Céline and Lolo
Are we still saying happy new year? 🫣 or counting to Valentine’s Day 👀 whatever the case - it’s 2026 and Céline & Lolo is our 1st review of what I believe will be a great foodie year ahead!
Celine & Lolo is located on Kabarsiran drive, and it actually used to be a very stunning white mansion before they turned it into an equally stunning boutique hotel.
First things first - DO NOT drive here. It’s a complete waste of time because there is absolutely no parking + they don’t let you park inside so if you don’t want your car just hanging loosely on that winding road - just Uber there, you’ll be glad you did.
I love what they did to the place in terms of decor and renovating it to a hotel. We got a nice peek at the rooms (the beds look comfy AF) and I love how much art surrounds the walls throughout the three floors before you get all the way downstairs to the poolside bistro.
I’m sure you’ve seen all the IG girlies make use of this sunny south of France-esque backdrop they have going on at the restaurant. I expected it to be bigger judging from the pics I saw but it’s a nice little spot with seating both indoors and outdoors.
I came here for a fun birthday lunch with my girl and we sat by the pool beds which was nice for the visuals but not great with that direct 30° January sun beating down on us 🥵 I needed hydration and caffeine asap so I ordered an iced caramel latte (400/) to start. I appreciate that they use Spring Valley coffee so the latte was exactly what the doctor ordered.
The menu is quite simple, it’s a French style bistro so the food choices are minimal but very detailed in their execution. Got some bread and butter (KSH400) to ease my hunger as I waited for my date. You would think this would come out quite quick but my date arrived before the bread… this was about a 30 min wait. I asked what was taking so long - our server said the bread was being made fresh that’s why (after tasting said bread I don’t believe it but that’s their story and they’re sticking to it). That butter though?? That butter is what I believe was freshly made because it tasted superb! That last time I had butter that good was at Fig & Olive who also churn their own butter.
After stuffing myself with the ‘fresh’ bread & butter, we ordered some mains, my friend got the roasted chicken (KSH1700) and I got the red snapper (KSH1700) which is a dish that everyone’s been raving about. I had some fries (KSH500) too since my dish didn’t come with any accompaniments.
The roast chicken comes with green peas and mashed potatoes while the red snapper is served on a bed of French beans (apt 😏) tomatoes & olives (I did not see any olives 👀). The chicken was super moist but according to my friend, it felt a tad undercooked… very slightly so but still. The mashed potatoes were divine I’m sure due to that glorious butter they have 🤤
The girlies were right about the red snapper - it slapped! It was perfectly crusted up top with a very tasty seasoning and was perfectly flakey on the inside. To some it may come off as salty but to me it was great. I should have gotten mashed potatoes instead of the fries because that fish + sautéed french beans + mashed potatoes is a perfect combo. The triple cooked fries are not worth it - very dry, they probably need to not triple cook them in my opinion 😬
Because coffee is anything but hydrating, I had to get another drink to cool me down. Tried a Shirley temple for the very first time and it was just what was needed on a sunny Saturday afternoon 🍒
The service here is quite slow so be wary of that but our server was very nice and I appreciated her candor 👌🏾 The ambience is 10/10 and that’s really what sells the place I feel - which isn’t ideal but I don’t think most people would visit here if they hadn’t seen the stunning pictures online because very few people talked about the food.
Would I come back? Not really. Maybe for drinks and a swim but not so much the food outside of that red snapper 😋 I would however recommend it for a staycation or for anyone visiting Nairobi - great place to stay and being in the Lavington area gives one proximity to so many other fun places in the city.
Ratings
Food: ⭐️⭐️.5
Service: ⭐️️⭐️.5
Ambience: ⭐⭐️⭐️⭐️
Halal: ❌