How do you break your fast?
Breakfast is the most important meal of the day, they say. They are right. Over time, I am realising the importance of eating a filling and healthy meal at least once a day, preferably during breakfast. So, I have been carefully browsing through restaurants that offer great breakfasts at a steal, since I commit to eating and research with fervor. The restaurant I choose all depends on how I’m feeling that day, and whether it is a weekday or weekend. Here is my list.
Fancy a camelccino?
This restaurant is located in the CBD, on Kimathi Street opposite Java. I got to learn about the great breakfast served here after two of my colleagues dragged me with them after an early morning meeting. For just three hundred bob, you get a chapati or pancake with a plateful of liver or beef and a cup of coffee. I have been here ever since. On any weekday that I feel I need a heavy and affordable breakfast, I saunter off and get my fix here. I even tried a camelccino, a cappuccino made with camel milk. It is an experience you are definitely missing out on.
Everyday I’m waffling…
Located on Riverside Drive at The River Front Building, Connect Coffee brew a mean cappuccino as they source for and roast their own coffee beans. They are best known for their various waffle offerings, my favourite being the strawberry waffles served with vanilla ice cream. I always take the full serving, which I struggle to finish, despite being a self-proclaimed foodie. On the off chance I am eating healthy, I go for their Thai beef salad. It is a nice spot to eat breakfast/lunch on a weekend, and you can use the free Wi-Fi to catchup on work.
Hangover cure
Hangovers are possibly the worst part of getting drunk. That stands true only if you did not make bad decisions the previous night. One wakes up invariably hungry but nauseated. Soups and meats are the best hangover cures and the pho soup at Wildly Coffee is my go-to. Made with large tasty beef chunks, mushrooms, onion rings, soft sprouting green grams and garnished with parsley and lemongrass, every mouthful is heaven. That you can immediately fall off the wagon and order some margaritas and other famed Wildly Coffee cocktails after taking the soup and feeling human again is an added boon.
The Coast in Nairobi
Located at Westfield Mall on Gitanga Road in Lavington, Manara Restaurant serves Arabic and Swahili dishes both at the outlet and online for take-away. Every weekend, they have a quintessential Swahili breakfast; mbaazi and mahamri. Every other weekend, I wind up here to stare at the beautiful Arabic mouldings on the walls, to eavesdrop on conversations, but mostly, to eat the mahamri and mbaazi steeped in coconut milk, which makes me feel like I’m at the Coast.
Cherry on top
The restaurant chain famed for their white chocolate and passion cake as much as their salted caramel cake, Artcaffe, definitely had to feature. I obviously like the aforementioned cake offerings, which I take without tea or coffee to better savour the taste. I also like their fluffy pancakes, which I take for breakfast. The fact that they come with a serving of fruits almost negates all the sumptuous calories hiding beneath the dusting sugar and the syrup drizzle.
Honorary mention
This list would not be complete without Java, the trusty neighborhood coffee shop. If you go to Java to take their house coffee please stop, you are underutilising them. Get a caramel macchiato or just any espresso-based drink with their huge beef samosas, or go all out and get a burger with coffee for breakfast. Yes, we will have a burger and coffee for breakfast, we make the rules! Try their dawa too. Many Nairobians swear by this as their cough remedy; try it even if you do not have a cold. Their hot chocolate warms my heart more than a hug would, especially during this cold season.
