ChickAboutTown

A friend of mine recently told me: “The one thing I know about Nairobi, is that people really party here.” He had been out on a Wednesday night and told me that everywhere he went, the pubs and clubs were full.

Last night, I got an opportunity to see that for myself. I am not going to lie and say that I don’t normally go out on Wednesday nights - I do - but I hadn’t been out on a Wednesday night for a while!

This Wednesday, I met up with a friend for dinner at Dass Restaurant in Westlands. We had a great time hanging out and catching up, but somehow at 11pm, we still weren’t done with our night out - the stories we had to share were far from over. Since we were in an area with many hangouts, we decided to extend our evening a bit by having a night cap at one of the many bars nearby.

We could hear music blaring from Crooked Q, so that’s the first spot we decided to check out. Crooked Q was PACKED! We could barely find a place to sit and quickly realized that with the music playing so loud, we would have to strain to have any sort of meaningful conversation. Instead, we decided to go downstairs to Havana for “a polite one”.

When we got there, Havana was lively and vibrant and it stayed that way until well past 1am. My friend and I had a great time, though this experience had me thinking: who hangs out on Wednesday night? What motivates this crowd to be out on Wednesday of all days?

Since I am a person who quite enjoys her Wednesday night hangs, I first looked to myself for an answer. When I first started going out on Wednesday nights, I was an obsessed salsa student and, at the time, K1 had a fantastic salsa night, which included salsa instruction as well as the opportunity for freestyle dancing (for free) every Wednesday. Being a bachelorette with no one to go home to, this was one of the most fun and productive ways to spend a Wednesday evening. My night out would normally end by 10.30pm, and though I had great fun, it somehow threw me off a little bit for the rest of my work week.

A little later, when I no longer had an 8-to-5 to go to, I would go out on Wednesday night because that’s when the rest of the world would start to come alive. For whatever reason, on Monday and Tuesday, everyone seemed to try to remain focused on work, going straight home after work or doing so after running a couple of errands. On Wednesday, however, all of a sudden people longed to wet their throats and catch up with friends; the city would come to life at night again. On Wednesday therefore, there would be ample opportunity and reason to go out, so I would.

Do you go out on Wednesday nights? If you do, what prompts you? Where do you hang out at?

I look forward to hearing what you have to say.

Biche

Nairobians, where do you go to eat nyama choma? Do you go out for nyama choma at all? When in Rome, I suggest you do like the Romans - when in Kenya, you must enjoy the local delicacies!

I don’t eat nyama choma very often but, sometimes, when it’s nice outside, I like to sit out in the sun and enjoy my favorite kind of nyama choma - “Beef Marination” - at The Hood, a joint not far from Yaya. Have you ever heard of meat marination (also known as meat marinade)?  If you haven’t, then you sure are missing out!

First, let me start by telling you about The Hood. The Hood is an establishment located in Kilimani, on Kasuku Road (not far from Chaka Road). Judging from the number of cars parked in front of it (despite its very large parking lot) I think it’s safe to say that The Hood is a very popular establishment.

I first heard of The Hood through my mother and aunt who were meeting someone there for drinks and invited me to tag along. We were all smitten by the “Chicken Fry”, chicken cooked in a tomato gravy along with potatoes. Anyone who has tasted this before will surely understand why we were so smitten. Since that first night, The Hood has become a regular hangout for me.

Why would I recommend that you go to The Hood? First and foremost, because it has great food. As I mentioned already, the Chicken Fry, the Beef Marination (grilled beef which is later wrapped in foil with onions and then charcoal-grilled some more), the Roast Chicken, and the Mutura (a kind of African sausage) are all amazing! Furthermore, these goodies as well as the beverages are all sold at great (understand: extremely low) prices! The Hood has all this plus a great outdoor environment, where you can comfortably soak in as much sun as you wish, and catch up with friends for hours on end.

I don’t know if I can truly adequately put The Hood experience into words. You really won’t be able to get it until you’ve been there yourself. What I can tell you is that there hasn’t been a person yet who I have taken to The Hood who did not enjoy the experience. I have friends who come in from out of town and request it by name!

