Nairobi Food Guide: Nyama Choma, Ugali & the City's Best Restaurants

Nairobi's food scene has transformed dramatically in the past decade — a city that was once overlooked gastronomically is now home to a diverse restaurant culture that reflects Kenya's extraordinary ethnic mix and its growing middle class's appetite for culinary exploration. Nyama choma (roasted meat, typically goat or beef) is Kenya's national culinary institution — a social ritual as much as a dish, best experienced at Carnivore restaurant (serving game meats alongside standard proteins in an enormous open-air charcoal setting) or at a local joint in the Westlands neighbourhood with a tusker beer. Ugali, the stiff maize porridge that accompanies virtually every Kenyan meal, with sukuma wiki (collard greens) and chicken is the everyday staple. The Westlands neighbourhood along Waiyaki Way has the city's most cosmopolitan restaurant strip: Japanese, Lebanese, Ethiopian (Habesha restaurant), and contemporary Kenyan cuisine. Village Market and Garden City mall food halls offer the most comfortable environment for trying diverse cuisines. Nairobi Java House is the city's beloved coffee shop chain — Kenyan coffee served with characteristic pride.