Hi again! Ready to answer the next question about your East African city? Before we get to that, allow me first to thank all who responded to the previous question in this series (the one about your favorite restaurant), with special thanks going out to Brett Harrison of Aliens and Strangers, who despite living in Geita, Tanzania (which according to him is not big on fine restaurants) still shared his favorite restaurants in three other East African cities. Thanks a lot, Brett, I appreciate it!

As I write this post, your responses to my last question name restaurants in six cities across four of the five East African countries. Hopefully, that’s just a start. If you haven’t yet told me your favorite restaurant in your East African city, then please go ahead and do so now. As long as comments are open on any post in this series, I still do want to hear what you have to say. Now, let’s move on to question two.

Question #2: In your East African town/city, what’s your favorite nightlife spot?

Just as in the last post, please leave your answer as a comment in the following format (for clarity’s sake):

City/Town, Country:
Favorite Nightlife Spot:
Address/Location:
Website:
Why do you like this place?

For my response, check out the first comment to this post. I look very forward to hearing what you have to say!

Until the next time,
Biche

P.S. Please feel free to answer this question for as many East African towns/cities that you feel inspired to (though I do request that you limit your response to your favorite nightlife spot in each town/city).

P.P.S. If you’d like to be alerted when I post the next question in this series, why not go ahead and subscribe to this blog? You can sign up to receive posts directly in your inbox or in an RSS feeder of your choice. It’s free and easy!

Photo Credit: l@mie

The Joint
Mbezi, Dar es Salaam
Tel: +255-(715)-854980/+255-(777)-400800
Website:www.TheJointTZ.com

It’s official: Dar es Salaam now has a new nightclub! Last Saturday, March 14, saw the Grand Opening of The Joint, a nightclub recently opened in Mbezi (near Tankibovu), on the former premises of the now defunct Club Happens. Judging from what The Joint had to offer on Saturday night, we, party-lovers, are in for a real treat with this new nightclub, especially when it comes to music.

Saturday night at The Joint saw a host of DJs come together to spin fantastic tracks for all those who attended the opening night. There was DJ Eric (of the Homeboyz) representing Kenya; DJ Bush Baby from East Africa Radio/TV; DJ Domz who showed guys how to do it in true South African style; and Tanzania‘s very own DJ PQ.

So what can we expect from this new establishment on the Dar social scene? Eric Talemwa, the owner of The Joint, says we can expect a club whose main focus is to provide us with good entertainment, especially when it comes to good music and variety. The Joint will be open every day of the week, each night with a theme of its own.

On Monday, we’ll be given the opportunity to mix and mingle with Tanzanian stars from various industries (e.g., music, film, etc) during a theme night entitled Bongo Star Night. On Tuesday, Reggae Night, we’ll be able get a taste of the hottest reggae, raga, dancehall, and reggaeton. Wednesday, will feature Old School, for all those who are older (or born after their time ), while Thursday will be all about live music with the Excel Band.

When the weekend rolls around, Friday will be for the young’uns with College Night. Saturday, which portends to be the hottest night at The Joint, will see DJ Bush Baby doing his thang (which is extremely good, if you ask me!) during The Joint Megamix. Last but not least, to wind down at the end of the weekend, Sunday afternoon/evening (2pm to 8pm) will be Talent Search Night/Kids Disco, a night to showcase new or yet undiscovered talent, a time when even the youngest of them all can be in attendance.

The Joint will not charge an entrance fee on Monday or Tuesday night (Bongo Star Night and Reggae Night), but will do so on other days of the week. Other nights will have a standard entrance fee of 5000 TSh, except for Saturday and Sunday, where cover charge will be 10,000 TSh and 3000 TSh, respectively.

So that’s the kind of variety that The Joint will be offering us through the week. You might still be wondering, though, about the general feel of the nightclub. Judging from the grand opening, where the crowd was casually dressed and all about the dancing, I think it’s safe to say that The Joint is a cool, relaxed place to hang out, where the focus is more on having a good time than on seeing and being seen (just the right atmosphere to let loose and have a good time, if you ask the Nairobian in me! )

Now you know all you need to know. All that’s left is for you to check it out for yourself. To get to The Joint: Head out to Mbezi. Turn on your right on the dirt road that’s immediately before the BP Express in Tankibovu (the turning is marked with a signboard). After a short distance, take another right turn (also marked by signboard), and there’ll you see the nightclub to your right.