Well, now you know. If you would like to try The Hood out for yourself, here are directions to get there: On Argwings Kodhek, coming from Yaya (in the direction of Hurlingham), turn left onto Chaka Road. Turn right immediately after Chaka Place, and then turn on your first left. The Hood will be marked by a signboard on your right. If you get to CVS plaza, then you’ve definitely gone too far.

As much as I love The Hood, allow me to give you a word of advice about the amount of time it takes to get your food served. Like most Nyama Choma joints in Nairobi, the meat takes about 45 minutes to an hour to get to you. When you are hungry, that’s just too long to wait, in my opinion. To avoid this, I recommend that you call in advance and place an order beforehand. You can do this by calling +254-20-2731410 or +254-720-794824. The Hood takes its phone orders seriously and has the food ready in the time that they specify. (When I used to work a regular 9-to-5 with a set lunch break, I would often go to The Hood for lunch - having ordered before, of course - and still be able to make it back to the office on time.)

If you’ve never been to The Hood before and are looking for a great place to have nyama choma any day of the week at practically any time (The Hood will serve meat well until midnight on most days), I recommend it highly. When you get there, I recommend you order the Beef Marination or the Kuku Fry. I doubt you’ll be disappointed.

I look forward to hearing what you have to say when you do try it out.

(Click here to read another review of the The Hood.)

Cheers, 
Biche

Soho’s
Parklands Rd, Westlands
Tel: +254-20-3745710

Nairobians, where do you go when you are in the mood for some serious dancing (and by that I do not mean structured dancing like salsa)? I mean shake-a-leg dancing when you truly want to bust a move and express yourself? For me, hands down, it boils down to one of two places - Dolce on Koinange Street or Soho’s in Westlands. Today, I would like to tell you about the latter!

Soho’s is located near Unga House, not far from the crafts market across from Sarit. I start with its location because it always surprises me when I find someone who doesn’t know where Soho’s is. Surprisingly, this happens often enough.

As I was saying, Soho’s is a bar/club in Westlands. I am not quite sure how to express how much I like Soho’s, so let me just start by describing it physically. Soho’s has 3 distictive sections. As you enter the establishment, the first area you come to is an outdoor area which feels more like a bar than a club, followed by an indoor bar area and dance floor downstairs, and lastly, if you venture further, you get to the VIP section upstairs. Yes, Soho’s is a two-level nightclub. What’s cool about these two levels is that they are not entirely separate from each other but rather, the VIP section overlooks the dance floor below - sort of like a mezzanine.

I first fell in love with Soho’s because of the downstairs bar and dance floor area. I loved the ambiance - I felt it was really all about dancing. The music at Soho’s always has me jumping to my feet at almost every song! Soho’s is one of those place where everyone is so focused on having a good time that they mind their own business, allowing you to dance whichever way you want. Soho’s is also one of the few places in Nairobi where you can just turn around and dance with a stranger acceptably. I don’t know what it is about Soho’s, but as I say, people are normally in a jovial mood and just out to have a good time. I’ve spent many late nights dancing away at Soho’s. I am ashamed to say that the club even once closed on my friends and me when we were having too much fun to call it quits of our own accord.

Recently, I have a renewed love for Soho’s - this time not for the downstairs section (which is still pretty hot) but for the upstairs VIP section. Let’s be clear on one thing: I am not a Soho’s VIP! Somehow though, lately, I’ve been finding myself in the VIP section more often than before. Somehow, the company I am with always heads up to this section.

When I first went to Soho’s VIP, I thought it was completely boring and wannabe. I felt that the real partying took place downstairs. When a good song would come on, I would quickly run downstairs to really enjoy it. Over time though, I’ve come to love the atmosphere upstairs. I’ve learned to appreciate the spaciousness there as well as the company I find there (I am not being a snob or anything, I just keep finding a lot of good lost long friends there, and bump into new interesting acquaintances all the time). I also love the fact that it’s so much easier to get a drink upstairs because of the lower patrons-to-bar ratio.

