I’ve been in Nairobi for two weeks already, and yet I have seen little of the city. I commute between my apartment and my job, 300 yards away, and my greatest excursions are to the supermarket or Ya-Ya center. Once I went downtown. It’s sad.
Fortunately, our colleague Lee came to my rescue and that of my friends Luke and Avi last night. He decided we had to sample Nairobi fare outside our little district, and took us to the Indian part of town. On the way we saw a couple of amazing looking temples. Our destination was Diamond Plaza, a little, very informal open-air small mall that offers a myriad of restaurant stands that serve you while you eat in the semi-open air or in your car. Most of the offerings are Indian – though there is also Chinese, ice cream and a couple of juice stands.
I can’t recall the name of the stand from which I got my food – I can only tell you that its waiters wore bright yellow jackets. I can also tell you that my chicken korma (Ks. 350 – $5.25) was delicious, not as sweet as other kormas I’ve had, but with depths and vibrancy. The portion was very generous and I endeavored to eat it all. I also got some naan (Ks. 50 – 75c), which I used to scoop the chicken. Kenyans are not big on eating utensils.
Avi got a bunch of south Indian snack food from another stand. Most of it was quite good, he never gets to eat this type of food at home, so he was quite happy. Luke got a mixed grill from yet another stand, and he was happy with it – though he confessed his food wasn’t as good as mine. I had a bite of a marinated kebab, and I liked the strong flavor and the fact that the meat was actually tender, but it was too spicy for me. Lee had a scrawny looking chicken tikka leg, he didn’t mention whether he liked it.
We loved the atmosphere, the lights and the people – but it was a Thursday night and comparably quiet. It’s supposed to be a mad house on weekend nights, so I wouldn’t try it then.
Diamond Plaza
Parklands
Nairobi
Kenya
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