Skip to main content

News Cafe: Restaurant Review

First of all, if my recent restaurant experiences have taught me anything, it's that I need to start carrying my DSLR around more. In other words, apologies for the pictures- they really could've been better!

News Cafe is a South African chain that recently opened franchises in Nairobi- the Sarit Centre branch opened in December, 2015. I've passed it a few times- once even went and grabbed a table, but wasn't really feeling the menu that day.

Last Thursday was dismally hot. Picture the kind of day where the heat is actually physically exhausting. Plus, since a four day weekend was coming up, I think the air of impatience around us didn't do much to help! I was planning to run a few errands after I left my client's office, so thought that grabbing lunch on the way was a good idea; I knew there was no way I'd want to leave the (relative) coolness of my house if I went there first.

My cousin was headed in the same direction, so he suggested that we go to News Cafe. Perfect! I'd been wanting to do a restaurant review (any restaurant would've done, really), and I'd also been meaning to visit for a bit. Two birds, one stone and all that.




The ambiance inside News Cafe is pretty cool- I could definitely see myself coming here to write or for drinks. They have outside seating too- this one's a little packed, and not as picturesque, but that may just be because of the view in Westlands. Thankfully, it's covered.

It was 1:40 on a Thursday afternoon when we walked in, and being the day before a long weekend, it was naturally quite busy. Luckily, we got a table quickly enough- and this time I was definitely thankful for a corner table. The heat makes me much less inclined to want to be surrounded by other people's mindless chatter. 

As I perused the menu after ordering drinks (a mango juice for me, please- see complaints about heat above), I was confused between ordering the creamy prego (chicken), or the fish and chips. I FINALLY came to a decision, and asked for the chicken, and my cousin asked for one of the chicken wraps. Imagine our surprise when we were told that the restaurant had run out of chicken! How exactly does such a busy place not prepare for something like that? 

Anyway, my decision was effectively made for me. I got the beer battered fish and chips, while my cousin opted for the chilli beef and bacon wrap. 

The picture could've been better, I know
Because of my poor menu picture, I'm adding two screenshots I took of their menu from their South African website- the menu is more or less the same. 



The food came quickly enough, although our waitress did make a little bit of a rookie mistake- she gave us the hot towels to wipe our hands AFTER she served us the food.


Chilli beef and bacon wrap

Beer battered fish and chips

The food was well presented, although I was a little confused by the random greens thrown on top. Presentation, I guess? I personally thought the food looked great without them.

The fish was really good. Crispy, and the batter was delicious. Fish and chips can be a hit or miss, so I'm glad that my expectations were exceeded. The flavour wasn't overly fishy, which some of you might agree can be quite a turnoff. The chips were great too- a little on the smaller side, but crispier that way, and the tartar sauce was the perfect accompaniment. Would I go back for this? Yes, definitely. My cousin liked his wrap too. The only complaint he had was when he asked for ice for his sparkling water, and the waitress completely forgot about it.

The portions were generous, the service friendly, and the pricing well worth it. I'll probably do a repeat visit one of these days, and maybe try out the drinks this time!


Comments

Popular posts from this blog

The Mayura: Restaurant Review

Happy new year, everyone! It's been a while, so I thought to break tradition and post on a Tuesday this time - I'm sure you're in need of new restaurant recommendations, right? Located in Kenrail towers, the Mayura  is an Indian restaurant that you may not have been to yet. I'd heard about it, but never been, so when I was invited to do a review, I naturally jumped at the chance. Located in Kenrail Towers, the ambience of the Mayura has peacock-themed, warm interiors. There's a lot of space to sit down, both inside and outside. The restaurant is the brainchild of Rajiv Segal, who has a corporate background and being from Delhi, had a high standard of quality and had developed a distinctive palate, which he wanted to bring to the people in Nairobi. The menu was chosen for us by Rajiv (and boy, did we eat a lot!). For starters, we had some paneer tikka, mutton chops, fish amritsari and banu kebab (chicken). The paneer tikka was absolutely amazing! The paneer was fresh...

How to Organize Your Closet

Today�s guest blogger is fellow Her Campus Blogger Network member, Ak Brown! This is the first post in a series of posts she�ll be doing on The Kenyan Nomad. I hope you enjoy them as much as I have! Ak�s bio: Fashionable with a hint of unconventional rawness, that's what I used to describe myself and my blog Mind of a Fashionista. Started in 2013, I have transformed this blog along with my best friend into a diverse source of fashion, style, and beauty news, trends, tips, and tricks while also conveying opinions that normally don't go with the "norm" opinion. It's morning, 6:58 to be exact.  It's time for you to get up, get ready, and get going.  After showering, brushing and flossing your teeth you head over to your closet and say to yourself "What in the f***".  Shirts are hanging off of their hangers, pants look like they got up for a late night drink and passed out on the floor, and long story short, your closet looks like an abomination.  But y...

New Technology Billed as the Latest Breakthrough in Laser Vision Correction

Here's an article I wrote, in conjunction with Dr. Mukesh Joshi of Laser Eye Centre, that got published in the Daily Nation today! It's more on the scientific side, but I thought it was worth sharing.  Do you wear contact lenses or glasses? What if you were told that you could get perfect vision by lying under a laser machine for 30 seconds without any surgical instruments touching your eye? It seems like a dream, but it is now possible, thanks to the C-Ten procedure. Patients suffering from short-sightedness, long-sightedness or astigmatism (distortion of the cornea that causes blurry vision), which cause them to need glasses or contact lenses, now have access to a procedure that can correct their vision in less than half a minute. The procedure, which takes no more than 35 seconds, is minimally invasive as there are no surgical instruments involved. The principle aim of laser vision correction is to reshape the cornea to correct vision problems. The reshaping is done to the m...