Cave à Manger

May 20, 2024

Cave à Manger is a branch of the Wine Box franchise that is a full on restaurant and not just somewhere for wine & tapas. Located on Karen Plains Rd, this place wasn’t the easiest to find - I think they need more signage in the compound they are in.

Once we found it though?? I was obsessed! You first walk into a wine cellar that has your pick of wines wall to wall throughout the cellar with a tasting table in the centre for those who would just like to do wine tasting.

You exit the cellar and enter the wonderland that is Cave à Manger, a most beautiful courtyard set up welcomes you. Feels like you’ve just stepped into a restaurant in the middle of Florence, Italy. Terracotta brick floors, mixed in with artisan tiles adorn the floors and when you look up you’re met with a low wooden beam ceiling, hanging plants lining up each beam intertwined with fairy lights.

Sidenote: I don’t know who’s supplying Nairobi restaurants with fairy lights but whoever it is is making a killing with how often restaurants open up here😅

The place is stunning. That decor is simple and natural but adds so much to the ambience of the place, it’s giving very much romance and intimate dining. The fountain at the centre of the courtyard added just the right amount of pzazz since it wasn’t overflowing with water hence not too loud.

The courtyard stretches to an outdoor section with a sprinkling of tables here and there for those who don’t wanna feel too romanced by the fairy lights lol. In the main dining area, there’s a bar and various size tables fill the space. You can be just the two of you at one of the corner tables or a big group on one of the bigger tables that take up space closer to the centre area.

The designer in me must say that their menu is designed really well - love that the meal items are lined up in the centre and the wine pairings to the dishes are on either side. I’m a sucker for good symmetry😉 Now just to warn you - this place isn’t somewhere you can just rock up for a casual dinner willy nilly so please plan your wallet accordingly!

The menu has both bitings and bigger plates. My friend and I tried a bit of everything. Appetiser - Arancini (KSH1060), mains - Chilli Garlic Prawns (KSH2090), 12hr Braised Beef Short Ribs (KSH2030), these came with wedges (KSH470) and a strawberry, goat cheese and baby spinach salad (KSH490). For dessert - Apple crumble with mascarpone cream.

The Arancini is basically fried rice balls with an olive sauce and basil leaves. This was a bit dry, the rice balls needed some salt or balsamic vinegar. The sauce accompanying it though was nice and sweet and paired well.

The chilli garlic prawns were a bit cold, I think they had sat out a bit too long in the kitchen before being brought to us but the soup they lie in was very nice and spicy. I enjoyed this a lot, including the two slices of bread it comes with😋

There’s a sweet chilli sauce that comes with the wedges as well - so good! Do they make that in house? I’d like a bottle please. The Baby spinach salad was so bomb! So fresh & herby and tasty! It’s dressed with a light vinaigrette that gave it that nice herb zest.

Let’s talk about these short ribs. That presentation alone was already so great, I love a sizzling hot plate😁 The ribs looked juicy and were covered with a cumin bbq sauce and a mango coriander chutney (also need this bottled, so good!). Sadly though, even after stating that the ribs were slow cooked for 12hrs, they were not as soft to the cut. In fact I struggled eating them because I could barely cut through them. They tasted very flavourful especially with that mango chutney but the toughness of the meat took away from the taste for me. I feel they needed a bit more cooking time. The BBQ sauce is sweet but not horribly so.

The Apple crumble was presented in a nice little dish, topped with dried cranberries and dried strawberries and a dollop of mascarpone cream. I wasn’t a big fan of the mascarpone cream mostly because it wasn’t enough and was already melting into the apple crumble before you could get two bites in. I think a nice thick scoop of vanilla ice cream would have worked better to balance out the warm apple crumble. The crumble itself tasted amazing, nice and warm, perfectly diced, roasted apples with just the right amount of spices.

In terms of service, we had a wonderful waitress - Margaret who was very nice and very attentive. I really appreciate great customer service. I would love to come back here to try more from their menu especially the pork belly and the tiramisu.

Cave à Manger is a most perfect place for a date, be it day or night. It’s also great for birthday dinners, celebratory type events etc. I think people who’d enjoy this place most outside of foodies are the wine lovers. The wine box is such a great concept, and I love that they have different branches across the city. This one however is the only fine dining restaurant option they have. I would suggest making reservations beforehand to avoid disappointments.