Upstairs or downstairs, I think Soho’s is just a lot of fun. If you are looking for a place to hang out at which is not too chaotic and has a decent enough age group (sorry young’uns - that means not you :-)) you need to check it out.

I advise you not to do so too early in the night though. Soho’s seems to pick up well after midnight, sometimes even as late as 1am. If you get there too long before midnight, you get a totally different (understand: quiet) feel and might be tempted to leave before the fun truly begins.

If you try it out, I would love to hear what you have to say. If you have been to Soho’s before, does my review do it justice, or is there something I’m missing out?

I look forward to hearing what you have to say.

Biche

A while back, I stopped by Yaya briefly to buy something from Chandarana supermarket. I entered Yaya through the entrance near the Barclays ATM, but it was business as usual until I found myself at another exit, the main entrance/exit.

Of late, I have noticed that Yaya often has exhibits at their main entrance area during the latter part of the week. Sometimes, stores within the complex exhibit their wares; at other times, the exhibitors are from places other than Yaya.

This time, as I was rushing out of Yaya, trying to get to my next destination, I had no intention of spending any time at the main entrance exhibitions, but when some jewelry caught my eye, the woman in me had no choice but to stop and take a closer look.

On closer inspection, the stall that caught my eye had jewelry made of precious and semi-precious stones fashioned in attractive and unusual designs. First I noticed a light green (think the color that water sometime takes on) piece that seemed made of a stone or rough precious stone material. I also saw jewelry made of what looked like volcanic pumice stone - that was really unusual and interesting. My two favorite pieces from the whole lot were a brown necklace made of a rough stone that had a pendant that looked like it was brown topaz and another long necklace (that I first thought was a belt) made from tiny pink pearls with purple clusters at regular intervals. I don’t know that words can truly do justice to the jewelry I saw, but all in all, the jewelry was gorgeous and equally important - unusual.

Upon inquiry, I found out the jewelry was designed by Zahava Shanny, a jewelry designer that I had never heard of before. I don’t know much about Zahava Shanny, but I know that her jewelry is beautiful and unique.

From her card, her contact info is: Tel: +254-20-3874593 (Home) / +254-722-858717(mobile)/ Email: zahavush@walla.co.il. Maybe you might want to check her stuff out as I plan to do the same. If you are a jewery lover, or looking for that special piece of jewlry for a special woman in your life, I think you won’t be disappointed.

I must warn you: the price tags I looked at were between $US 150 and $200, but then again for a really distinct beautiful piece of jewelry it might just be worth it. Well, you know your budget best.

I really can’t tell you more about Zahava Shanny because I don’t know much more, but if you are a fan or go see her jewelry after reading this post. Please tell me what you thought.

I can’t wait to hear what you have to say.

Biche

Hmmm…today’s post is going to be just a little raunchy because I would like to tell you about a great sexual find that I made recently. If you are uncomfortable with discussing sex or things related to it, then I suggest you read no further - come back again tomorrow when I have a regular G-rated post. If you are under 18, I think you already know that you should navigate away from this page now - please do so now. The rest of you, read on!

I am a firm believer in safer sex. I would love to say safe sex, but we all know that what is purported as safe sex isn’t 100% safe. Still, I write not to depress you, but rather to delight you!

As I was saying, I am a very firm believer in practicing safer sex, and as such, I am a big fan of all things Durex. I don’t understand my friends who say they can’t stand sex with a condom (and I am not talking about my male friends, women say that too). Durex has condoms for all moods, styles, sizes and preferences (they even have a non-latex condom for those allergic to latex!).

Recently, I noticed that Durex has expanded their repertoire of pleasure products. Not only do they have great new condom brands such as Durex Tingle (great stuff!) and Durex Pleasuremax Warming (which I highly recommend), Durex also now produces an array of lubricants for increased sensitivity. This may be old news elsewhere in the world, but in Nairobi (and probably the rest of East Africa), these products have been available for only a little over a year.