Please let me know what you think of it when you do.

Until the next time,
Biche

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This post was sponsored by The Joint Nightclub.

The story of this post took place about a year ago, in Dar-es-Salaam, where I’d gone to visit my parents. My father, knowing my love for gin, often makes sure to have a bottle available for me when I first arrive to visit. It’s a little father-daughter thing that we have going.

On this particular visit, I was going home after quite a trying time in my life, and on top of visiting  my parents would also be finding two of my three siblings at home (yippee!). I was really looking forward to going home, and as the day on which I traveled progressed (I was  going to arrive home in the evening), I began to look forward too to the Gordon’s G&T that my father would surely have waiting for me.

Arriving home was as joyful as I expected. It was wonderful to catch up with my younger brother, who I hadn’t seen in two years, as well as to find my baby brother safely back in the family fold after a long while away (long story!). After we’d all exchanged hugs and done a quick catch up, my Dad, true to my expectation, offered me that long-awaited G&T. Of course, I didn’t hesitate to say yes! But, my father warned me, since he was unable to find either Gordon’s or Gilbey’s Gin when he’d visited the supermarket earlier that day, he’d had to settle for Grant’s Gin, which was the only brand that he’d found remotely familiar. Gin is gin is gin, so I thought no more of it, had my drink, and instead focused on enjoying this special time with my family.

A couple of days later, my Dad and I got to discussing the gin he’d bought me. He told me again that he’d settled on Grant’s Gin because the name was familiar. It wasn’t familiar to me, so I decided to find out more. “How are you familiar with the name Grant’s, Dad?”, I asked. Surprised that I would even ask such a question, my Dad mentioned Grant’s Scotch Whisky. Duh! Of course! Grant’s as in Grant’s Scotch Whisky! Now, I knew why my father was familiar with the name Grant’s.

I was excited (as I always am when I find out something new)! Grant’s made gin too? How had I never known this, almost three decades into my life? I quickly rushed to the pantry to check out the bottle again. The information was right there. Grant’s Gin was indeed made by William Grant & Sons, the same distillers that make Grant’s Blended Scotch Whisky. I guess it was there for me to see all along had I paid closer attention to the bottle’s label and it’s unusual triangular shape (similar to that of a Grant’s Whisky bottle). Whatever the case, I made a mental note to find out more, just as I did when I first discovered Bacardi Black (again in Dar-es-Salaam).

That’s when things began to fall apart. A visit to the William Grants & Sons website made no mention of a Grant’s Gin. In fact, a general Internet search for this beverage yielded almost no information. It seemed very few people (3 that I could find)  had ever heard or drank the drink. In fact one website even mentioned that William Grant & Sons (or Glennfiddich, in particular) made Grant’s Gin but would no longer admit to it (why would a distiller do that?). This was all beginning to look quite shady to me!

So now I turn to you, dear reader, in case you might be able to shed some light on the mystery of Grant’s Gin. First things first, have you ever seen Grant’s Gin? If so, when and where (country, year)? Who to the best of your knowledge produces this drink, and why do you think there is such little information about it?

Do you think that, maybe, in East Africa, we receive counterfeit William Grant & Sons products (you know that’s what I’m thinking now!)? Whatever the case, I am looking extremely forward to hearing what you have to say.

I hope all is well with you today and wish you a fantastic beginning of the week!

Toodles,
Biche

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Casablanca is a lounge bar/nightclub (do you think that is an apt description?), located in Kilimani on Chaka Road, off its intersection with Lenana Road. Located in the same complex as my favorite Italian restaurant in Nairobi, Osteria del Chianti, Casablanca was all the rage when it first opened its doors close to four years ago.

At the time, it was a member’s only (or so I was told) up-market establishment known for its great décor, swanky crowd, and interesting – though expensive – cocktails. I first heard about Casablanca from a friend who lives in that neighborhood. She was totally blown away with its beauty and all of a sudden seemed to frequent nowhere else.

My friend’s description and enthusiasm about Casablanca sparked mine too, though I was a bit weary of the establishment because it seemed to me as place that was more interested in creating an air of exclusivity than focused on offering an excellent service. Although, I resisted it at first, I eventually found myself at Casablanca to celebrate this same friend’s birthday the following year.

