Ain Korean Restaurant

February 28, 2024

Lemme start by saying how hidden this place is! And when you find it you’ll be shocked at how you’ve never seen it before-hidden in plain sight. I was invited to a Korean bbq dinner by Njambi. She hosts group Korean dinners every two months and they vary from either the hotpot selection or Korean BBQ.

Got here quite late because of searching for said entrance (don’t use google maps lol) but it’s a nice house that opens up to a vast compound in the back with various sections so it can host a lot of people. For starters we had chicken wings and some rice rolls and bottles of Soju (sake) had already been shared around. No idea what was in the rice rolls but I enjoyed it. The chicken wings were heavily deep fried… I’m not complaining but I’m sure my arteries did complain a bit.

While they prepare to bring out the main courses - Njambi takes the time to teach you various sayings in Korean like hi, hello, and thank you. She also teaches those like me who have zero knowledge on how to use chopsticks - how to use them so we don’t embarrass ourselves lol.

They bring out the accompaniments first which is a delightful array of veggies like kimchi, white radish, shiitake mushrooms, gizzards, candied peanuts, pumpkins fries, bean sprouts, etc. I can’t recall the names of the rest but they were all so tasty! Then we get the main meal - raw pork belly & a whole bunch of fresh lettuce (will explain why the lettuce is important). It’s been a while since I’d been to a Korean bbq so I forgot that it includes cooking the meal for yourself teppanyaki style - that sizzle hits everytime!

I personally am not a fan of this style of dining out - like why leave the house to go cook somewhere else? But it’s part of the experience and most people like it so I indulged as well. The pork belly on its own tastes very bland but there were more accompaniments added like fried pork, sesame seed sauce, bean paste etc.

Njambi directed us on how to assemble the food together in a wrap - pick a big piece of lettuce and add in whatever you’d like. I put some pieces of pork belly, fried pork, kimchi, gizzard, mushrooms, radish, the sauces, bean sprouts and bean paste and a few peanuts. It looks like a baby burrito once you’re done compiling all that wrapped in the lettuce. She then said that you’re meant to eat it all at once so that all the flavours burst in your mouth at once… only problem is… mine was a bit too big! No way I could put all that in my mouth.

So I just bit through it slowly - it’s VERY messy but tasted so good the mix of flavours; the pork, the veggies, the sauces and that peanut crunch… perfect. They also added some red bean rice, and potato noodles - the noodles were yum! I didn’t even taste a single potato but they really are made of potatoes.

Another dish brought out that was super interesting was this rice cake Odeng (not sure if that’s the right name). It’s a rice pasta in a very spicy, flavorful soup. The rice pasta has a sweetness to it that balances the soup spice and also has a boiled egg in the mix. It kind of tastes like rice pudding in a thick stew so if you don’t like rice pudding, maybe this isn’t for you.

The food here is in plenty - the dishes may look small but you get full real quick! Yes there was dessert even after all that food - forgot to take a pic but it was a variety of fresh fruit slices for dessert:) This whole experience hosted by Njambi cost KSH2300 per person, if you have more drinks or order anything extra, the cost of course increases. It’s such a fun plan for friend groups, couples, or even a solo plan where you can get to meet new people and bond over food and Soju. I’ll definitely be going again now for the hot pot version because I love a hot bowl of anything!