The Thorn Tree Café
The Sarova Stanley
Tel: +254 (20) 316377

About ten years ago, The New Stanley renovated and became The Stanley (or The Sarova Stanley to be precise). I don’t know that I really had an opinion of the hotel when it was The New Stanley, but I know that I quite like it now as The Stanley. I often enjoy sitting at the elegant first-floor Exchange Bar looking out onto the busy city streets, or just enjoying the quiet, chic atmosphere while catching up with friends (usually who are in from out of town and need to stay in the CBD area for some reason).

Any talk about The Stanley would not be complete without mention of The Thorn Tree Café, The Stanley’s open-air pavement brasserie/bistro-style café. Built around an actual Thorn Tree (the original  existing as early as 1959), The Thorn Tree Café, over the years, served as a message center for settlers settled in the more distant parts of Kenya. Today, the Thorn Tree at The Thorn Tree Café still has a message board that can be used for messaging, though I am sure travelers leave messages here more to emulate the past than out of a real need to communicate. Whatever the case, I always enjoy reading these messages whenever I am at The Thorn Tree Café.

In this post, I would like to discuss The Thorn Tree Café’s merits as an eatery rather than as a historical monument. What do you think of The Thorn Tree Café? Have your experiences there been positive, or have they been negative?

I go to The Stanley often enough, but somehow, I spend most of my time there inside the hotel and rarely go to The Thorn Tree Café. My experience of The Thorn Tree Café is limited, for the most part, to going there as a young girl in the company of my Mom or my Aunt or a little later, as a young woman, to passing the Thorn Tree Café on my way to catch public transportation home. On those evenings when I would pass The Thorn Tree Café, I would always be drawn to the beautiful music playing inside. At these times, I would make a mental note to myself to check out The Thorn Tree some time soon.

I recently got an opportunity to visit The Thorn Tree Café when a friend’s mother, who was visiting from out of town, suggested that we meet there for a late lunch. I made my way to The Thorn Tree Café around 4pm, after I was done with the greater part of my day. I was greeted by a tasteful décor and welcoming staff. What did not impress me, at The Thorn Tree Café that day, was the food that I was served.

I chose to have Pita Pockets with Grilled Vegetables, Hummus, and Olives because I had been to the gym earlier in the day and did not want to undo my previous efforts. I was certain that this would be both a healthy and delicious option.

My dissappointment began as early as when the waiter placed my plate in front of me. Next to two puny little pita pockets was a huge serving of nothing other than…French Fries.  For something that is obviously a healthful choice, I couldn’t understand why a café in a 5-star hotel would choose to serve a huge portion of fries as an accompaniment. It felt to me that whoever had put together the dish or menu had not thought it out very well.

Anyhow, I did my best to ignore the French Fries and decided instead to dig into my (puny) pita pockets. Here too, I was disappointed. The pockets barely had any hummus, which was the main reason I had ordered the entrée in the first place.

Suffice it to say, I didn’t enjoy my meal at all that day. I wonder if this is what the rest of the menu at The Thorn Tree Café is like. Have any of you, my readers, had more experience there that you would like to share?

If you do, I would like to hear all about it. Should I give The Thorn Tree Café another chance, or was my experience there typical?

Have your say,

Biche

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