On our Kenyan supermarket shelves, we now have three new Durex lubricants to choose from - Durex Play Heat, Durex Play Feel, and Durex Play Tingle - as well as a Durex Play 2-in-1 Massage Gel, a gel that can be used both as a massage gel and as a lubricant. Of these products, I once tried the Durex Play Heat because it came as a freebie with a packet of Durex Featherlite condoms (the ultimate Durex condom if you ask me), but I had never purchased one of these lubricants for myself…until recently.

My partner loves to receive massages. I like to give them. As such, we’ve been looking for good affordable massage oil for a while now. After a horrific attempt with some (cheap) locally-made coconut oil (I will spare you the details), it occurred to me to try the new Durex Play 2-in-1 Massage. Not only is this product a massage gel, but also a water-based lubricant so that a massage can, if need be, progress easily, seamlessly, and happily into something steamier!  (In case you don’t know, condoms shouldn’t be used with oil-based lubricants because these can compromise the integrity of the condom!)

On a whim, I bought some while I was doing some shopping at Nakumatt recently. Whoa! Can I just say that there were two happy Nairobians going about their day the following day?! We tested both the massage quality and the lubricant property of this product. As a massage gel, it is a little light but feels amazingly silky. I had heard that description used often, but nothing could prepare me for the feel of Durex 2-in-1 Massage Gel on skin. Ladies, it sort of feels like one of those moisturizers that costs a fortune for a little pot. It’s light and super moist. As a lubricant, let me just say it worked wonders and my partner likened it to the feel of sex without a condom. Have I mentioned already that this product is edible and tastes sweet? I’ll say no more and let you try it for yourself.

Durex Play 2-in-1 Massage Gel costs about 500 KSh for a 200ml bottle - believe me,  that will be one of the best ways you have ever spent 500 KSh. Durex Play 2-in-1 Massage. I’ll say no more, just try it out…TODAY! When you do, please let me know what you think, of course, keeping in mind that this site is generally not intended to be X-rated.

I wish you happy, fun, safe sex.

Biche

InterContinental Nairobi
City Hall Way
Nairobi
Tel: +254-20-3200000

Some things are so commonplace in my life that I forget how noteworthy they are. Today I am going to tell you about one such thing.

For the last four years, the majority of my Friday nights have been spent at The Safari Bar, at the Nairobi Intercontinental Hotel, listening to the beat of salsa music, dancing ecstatically away.

Every Friday, The Safari Bar hosts a live band that plays salsa, meringue, and a myriad of other Latin beats. A Friday evening at The Safari Bar is always a lot of fun no matter how proficient (or not) a salsa dancer you are. I remember the first time I went to one of these salsa nights. At the time, I was interested in taking salsa classes (because I like dancing) but didn’t know where I could find an affordable beginners’ class in Nairobi. On a Wednesday night (because these nights take place both on Wednesday and Friday nights), I convinced a friend to come along with me to check out the Nairobi salsa scene. Despite the next day being a working day, we stayed at The Safari Bar well past midnight, enthralled by the couples doing their thing on the dance floor. We never once dared get up and dance, but still we had a swell time listening to the music, watching couples dancing, and of course enjoying a drink.

My heart was instantly sold. I quickly signed up for classes (at Flex Gym behind, Kenya Re-insurance in Upper Hill) and within a few months, I too had become one of those prolific dancers on the dance floor. Salsa, although it looks complicated, is not too hard to learn. If I thought salsa night at the Nairobi Intercontinental was great before I learned to dance, then I don’t know what words to use to describe it as a dancer. Most salseros would agree: very few things beat the thrill of a well executed salsa dance.

The Intercontinental is generally pricey, though, so I do not recommend you going to The Safari Bar if your primary interest is to drink copious amounts of alcohol - there are a lot of other places where you can do that more cost effectively.  If on the other hand, what you are interested in is listening to good music, having a good dance, or just doing something out of the ordinary on a Friday night, then I definitely recommend it.

Try it out some time and of course, let me know what you think when you do.

Biche

Today, I am not going to tell you about a place to visit or a product to buy. Rather, I will tell you about a website that has come in handy for me many times and that I consider to be a real life saver.

