Café
Maghreb - a visual and culinary feast
Our relaxed and informal Moroccan-styled all-day
café, which takes its inspiration from
the Swahili word Maghreb meaning “west
of the setting sun”, features a vibrant
décor that reflects the jewel-hued
stalls and bright-polished coffee pots of
the Kasbah. As for the menu, it is international
in style, reflects the best of eastern and
western cuisine and features a globetrotting
selection of themed menus throughout the week.
It also allows for al fresco dining with views
over the shimmering waters of the pool.
Evoking
Ethiopia - The Aksum Bar
Taking the ancient Ethiopian town of Aksum
as its mystical muse, this spacious and innovatively
designed bar opens onto lush gardens where
evening cocktails and Sunday brunch are served.
The décor blends brilliantly eclectic
Ethiopian wall hangings, fascinating ethnic
crafts and a whimsical umbrella-hung ceiling
with the calm modern-day sophistication of
a world-class hotel. As well as a broad range
of international labels, fine wines and fresh
juices, the Aksum Bar also offers a world-class
cocktail line-up.
The Pool
Bar - An Oasis in the heart of the City
For a more relaxed, sun and sky ambiance why
not try our al fresco Pool Bar, which offers
all the cool of an oasis, in the heart of
the city. Looking out over the shimmering
blue waters of our heated pool, shaded by
the rustling palms of our tropical gardens
the Pool Bar décor suggests the brilliant
white arches, sparkling mosaics and fountained
courts of a sultan’s palace. As for
the menu, it features an all-day selection
of hot and cold snacks, ice cream sundaes,
mid-morning pastries and spicy evening appetisers
whilst the drinks line-up includes an international
cocktail selection, a range of fine wines
and spirits, Italian-style coffee, herbal
teas and a broad selection of fruit cocktails
and chilled juices.
The
Bambara Lounge
Named after the Bambara tribe of Mali and
decorated to a West African theme that majors
on hand-carved Camphor wood panels, each depicting
an African legend, the Bambara Lounge offers
24 hour service to resident hotel guests only.
The magic of the Mandhari
Restaurant
Exceptional ambiance, exquisite cuisine. The
uniquely situated ‘Mandhari’ restaurant
enjoys panoramic views over the bright lights
of the city and the gentle green lawns of
Nairobi Central Park. It also offers an open-air
dining terrace overlooking the pool, a frescoed
dining room, gentle piano music and impeccable
service. Famous for the delicacy of its cuisine
naturelle the ‘Mandhari’ menu
choices include; Indian Ocean seafood, wild
game, fresh-caught river fish and some inspirational
oriental, vegetarian and Swahili dishes.
The Mandhari Experience
(By Jane Barsby)
Lapis blue water shimmers over Moroccan
mosaic while a loggia-shaded terrace tumbles
wax-green creepers and trumpet blooms. Blurred
outlines of trees suggest meandering park
paths and beyond both rise the lilac-grey
skyscrapers of down town dusk. You could be
anywhere. But if you had to make the choice
– it probably wouldn’t be the
centre of Nairobi. Yet this is the terrace
of the first-floor Mandhari Restaurant, the
finest of the Serena Hotel Group’s restaurant
line-up and the flagship of her culinary fleet.
Here you can dine al fresco and by candlelight,
whilst watching necklaces of headlamps thread
the city’s arteries, lights switching
off floor-by-floor in glittering office towers,
and searchlight beams from incoming jets piercing
the skies over Jomo Kenyatta International
Airport.
Inside the Mandhari Restaurant
it’s a different landscape altogether.
As you might expect given that the name means
‘landscape’ in Swahili. Here the
entire length of one wall is taken up by a hand-carved
fresco in all the soft coffee, cream and rose
pinks of Kisii soapstone. It actually depicts
the knuckle-dent outline and wooded slopes of
Nairobi’s famous Ngong Hills but it could
just as easily be a medieval frieze in a Tuscan
monastery. Elsewhere there’s a draped
and mirrored Bedouin tent for the intimacy of
private dining and a wall of windows onto the
balmy darkness of a Nairobi night. The effect,
with candle glow lighting, lavish draped tables,
stiff starched napery and the lush tinkle of
a grand piano is civilised, chic and encouraging.
The menu should make good reading.
Which it does, being both international
eclectic and essentially Kenyan. Choices include,
for starters, Carpaccio of Ostrich, Escargots
Ravioli Tossed in Truffle Oil, Fettuccine in
a Gorgonzola Sauce and Crab Chowder with Lemon
Grass. The entrée choices are even harder
to make and range from Saddle of Gazelle with
Poached Pears to Fillet of Pork Coated in Chestnuts
and served with a Tamarillo Sauce, with all
manner of ingenious vegetarian options in between.
As for the seafood, choose from Black Bass Baked
with a Lemon Soufflé, a bewildering selection
of seafood, lobster and big-game fish choices
and some simple but luscious Jumbo Prawns that
come sautéed in garlic and butter alongside
a mound of aromatic rice with a side dish of
al dente vegetables and fresh-cooked local spinach.
‘All that glitters is not gold’
when it comes to descriptive menus? True, but
the Mandhari delivers on its promise and the
ingredients are allowed to speak for themselves,
being neither hidden behind sauce nor over presented
in glaze, gratinée and garnish. As for
the wines, the selection is slick and the service
light-handed. And, in the unlikely event that
you have any appetite left after sampling the
best of the above there is also a daunting dessert
trolley laden with chocolate seductions, fruit
concoctions and torte to tempt the most rigorous
of pudding refusers. Tempted? You should be,
for the Mandhari is not only a class act, but
also a hard one to follow.
|
|
|
|
The Mandhari Restaurant is located at the
Nairobi Serena Hotel and is open for lunch
and dinner as follows (reservations are
recommended): |
|
|
Lunch |
12.30 - 2.00 pm |
|
|
Dinner |
7.30 - 10.00 pm |
|
|
Closed on |
Saturday lunch and all
day Sunday |
|
|
Telephone |
(254) 2 725111, 313800
|
|
