Ayeyo
This cloud kitchen restaurant is a newbie to the Nairobi food scene and they hit the ground running as soon as they launched back in July. Ayeyo is the Somali word for grandmother and a perfect brand name for this Somali restaurant cooking up fresh & delicious meals that taste like food your grandmother would make.
I recently got to try their signature dishes; the rice & hilib (goat meat, KSH1450/) and the rice & chicken (KSH1250/) and I have so much to say! The portion sizes first of all are perfect. They give really good portions which fit the cost of the dish so you don’t feel short changed because you will for sure get full. The chicken was a nice big thigh & leg combo, I know you can’t see it on the images because I already spread out the rice but trust me - that chicken was thick😉 The chicken was so so flavourful! They marinate it with a particular type of seasoning that they clearly need to be selling because that chicken was not dry, it was perfectly grilled and tasted superb. That paired with fine Somali style rice, garnished with onions and raisins and their homemade chilli sauce was a very delicious combo.
Now the goat (hilib)… I don’t eat goat meat that often, but I just may change that because this was the softest meat I have ever tasted. Again - the portions, amazing! You can smell the flavour as soon as you open that packaging and you’re blessed with the vision that are the ample pieces of delicious goat meat huddled next to the well done rice. That goat is fall-off the bone soft, with so much flavour and so chunky so very filling. I didn’t finish it in this one sitting, saved the rest for later because it was a lot to eat at once which is a good thing.
The meal also comes with Tambi (hope I’m spelling that right?) which is a kind of snack. When I looked it up I discovered that it’s a type of pasta fried up with sugar and cardamom giving it that sweet taste and it’s usually cut up into small pieces to add to your meal or you can eat it on its own. I just added it to the food and the slight sweetness plus the savoury chicken/goat and the spice from the chilli sauce made for a really great sweet & sour combo for those of us who like the best of both worlds.
If I was to choose which one I like more between the chicken & the goat, I’d say the chicken only because I don’t gravitate to red meat as much. But if you’re a fan of goat meat - order the hilib meal, you will not be disappointed. They also have a unique cake made out of dates as a dessert option and fresh tamarind juice that I shall try the next time I order.
I have to talk about the branding of this restaurant - as a delivery only service you really have to market yourself much harder because you don’t have the luxury of walk-in customers and these guys have really done a great job with that. I’m a fan of great package design and great branding in general and everything from the name to the font to the colours and the design elements that accompany their social media posts - everything came together so beautifully and tells a great story of home cooked meals shared with loved ones so kudos to their marketing team. Seeing people talk about Ayeyo online & checking out their page myself is what made me curious to try the food. Yay conversions😅
They’re available on all major delivery apps & maybe one day we’ll get to #tastethelove at a physical location soon😊
Ratings
Food: ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️
Service: ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️