The website, AllRecipes.com, is an online cooking community where home cooks from around the world go to share, rate and download recipes and meal ideas. That’s how AllRecipes.com describes itself. In my words, AllRecipes.com is a great place to find recipes that will have your friends and family swearing that you are the bestest of good cooks! If you chose correctly, AllRecipes.com will never let you down!

What I love most about AllRecipes.com is that it makes any meal idea I have materialize as a reality on my dining table. By simply entering what I feel like making for brunch, lunch, or dinner into the search box on AllRecipes.com (whether or not I have a clue about how to make it), I immediately get a list of different ways to make the dish. Then, since AllRecipes.com has a rating feature for its recipes, I can order my search results by rating and choose to ignore all recipes other than the most highly rated. Et voilà! A magnificent dish appears on my table, and I get all the credit!

Sometimes, the recipes on AllRecipes.com call for ingredients that are not available on the East African market. That hasn’t happened to me very often though. When it does, I simply chose another recipe or come up with a creative substitute for the hard-to-find ingredient.

Once I have settled on a recipe to make and want to ensure that I have enough of each ingredient on hand, I use yet another handy feature of AllRecipes.com - the ingredients scaler.  Before I even mention the ingredients scaler, allow me to point out that the recipes on AllRecipes.com can be displayed, interchangeably, in both metric and imperial units. AllRecipes.com truly is for everyone! To use the scaler, a user simply enters the number of servings of the dish that they wish to prepare, and instantly, all the measurements for the recipes are either scaled up or down.

That’s not all AllRecipes.com has to offer. Along with the recipe itself, AllRecipes.com also provides nutritional information such as calories per serving (great for anyone who is watching their weight) as well as information about the time needed to prepare and cook the dish (each listed separately). That’s a great feature when you plan to cook under time constraints.

When I was a young girl living in Côte d’Ivoire, I often sang along to a jingle for a Maggi Cube advertisement that went: “Cube Maggi, avec l’étoile, le secret de la bonne cuisine” (Maggi Cube, with the star, the secret to good cooking). Dare I say that, for me, le secret de la bonne cuisine (the secret to good cooking) is AllRecipes.com. I am sure many a modern woman who is less than proficient in the art of cooking would agree.

Don’t take my word for it; try it out for yourself. When you do, please let me know what you think.

Happy Cooking,

Biche

Wow! Nakumatt has outdone itself again in the form of Nakumatt Westgate and the Westgate Centre! Granted, I am sure credit for the centre is not all Nakumatt’s (as I hear Nakumatt leases the space that it occupies), but still I am sure Nakumatt had a great role to play in making the Westgate Centre what it is today.

I first noticed what would later become the Westgate Centre sometime early last year on my way to Nakumatt Ukay. Not far away, I noticed some heavy construction going on, which I later found out was going to become a huge state-of-the art shopping complex. I heard and read many things about this upcoming shopping complex, but nothing prepared me for the beauty and grandiosity that I saw the first time I visited the center for myself.

Upon entry of the Westgate Centre main gate, I was immediately at a loss about where to go. Luckily, there was a guard present to point me in the right direction. Yes, Westgate is grand like that. Finally, I found the parking lot which consisted of parking spaces spread out in all directions as far as the eye could see. This is one place where parking will never be a problem (or so I expect! :-). To make you understand how unusuallylarge the parking lot is, let me just tell you that the parking lot is color coded (with stripes of color on thpillars in the lot) in order for customers to easily identify the general area in which their car is parked (at least that’s what I imagine the color is for).

Once more, with a little assistance from the guard in the lot, I manage to find my way to the entrance of the centre. As I climbed up the ramp leading to the first floor, I oohed-and-aahed at the magnitude of the center and its magnificent décor. The center is truly grand and beautiful.

On the first floor, I easily found my way to Nakumatt, whose entrance is literally so big it’s hard to miss :-). First, I stopped at the customer service desk and was impressed with the efficiency of the service there. The customer service desk is accessible from all four sides (with enough people to handle the kind of traffic that such exposure generates) so I was served very quickly.

