The place settings we each had, complete with our own selection of dipping sauces - Soy, Onion, Avocado & Anchovy and Mustard 
The Miso Soup with Tofu, accompanied by a bowl of rice was served as one of the final courses of the evening 
The wonderful staff who attended to us that evening - to the left is the Maitre'd, Alex, and one of our waitersFollowing on from Friday’s post about our recent meal at the Tokyo Japanese Restaurant in Nairobi, Kenya (you can read the first part here), here is what our 12 course set menu consisted of that night. (If you can bear it – I feel like a little piggy just reading what we ate !)
I honestly cannot remember when I last ate so much. I had to write down what I ate course for course, else I would never have remembered -:
Firstly, we were each presented with our own individual platters of dipping sauces, each in a separate bowl, and were told which meats they accompanied. The sauces were -: Avocado & Anchovy, Soy, Onion, Mustard. These sauces were kept on the table for the entire evening and accompanied all the courses.
For Starters, we were brought a crisp garden salad topped with a sesame peanut dressing (this was served from the kitchen)
Our next course – also served from the kitchen - was Sushi (being pregnant, I threw caution to the wind on this one & tucked in – which was perhaps a bit naughty of me !) – beautifully presented rolls of Sushi which consisted of 3 different types of fish - fresh Tuna (& Avocado Pear), Red Snapper & Salmon. These were accompanied by Wasabi paste and fresh Horseradish (the latter I’d never eaten – fresh – before).
The next course was Tempura prawns & vegetable Tempura (i.e. both dipped in a Tempura batter & deep fried) & a Tempura sauce. This was the last course to be served from the kitchen.
Alex then fired up the gas cooking plate and started to prepare potato pancakes for us – he recommended that we try them with the Onion dipping sauce, which was delicious !
After the pancakes, we had Red Snapper Fillet cooked with a blend of seasonings (Soy sauce being one of them)
This was followed by Calamari (Squid) Steak (my absolute favourite !) in garlic butter
And then came the Lobster in lime juice & soy sauce. Oh my ! (All the seafood was from Mombassa, which lies on the Kenyan coast)
Leaving the seafood, we moved on to Ostrich steak which was flambed in brandy, with onion
After the Ostrich we were served Chicken breast flambed in brandy and Soy sauce
Almost ready to pop by this stage, we were served a Vegetable stir-fry done in butter
Followed by Miso Soup which contained tofu (which I simply adore & went well with the Miso soup – although no one else enjoyed the soup much !) and a bowl of fried rice on the side (We thought it unusual to end with the soup instead of to start with it !)
And then last but not least, a dessert platter of fresh fruit which included passion fruit, pineapple and melon
Something we so often forget in this fast paced day & age, is to really savour and enjoy our food, & this eating experience – which is slow and drawn out – reminded me once again of how important that is. As you can see, a lot of food was served but because it was served slowly and in small portions, with pauses between each course as we watched Alex cooking, we filled up slowly and enjoyably.
This entire 12 course menu – believe it or not – cost 1300/= Kenyan Shillings per head, (around U$17) which I think is excellent value for money. It’s also good to generously (separately) tip your chef at the end of the meal, as he plays such a huge role in the whole food experience and if you have someone like Alex serving you, you will not be disappointed !
The entire experience took us around 3 hours, so unless you go at lunchtime or early evening, it can be quite a long evening for children although as I mentioned before, they are geared for kids & very child-friendly.
So, would I visit the Tokyo Japanese Restaurant again ? Absolutely ! In fact, since we returned from Nairobi I have been singing it’s praises to all my expat friends, many of whom have never tried it. Even though it’s not authentic African cusine, if you are ever in Nairobi, do give it a try – I promise you won’t regret it !
*The Tokyo Restaurant is situated in Rhapta Road, Westlands, Nairobi
I honestly cannot remember when I last ate so much. I had to write down what I ate course for course, else I would never have remembered -:
Firstly, we were each presented with our own individual platters of dipping sauces, each in a separate bowl, and were told which meats they accompanied. The sauces were -: Avocado & Anchovy, Soy, Onion, Mustard. These sauces were kept on the table for the entire evening and accompanied all the courses.
For Starters, we were brought a crisp garden salad topped with a sesame peanut dressing (this was served from the kitchen)
Our next course – also served from the kitchen - was Sushi (being pregnant, I threw caution to the wind on this one & tucked in – which was perhaps a bit naughty of me !) – beautifully presented rolls of Sushi which consisted of 3 different types of fish - fresh Tuna (& Avocado Pear), Red Snapper & Salmon. These were accompanied by Wasabi paste and fresh Horseradish (the latter I’d never eaten – fresh – before).
The next course was Tempura prawns & vegetable Tempura (i.e. both dipped in a Tempura batter & deep fried) & a Tempura sauce. This was the last course to be served from the kitchen.
Alex then fired up the gas cooking plate and started to prepare potato pancakes for us – he recommended that we try them with the Onion dipping sauce, which was delicious !
After the pancakes, we had Red Snapper Fillet cooked with a blend of seasonings (Soy sauce being one of them)
This was followed by Calamari (Squid) Steak (my absolute favourite !) in garlic butter
And then came the Lobster in lime juice & soy sauce. Oh my ! (All the seafood was from Mombassa, which lies on the Kenyan coast)
Leaving the seafood, we moved on to Ostrich steak which was flambed in brandy, with onion
After the Ostrich we were served Chicken breast flambed in brandy and Soy sauce
Almost ready to pop by this stage, we were served a Vegetable stir-fry done in butter
Followed by Miso Soup which contained tofu (which I simply adore & went well with the Miso soup – although no one else enjoyed the soup much !) and a bowl of fried rice on the side (We thought it unusual to end with the soup instead of to start with it !)
And then last but not least, a dessert platter of fresh fruit which included passion fruit, pineapple and melon
Something we so often forget in this fast paced day & age, is to really savour and enjoy our food, & this eating experience – which is slow and drawn out – reminded me once again of how important that is. As you can see, a lot of food was served but because it was served slowly and in small portions, with pauses between each course as we watched Alex cooking, we filled up slowly and enjoyably.
This entire 12 course menu – believe it or not – cost 1300/= Kenyan Shillings per head, (around U$17) which I think is excellent value for money. It’s also good to generously (separately) tip your chef at the end of the meal, as he plays such a huge role in the whole food experience and if you have someone like Alex serving you, you will not be disappointed !
The entire experience took us around 3 hours, so unless you go at lunchtime or early evening, it can be quite a long evening for children although as I mentioned before, they are geared for kids & very child-friendly.
So, would I visit the Tokyo Japanese Restaurant again ? Absolutely ! In fact, since we returned from Nairobi I have been singing it’s praises to all my expat friends, many of whom have never tried it. Even though it’s not authentic African cusine, if you are ever in Nairobi, do give it a try – I promise you won’t regret it !
*The Tokyo Restaurant is situated in Rhapta Road, Westlands, Nairobi
