Cocoa Cafe

November 23, 2023

Had a belated birthday dinner plan with a dear friend and she suggested we try out Cocoa Cafe located in Alta Towers, just opposite Yaya centre.

Upon walking in you are greeted by their large neon sign and the friendly waiter by the cashier. The place is smaller than I thought but stretches out into an elevated outdoors section which is perfect for afternoon tea or happy hour which they have from 5:30-7:30 daily.

The menu is quite vast (the designer in me did not like the menu look & feel… it looks like it had really been through it😮‍💨) if only restaurateurs could put in as much effort in their menus as they do in outfitting their space… call Wangwe for all your design needs, just saying. It’s filled with many chicken & vegetarian dishes, they do not serve any beef or pork here. Though there is lamb & mutton.

It’s a cafe that not only has your coffees and pastries but also caters to breakfast, lunch and dinner. I started with a cappuccino and I wanted to try their donuts but they were out so I opted to try their tiramisu as I waited for dinner.

Love how they brand their coffee drinks with their name, this is what attracted me to the place to begin with upon looking it up online. I thought they use actual cocoa beans to make artisan chocolate drinks/menu items but turns out that’s just the name of the place.

I should have been concerned about the tiramisu when I saw the ratio of cream to biscuit/cake at the display section😬 What was brought to me… was a frozen slab of what they think is tiramisu but is just a whole lot of cream and a sliver of cake within it, dusted off with coffee powder. I couldn’t finish it, would not recommend😬

For dinner we tried a couple of things: bbq chicken wings (KSH650), garlic rosemary lamb chops (KSH2,000) & the Rogan Josh - a mutton curry (KSH1,800)

The wings were great, very bbq-y, tasty and the sauce accompanying them - also really good. The mutton curry was so good! I don’t eat mutton often but that meat was super soft and they really let that curry really cook, the flavours were evident. It came with spicy rice which made the perfect pairing. The rice came off a tad salty but I wasn’t too fussed, because the spiciness of the curry helped manage that quite well.

The lamb chops came with mashed potatoes and coleslaw (you can choose 1 or 2 sides). I liked the mash, the lamb chops were well done, very flavourful - in fact I kind of wished I ordered that for myself instead because I love me some lamb chops🤤 The coleslaw was very fresh, very balanced - I tend to find most people overdo the mayo in coleslaw but this one was great.

The place is really well outfitted, with nice well-spaced booths along the walls, and really striking wallpaper/paintings that catch your eye throughout the whole cafe. The service was okay - the waitress wasn’t doing much to assure us about the different dishes available but she was attentive.

They also have high tea for 2 for KSH3,000. It’s a cute setup, really cute but none of the cakes and pastries looked appealing and after that tiramisu, I don’t think I’d want to taste anything from their bakery… so overall I think their strength lies in the main meals which they do very well, I’ll be happy to try more from their main menu👌🏾