I then wandered into the main store, which seemed to sprawl (tastefully) in all directions. Forget about aisles! This store, housed on two floors, has clearly demarcated sections and escalators to move between floors. It made me think of a typical Western department store. I hear this Nakumatt is the largest in the country (according to a Nakumatt employee) and is not a supermarket but a hypermarket. The appellation is aptly given!

On that first visit to Nakumatt Westgate, I was in a great rush and didn’t want to spend a lot of time wandering the store in search of the few items I had come to buy. Instead, I decided to ask for help. When I asked an attendant to direct me to the areas of the store where I could find what I was looking for, get this: the attendant not only pointed the areas to me, but even escorted me to each of the various areas. No wonder Nakumatt keeps getting awards for outstanding customer service!

That day, I visited the luggage section, the toiletries section, the stationary section, the beverages section, and the fresh produce section. Although I rarely buy fresh produce anywhere other than at the green grocer’s at Yaya, the beauty and organization of the fresh produce section at Nakumatt Westgate tempted me into buying an item or two. (By the way, I hear that Nakumatt Westgate now has an organics produce counter in its fresh produce section. Have you seen it yet?) Every section I visited impressed me thoroughly. Way to go Nakumatt!

I didn’t get to visit the rest of Westgate Centre that day because as I said earlier, I was in a rush. Since then, I have been back a number of times and have been impressed with other stores in the complex such as Mr Price Home, a home interior store and a perfume store not far from it.

Have you visited Westgate Centre yet? How about the Nakumatt there? What do you think? Are you impressed or not? I’d love to hear what you have to say!

Biche

A while back, while a friend showed me a route he uses to avoid traffic between Hurlingham and Kenyatta Market, I happened to spot a Korean restaurant called New Seoul Restaurant on one of the many back roads in the area.  I had never heard of the restaurant before and was surprised to find a Korean restaurant in Nairobi - I didn’t know that any existed. I was intrigued and made a mental note to check out the restaurant some time (still haven’t though).

I am adventurous when it comes to food and have sampled my share of East Asian cuisine. Somehow, I’ve never gotten round to trying Korean food. I’ve done Chinese, Vietnamese, Thai, Japanese, and even Mongolian (at least that’s what they call it), but somehow, I have never done Korean. Have you? If so, what is Korean food like?

On checking the Yellow Pages for a number or address for this restaurant, I couldn’t find an entry for it. I am not even sure whether this restaurant is actually operational.  Might you have been to this restaurant before? How did you find the food? Would you recommend this restaurant to others? Do you know the name of the street that it’s on?

If you’ve got any information, I would love to hear about it.

Waiting to find out more,

Biche

Guess what, readers? Finally, Furahi-day has rolled around again! In case you don’t know, Furahi means “be happy” in Kiswahili. Doesn’t the thought of Friday simply fill you with happiness? Believe it or not, the weekend is here again. What are you going to do to celebrate its advent?

Today, I am planning to meet up with a childhood friend who tells me that there is a club night at Club Malaika in Dar-es-Salaam. I have no idea where that is, but I am looking forward to discovering yet another place in Dar. What do you usually do on Fridays?

A couple of years ago, I had a very set Friday agenda. After a long week at work, I would celebrate the advent of the weekend by attending a salsa class. I’d then rush home, to change and have dinner, then head off to the Nairobi InterContinental to listen to live salsa music and to dance late into the night at the InterContinental’s Safari Bar. Friday upon Friday, this never failed to hit the spot.

Nowadays, things are not as crystal clear for me. When Friday rolls around, what I do is really dependant on what mood I am in and who I feel like spending time with. This Friday, I might be going dancing with a friend. Last Friday, I was indoors watching TV with my Mom and brother. The week before that, I was in Zanzibar having dinner at the Forodhani gardens.

How do you spend your Fridays? I’d love to hear from you so that I can try to hang like you one of these days.

 Whatever it is that you decide to do this Friday, I wish you a fantastic one and a great weekend to boot!

 Happy Furahi-Day,

Biche