. Then suddenly all the waiters will charge for one table and start singing and dancing and banging drums for someone's birthday. You get Jambo Bwana and happy birthday and I have never heard Happy Birthday sung so tunefully and with so much enthusiasm, yet they must do it at least 10 times a night, every night.

Also of note is Dr Dawa (Dawa means medicine). He comes around with a huge bottle of vodka, honey, and a million limes which he makes into a cocktail called Dawa. It's really good but squash your limes about as much as possible as this makes it a truly fabulous drink. My friend's Dad used to run the carnivore and he tells that Dr Dawa was sacked quite a number of times but always had to be re-employed as he was so good at his job.

It is also possible to have other meals at the Carnivore. There is a really good bar type menu (have a cheesy dribbler burger).

The Carnivore turns into a night club which is very popular especially on Wednesdays and at the weekend. It had an over 25 night one time I was there but no-one asked me how old I was and I was about 8 years older than the majority of people there. No I'm not 25 yet. Let's just say it is essentially a young place. In reality though, that can be said of most of the places in and around Karen and Langata, with a few exceptions which I will tell you about. Lots of guys much older than me, and lots of girls much much younger than me.

On the whole the Carnivore has a brilliant atmosphere, amazing food and is ranked as one of the top fifty in the world, I think. It is probably the only restaurant on that list to have free condoms in the loos. I can't think why the others wouldn't.