Fellow foodie, frequent dining companion, and drinking buddy, Cocktail Contessa, writes about one of our favorite (and conveniently located) Italian joints in Nairobi:
One of my favorite culinary discoveries since first arriving in Nairobi two months ago has been a little Italian joint by the name of Salumeria, located dangerously close to my flat on Gitanga Rd. It's dim candlelit atmosphere and inside/outside seating options offers the perfect environment for both casual indulgence and/or emotional overeating, depending on your state of mind. Start off with a litre/half litre carafe of the house red (again, depending on your emotional state of mind) while gorging yourself on the bread basket, which comes with an assortment of slightly undercooked and slightly overcooked options. According to our Nairobi Nightlife Guru, Micah, "The squishy bread is the best, the hard bread sucks. It's like a rock." I have to agree, although I was forced to consume large quantities of the hard stuff due to Micah's aggressive nature when it comes to bread baskets. Drowning it in oil helps.
Due to the fact that I am a creature of habit, I personally can only vouch for two items on the menu - the cream of celery soup and the prosciutto pizza. I had the soup for the first time last night because my body was craving something healthy for once, and I wasn't disappointed. It was decent, thick and creamy but after a while the celery undertones became a little overwhelming. And it needed salt. Lots of salt. The pizza was fabulous, as always. As a recovering vegetarian, I am still discovering all the glorious meat options that exist in this world. Prosciutto is a new favorite, and I discovered it on this pizza during my first Salumeria dining experience. The thin crust pie is topped with just the right amount of sauce and enough cheese to satisfy all the cheese lovers out there. The prosciutto is layered on top in dramatic amounts, adding to the taste explosion. I highly recommend it. I'm sure our Nairobi Nightlife Guru would recommend it too, if her ability to eat pork products had not been hindered by an unfortunate encounter with a fetal pig in high school biology.
Micah had the lasagna, which was "meaty, cheesy deliciousness." I apologize for not trying it and therefore having nothing to add to this description. From what I understand, it was "everything lasagna should be."
Salumeria does not offer the best prices in town and for a Nairobi dinner, it is not all that cheap, but if you are having a bad day I highly recommend a binge session here. The likelihood of random power outages increases during thunder storms, adding a sense of adventure to the meal. My main complaint is that for some reason the outside tables did not have candles, so we were left in the dark, repeatedly. I choose to believe they were discriminating against smokers.
Prosciutto?!! What happened to Miss I Don't Eat Pork?! :)
ReplyDeleteI wasn't the one eating the prosciutto, that was Britt's meal. I had the meaty, cheesy deliciousness otherwise known as lasagna.
ReplyDeleteI just realized that. I skimmed over the intro where you said it was someone else writing this entry. I thought the whole recovering vegetarian thing didn't sound right either. Duh. :)
ReplyDeleteGreat guest blogist; I can see it now a point-counterpoint blogging team. Perhaps the blog will branch out to African Nights, as well.
ReplyDelete@Blog Reflections We love your blogging team idea. And with my new job taking me to various locales throughout Africa there's a distinct possibility that there will be more than a few new locales popping up outside Nairobi.
ReplyDeleteJust don't get the 4 Cheese pizza. It's a brick of cheese on top of some dough. Very disappointing... but the bread is good, I concur!
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