I ended up at Alfajiri Bar and Grill Tuesday night. I'd asked my Kenyan colleague, Lee, to meet over dinner to give me some background information on Kenya. I'm here, after all, but I still know so little about the country. He was nice enough to come and bring a couple of friends with him - I brought Luke and Avi myself.

Alfajiri was Lee's idea, and I wondered if the restaurant was mostly geared towards a Kenyan clientele. Its menu, on the other hand, was quite eclectic and international - it had everything from steak dianne to lamb korma to steak fajitas. Indeed, it was the steak fajitas that I went for. I'm not sure what I was expecting but what I got was a tortilla-like-wrap (but not quite a tortilla) filled with marinated meat. The meat was tasty, though it had an African rather than Mexican flavor. I couldn't quite recognize the spices, though.

I tried the samosas and they were very tasty, a bit spicy but nice.

I didn't ask my friends what they thought of their meal, but I guess everyone thought it was good enough.

We all had a couple of beers with dinner, and the whole bill came to about Ks 1000 - $15 each, not the cheapest place around, but not that bad.

The restaurant itself is a bit disconcerting. It has a few rooms inside, the one we originally chose had banquettes and low tables, but with music and the TV on, it was too loud to carry out a normal conversation. They also have a patio area, as well as some tables dispersed throughout the lawn. We chose one away from the music and were able to enjoy our conversation.

Service was pretty good.

Alfajiri Bar and Grill
Malim Juma Road
Nairobi
Kenya