I was immediately wowed by the décor at Casablanca! The proprietors of the establishment have done everything in their power to truly make Casablanca feel like an Arabian hideout located somewhere very far from Nairobi. Everything from the chairs to the white washed walls and hookah pipes serve to set the mood at Casablanca.

Not only did I find the décor amazing, but so too were the drinks. Casablanca makes the best Margaritas I have had outside North America. I had already heard at this point that cocktails at Casablanca cost 500 KSh a glass. I wasn’t sure that they could pull off cocktails worth that price. I was completely wrong! The cocktails at Casablanca are some of the best that I have had in Nairobi. Though they are still expensive, they do give me some sort of value for money.

I visited Casablanca a number of times after this first visit, but never became a frequent visitor. Maybe this was because I felt it was generally expensive, or that it had too much of a see-and-be-seen quality.  Maybe it had something to do with the nature of the activities that took place at Casablanca. Through the grapevine, I quickly figured out that Casablanca was a place where women took men to “spend their money” or where married men took out young, single, trendy women in order to impress them. It wasn’t glaringly obvious, but it’s something that I always caught a hint of and that I was a little uncomfortable with.

Fast forward about a year. One Saturday, after a pleasant evening spent dancing salsa at the Nairobi Serena Hotel, a friend suggested we go to Casablanca to meet up with another friend who happened to be there. Since I was still in the mood for socializing, I decided to tag along with him and have “one drink for the road”.

Casablanca, this time, was like I had never seen it before! The establishment was teeming with people and music played so loud that I could hear it outside the gate.  As we entered the premises, there was a large bonfire burning outside and the ground was covered with sand. Casablanca, it seemed, had turned into a nightclub.

One drink for the road, at close to 1am, became a night of dancing and socializing that did not end until 5.30am. A DJ played outstanding music (with a heavy bias towards techno) all through the night. That’s what Saturdays are like at Casablanca nowadays – full of excitement, great music, and a lot of fun.

This commentary would not be complete if I did not take some time to discuss the kind of crowd that can be found at Casablanca on the weekends. For starters, it’s a crowd that is racially diverse. So if that’s something that you are interested in, Casablanca might be a place you want to check out.

Unfortunately (or fortunately, depending on what tickles your fancy), within this racial diversity, you find a lot of black African women who frequent Casablanca with the hope of bagging Caucasian partners for financial gain. Sometimes, this is exhibited clearly in the form of prostitution, but sometimes it takes on subtler forms. This phenomenon creates a somewhat sleazy and shady feel to Casablanca.

Over the years, Casablanca has gone from having no cover charge, to having a cover charge, to again not having one. When they did charge an entrance fee, the fee was 300 KSh (if I remember correctly). When I was last at Casablanca, in June, I was surprised to find out that they no longer charged an entrance fee. Apparently, this has been the case since the beginning of the year. Today, I am not sure whether or not Casablanca charges a cover charge on the weekends. (Might any of you, my readers, know?)

That’s what I have to say about Casablanca. In this post, I’ve told you both good things and not-so-good things about the establishment. If you’ve never been, check it out and tell me what you think.  If you have been before, I’m keen to hear what you have to say about Casablanca.

Whatever the case, if you do make it out there, I wish you a lot of fun and enjoyment.

Until the next time,
Biche

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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 1 a.m. 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

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Next Saturday, the ASSOCIATES, 6:AM Entertainment, and Capital FM are organizing an event at the Simba Saloon, Carnivore entitled “Sexy Saturdays”. “Sexy Saturdays” will showcase DJs Pinye, Gicheboy, Ammo, and Ben&Chops playing RnB, Hip Hop, and Old Skool, and DJs Drazen, Jean Marie, and Soviet playing Minimal, House, Electro, and Trance. The event sounds hot!

Festivities will begin at 10pm and last until 6 in the morning (what else would we expect of an event organized by, among others, a company called 6:AM Entertainment? ). The dress code is ‘stylishly sexy’, and entrance is free for ladies before 9 pm. Otherwise, the entrance fee is Ksh. 400. It sure sounds like a lot of fun!

I know no more than this. If you would like more information, you can reach the event organizers by phone on the following numbers, 254 (0)721 840175 and 254 (0)723 970087, or by email at info@6amkenya.com.

Be there, or be square.

