Meat in the country is outstandingly good, as is the wide variety of tropical vegetables and fruits. Inland, a local freshwater fish,
tilapia is popular and tasty. On the coast the Swahili style of cuisine is delicately flavored with spices and coconut milk and features fragrant rice, grilled fish and seafood curries. Indian and Middle Eastern food is available in most areas, and there is a wide range of international restaurants in Nairobi and Mombasa. The tourist hotels along the coast and the large lodges in the game reserves and national parks offer buffet meals. Hotels in smaller towns
offer restaurant service, but this is usually a dish of the day, such as chicken and chips or stew and rice.
National specialties:• Some game park lodges serve game, including buffalo steaks marinated in local liqueurs and berries, often garnished with wild honey and cream.
• Nyama Choma literally means roasted meat, and is one of Kenya’s best-known specialties. It is usually served with a spicy tomato relish.
• Most Kenyans eat a stiff porridge made from maize meal called
ugali.
• At the small ‘hotelis’,
chai (tea boiled with milk and sugar) and
mandazi (doughnuts) are popular.
National drinks:• Tusker and
White Cap (locally brewed beer).
• Kenya Cane (spirit distilled from sugar cane).
• Kenya Gold (a coffee liqueur).
• Uki (traditional beer made with honey).
• Changaa (locally made spirit distilled from maize).
Tipping: This is not required. Most hotels include a 10% service charge in the bill. If the service charge has not been included, a small tip is usual, although the amount is entirely at the visitor’s discretion.
Legal drinking age: 18.
NightlifeMost of the major
hotels in Nairobi and the
holiday resorts along the coast have
dancing with
live bands or
discos each evening. There are also a few individual local
nightclubs in Nairobi and Mombasa that stay open until dawn but these can get very crowded and prostitution abounds - go in a crowd and take a taxi. Increasingly, modern multi-screen
cinema complexes are appearing in Nairobi and Mombasa, which show mainly Hollywood movies, while in the smaller towns are old colonial-style cinemas showing old Kung Fu or Indian films.
Theater is popular in Nairobi. There is a
National Theater and several small groups of dramatic companies; probably the best-known is the
Phoenix Players. Quite often, traditional tribal dancing and drumming is performed in the game lodges and beach resorts.
Next Page »
