3Dee

January 25, 2024

3Dee restaurant is a restaurant that focuses on Kenyan food exclusively. It’s been around for quite a while but I only started visiting it more frequently in the last three years or so. Located at the 3Dee Apartment complex in Kilimani, the restaurant takes on the same name and is nicely tucked away in a corner of the complex.

It looks like your typical restaurant with very little fuss in the decor and aesthetics. They’ve just made sure there’s more than enough seating as the place can get full often. New to the establishment is the 3Dee bakery that you’ll see just as you enter the restaurant. The sweet tooth in me had to try something from here so I got a cupcake (KSH150/)… it wasn’t good. The frosting was just margarine and the cupcake is just your generic queen cake. I don’t think baking their strong suit.

Let’s get to the food though. 3Dee is run by a nice luo lady named Dorothy. She’s usually present and says hi to patrons from time to time. Their menu is focused majorly on Kenyan delicacies from the lakeside (the best side😉) and of course utapata nyamchom na ka kachumbari. They’ve diversified their menu to include mainstream meals such as a full English breakfast and pasta but if you’re going to 3Dee you know exactly what you’re going there for. For me it’s the fish.

As a proud Luo girl, I rarely, if at all, eat fish outside of my mother’s house because no one ever cooks tilapia properly in these Nairobi streets. So for me to be eating it at 3Dee, just know they have a team doing great work over there.

The last time I was there was with a big group of friends so there were a variety of different orders. Their very popular whole fish choma comes in different sizes thus different prices. I got the one for KSH1600/ and had it with some creamed managu (traditional greens-KSH350/) and Ugali (KSH100/). The main meals come with complimentary sides just fyi. That tilapia is split open, marinated to the gods and baked for a good hour so when it’s served it comes out steaming with flavour! That fish is soft, flakey, fresh and very delicious. Add some fresh chillies and you’ll be smiling all through your meal😋 It’s super filling though so if you have this meal, it’s for going to bed immediately after because the itis will be on high I promise you.

The other very popular dish here is the coconut fish (also priced differently depending on the size chosen). Most of the group ordered this with sides of managu (KSH300/), ugali (KSH100/), kachumbari (KSH100/) and sauté potatoes (KSH300/). So for those who don’t know… there is coconut fish then there’s the 3Dee coconut fish. Obviously the latter is the superior of the two! That tilapia is drowned in a stewed coconut sauce so rich, you’ll lick every drop off that plate. It’s that freshly caught tilapia straight from Lake Victoria, transported to Nairobi, freshly fried in the kitchens of 3Dee and doused with the thick, freshly stewed coconut sauce and left to simmer so that the flavours seamlessly flow in that pan… a glorious meal you will want to have again and again… and again.

If you’re ever looking to have authentic stewed and/or baked tilapia, lakeside style, 3Dee is definitely the place to go.

The service here is great, the wait times are longer than usual since the food is being made fresh so a little patience is needed but other than that - I have no complaints on the service.

3Dee is a great place for those looking to try authentic Kenyan meals for the first time, or for those who want a home cooked meal but don’t want to cook it themselves like me. They have more than just fish on the menu so don’t dismiss them just because I’ve only talked about the fish dishes😅 That’s just because I only go there for that yummy tilapia. It’s a great place to take friends, family and especially those visiting Kenya for the first time ever or the first time in a long while… it will give them a real taste of home.

Apologies for the itis that will befall you though, don’t say you weren’t warned😉