Biche

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A few months ago, on a first date with someone who’s since become a permanent fixture in my life, the subject of Club Afrique came up. This person told me how much he liked the place and offered to take me there on a subsequent date. Not one to let an opportunity pass, I agreed to be taken to Club Afrique on the following Friday. I asked a few friends to come along, and as a group, off we went to Club Afrique.

I can still remember what it felt like walking through Club Afrique for the first time. The décor was grand and it seemed like a nightclub into which a lot of thought had been put. There was a lot to take in. First we walked through a typical club bar area with people sitting on stools and ‘salons’ not far off. We then went upstairs to find an area that had a bit of a restaurant-in-a-nightclub feel, with tables that were very suggestive of a formal sit-down meal. We stopped at the VIP lounge, one of my favorite “pretty spots” at Club Afrique. This lounge, which is fully enclosed, is brightly lit with a bar of its own. It has a great atmosphere that doesn’t feel like a nightclub at all but rather like a cocktail gathering. It has seats, to the best of my recollection, though these seats always seem to be occupied.

We had a drink at the VIP lounge, but because of the lack of seating, decided to go to another upstairs section that until very recently was my favorite place to hang out at Club Afrique (the upstairs section on the left side of the dance floor). This section also had its own bar and comfortable seats that were reminiscent of a sitting room or seats that you would find in a personal library – seats that you can really get comfortable in and sink into. The carpeting in this area is plush and is a blessing to a woman’s sore feet after a long night of dancing (that’s if she discreetly slips her shoes off). Because it’s usually not crowded, this area is extremely private and yet is still very much a part of the club since it overlooks the dance floor downstairs.

I called this area my favorite to hang out at Club Afrique until very recently. What could have overtaken it? Why the dance floor of course! The last time I was at Club Afrique, I was there with a female friend out on a night on the town. We wanted to be as close to the dance floor as possible and so sat in the salon area downstairs. We were there well into the wee hours of the morning. On the dance floor, we could feel the music best because of the throng of people who were also as enthralled by the music as we were. We ended up dancing with people who really felt and understood the music. For you Lingala dancers, you know what that means – these people knew exactly where every major break in the song fell and what dance style to dance to every part of each song. I danced as though I was 18 again!

The entrance fee at Cub Afrique is KSh. 300, but well worth it for anyone who likes African music. Also, when I say they play African music, I don’t mean that they just play ‘Lingala’ (as we like to call it here in East Africa) but also Tanzanian music, Ivorian music, Cameroonian music, and of course our very own authentic Kenyan music.

If you have not been to Club Afrique and you are a fan of African music, you are definitely missing out. Club Afrique is located in the same complex as the casino on museum hill, along with Galileo’s and Toona Tree.

Whenever you make your way down there, please let me know what you think. I had a ball and I am sure you will too.

Until the next time,

Biche

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A few weekends ago found me at Club Liquid, a nightclub at the Panari Sky Center. A friend of mine was invited to an exclusive party there and invited some of her female friends to tag along with her. Since it was a club that none of us had been to but had heard great things about, we decided to make a girls’ night of it and go all out. We dressed the part, met up at said friend’s house, and headed out all together to have a great night on the town, just as we would have in the heyday of our university partying careers.

Club Liquid was not all we expected it to be. The deco was great, the cocktail list extensive, and the music something to write home about, but somehow the night never picked up. Maybe this was because many of the people who were invited to the exclusive party didn’t show up, so the club never got packed enough. Whatever the case, something was missing.

A little later in the night, as we hoped the club would pick up, I decided to venture out into the rest of the Panari Sky Center  in search of food. This search led me across the hallway to a bar called Shooters & Dips. Wow! Let me just say that within an hour, my entire party of seven had abandoned Liquid and moved across the hall to Shooters & Dips.

The main reason for our move was the amazing music that we had noticed coming from Shooters & Dips as we first arrived at Club Liquid that night. When I returned with information that not only was Shooters & Dips happening in terms of music and crowd, but that it also had an interesting menu of food at an affordable price, we needed no more convincing to move our party there.

I really, really liked Shooters & Dips – it was a fun bar with the right mix of people, ambiance, music, and drinks. I had never heard of it before though so thought that you mightn’t have either.

If you are ever on that side of town and want a great place to hang, please try it out. I can’t promise that it’ll always be that happening – after all this was my first time there, but I hope it will be.

Let me know what you think if ever you go.

Biche

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