Barista & Co.

February 16, 2024

I’ve been a fan of this place for quite some time now. I’m not vegetarian and I rarely go to vegetarian places by choice but one day I tried this place and I’ve been a loyal customer ever since!

Located at Keystone park in Riverside, Barista & Co is a cute little coffee shop and vegetarian restaurant that serves up a mean brunch. First of all - they have the best mint hot chocolate (KSH400) I’ve ever had & stay going back for, their lotus biscoff milkshake (KSH650) is so sinfully good and their hazelnut nutella latte (KSH450) is a must have!

Over time they’ve changed up their menu and have added some cool new dishes:) I’ve been there for brunch a few times, so of course I had pancakes - the pavlova pancakes to be exact. They are cute punchy souffle pancakes with mascarpone cheese & blueberry sauce. Enjoyed every bit!

Another dish I love there is their halloumi & mushroom panini. I always have it with fries & their homemade chilli sauce (yes still with the mint hot chocolate, don’t judge me…) They also have this charcoal croissant (KSH1,150) that looks really nice, I didn’t try it but my friend who did said it was delicious.

On a recent brunch visit - I tried their charcoal & mint mocha (KSH400) - I enjoyed the Sesame Charcoal latte from their sister restaurant Shokupan so much I figured it would be just as good - it wasn’t. It didn’t have enough mint or mocha for my liking.

At this same brunch, my vegan friend had a really bomb quinoa salad with pomegranates, cranberries and surprisingly tasty cauliflower - I still think about that salad everyday, it was so yummy! It’s no longer on the menu though unfortunately.

She had to resort to a salad because they did not have any vegan options for brunch then, but now they have rectified that and there are quite a few vegan options on their new menu. Our other friend had the savoury waffles that come with walnuts, asparagus, cream cheese and a side salad. Never had a waffle in a savoury context before and this was also really good.

I can’t talk about Barista without mentioning their absolutely insanely good Lotus Biscoff Cheesecake! Of all the cheesecakes I have tried in my life (I’ve really had many lol) this is up there with the best of them. I also tried their chocolate strawberry and Basil cake the other day… The flavours already were quite enticing and the layering of the buttercream was all I needed to buy a slice at KSH600.

I expected more strawberries, there were only two on this slice… expected some within the layers but alas. That aside it’s a nice, rich chocolate cake (think chocolate fudge) & the basil flavour is a nice pop of freshness to balance out the chocolatey richness.

Lastly - their Pasta. I have had the Mushroom Toretellini (KSH1,300) and the Mushroom Alfredo (KSH1,250). The Toretellini comes across as similar to ravioli and it was tasty but a tad salty. The mushroom alfredo though was DIVINE. Usually any Alfredo pasta is quite creamy but this wasn’t just creamy, it was packed with so much of the garlic butter sauteed mushrooms that made the dish taste more like mushroom penne than penne alfredo… so so good! Sprinkle some of that fresh parmesan on top and the itis that will hit you will have you napping until the next day lol. That’s a pasta dish worth going back for.

For a vegetarian restaurant these guys really know their food and it all tastes so good and their portions are perfect value for money. A great place to work from as well, if you’re looking for an outdoor sunny space. The security check in that building is very annoying though. I understand it’s due to the building being home to the Netherlands Embassy as well but still, quite frustrating and can turn away customers. Their other branches in Sarit Centre and Westgate don’t have all this hullabaloo though, just an fyi.

I never thought I’d love a vegetarian restaurant this much but so far, Barista hasn’t failed me yet and it stays in my top recommendations always, especially for brunch.