Best Restaurants in Nairobi

Nairobi has one of Africa's most sophisticated and international dining scenes, shaped by the city's position as the continent's most important diplomatic and NGO hub, the East African Community's business capital, and a city with a significant affluent domestic population with considerable appetite for quality international food alongside traditional Kenyan and East African cooking.

Westlands, Karen, and the CBD are the primary restaurant districts. Kenyan cuisine — nyama choma (grilled meat), ugali (maize porridge), githeri (beans and maize), and tilapia from Lake Victoria — is best experienced at dedicated local restaurants like Carnivore and Nyama Mama. The international restaurant scene covers Ethiopian, Indian, Lebanese, Italian, and Chinese cooking at a standard that reflects Nairobi's cosmopolitan character. The city's café culture has also developed significantly, with excellent specialty coffee reflecting Kenya's world-famous coffee production.