I also managed to make it to a couple of nyama choma restaurants (nyama choma translates to basically "roast meat"). One was little more than a tourist trap, while the other was with one of my drivers at his local spot on the outskirts of a slum. The first, Carnivore, is a famous restaurant and frequented by all manner of travelers and was once known for serving exotic game like lion and giraffe, but this has since been banned. It does still offer less exotic meat like crocodile and ostrich. Carnivore insists that you start off with their famous "dawa" cocktail (Swahili for medicine), which is simply vodka, honey, and lime. Not altogether dissimilar to what Ingebor introduced me to in Zanzibar. It's set up as a Brazilian barbecue where men with meat laden swords come around and carve off slices of meat so long as your flag is raised. It was a fairly enjoyable meal (I did try crocodile, ostrich, and zebra - all of which were just slightly gamey versions of their respective meat families), but it felt manufactured. I wanted something more authentic and not have to sit next to a giant table full of German families. I was also accompanied by what I was told was one of over 30 cats that live there. He sat next to me the entire time while I fed him small morsels of the menagerie on my plate.
My second nyama choma experience was much cooler than Carnivore. I'm skipping ahead a bit to after my trip to the game park, but it follows logically. On the way back from Lake Nakuru, I told my driver, Gedion, that I wanted to try some real nyama choma. So he took me to his local spot on the outskirts of a slum that he frequents. We parked on the dirt lot outside and he led me inside passed the sunlit dining room, down a narrow corridor, and to a dimly lit room in the back. This room was filled with hanging carcasses of several different kinds of animals from which men in butchers coats hacked. I had read that goat was a popular choice, so I watched as one of the butchers removed the limb from the goat and presented it to me for inspection. I didn't know what I was meant to say, so I simply nodded and gave a thumbs up.
Gedion and I returned to the dining room and waited for our goat leg. Nyama choma involves roasting the meat for 30-40 meats with no seasoning except basting with salt water. Goat tends to be particularly tender, so this results in a dry, but soft mound of flesh. As we waited, we had a couple of beers. The server asked me if I wanted mine cold or warm. I'd been asked this before, but I never gave it a second thought because, of course, I wanted mine cold. I mentioned this to Gedion and he explained that Kenyans, and presumably all Africans, don't handle cold beverages well. His wife even gets nosebleeds when she drinks something cold. It does make a bit of sense when you consider how little Kenyans encounter things that are cold. Half an hour later, our goat was ready. A server broke the leg down to small morsels and, with a small mound of salt, we ate it with our fingers. It was tender, juicy, and delicious. Simple, unembellished, and a much more authentic experience than was Carnivore. I'd have gone to these places a lot more if it had been safer for me to go on my own.
I do wish I had more time to explore Nairobi and become more accustomed to navigating on my own, but for what I was able to do, I think I got at least an introductory feel for it. Next time I'm going to stop worrying about getting murdered and do more things. It was an interesting first experience in Africa. Hopefully not the last. I have one, maybe two, more posts for Africa. Most of them will involve wild animals.
