Steph the Chef
I’ve been wanting to try anything from Steph the Chef for ages! Finally, one fine Sunday, together with some friends, I finally got to try her brunch package.
First thing to note - you need to order these in advance because they sell out really quickly. I think I reached out to her two weeks prior because the last time I tried to book a few days to - there were no slots left.
The brunch menu has been the same for most of this year and if anything changes, she’ll be sure to let you know as you make an order. We went for the big brunch platter (KSH4,550) which has enough for four people. It contains honey & banana pancakes, cheddar & chive chicken waffles, lemongrass pulled pork sliders, sugarcane and ginger chicken wings and chocolate mousse brownies. I made a slight change to it because I’m not the biggest fan of anything flavoured banana so I knew I wouldn’t be able to eat the honey & banana pancakes. I asked her if she could make an extra small batch of pancakes for me and she agreed (at a cost of course) and made a batch of mixed berry pancakes which I appreciated that she accommodated that request.
The food was delivered on time Sunday morning (delivery fee - KSH250 within Nairobi) and all I had to do was warm up the sliders and the wings and everything else was good to go. I like that she had instructions on the packaging to help with assembling things like chicken & waffles and what condiments to use where… guides you on what to eat with what, which I liked.
So let me talk about the food first before touching on the condiments. The chicken and waffles were my fave - the chicken was well fried, crispy and flavourful. The waffle wasn’t a slab of dough, which is great and they were also really good. The flavour of the chicken says cheddar & chive and I was hoping to really taste that but it didn’t come out as strongly but I still enjoyed that chicken because who doesn’t love fried chicken? The waffles slathered with the crack that is her spiced butter, and add the fried chicken on top, and then drizzle some cinnamon apple cider syrup on top… SO GOOD!
The pork sliders had generous servings of pork, and sliced onions but in my opinion the slider was a tad dry… I would have liked something else added to it, a sauce of sorts maybe? These were my least favourite. I added the spiced butter to them to give it some flavour - that spiced butter was the truth!
The chicken wings were hit and miss because some of them were super strong in the ginger flavour, others were not… so they just felt like normal chicken wings to me, nothing too out there though warming them up in the oven with the rosemary they were tossed in gave them some flavour👌🏾
The berry pancakes were a fave😍 I love pancakes already and pancakes with berries in them - even better, they had blueberries and maybe some raspberry. The blueberry flavour was very strong and topped off with the mixed berry compote & the vanilla glaze she made… perfection! The banana & honey pancakes weren’t as good according to my guests, they felt like it was too heavy on the banana, felt like it was just banana slices put in the pancake batter and that was it.
The chocolate mousse brownies were another winning dish - perfect decadent dessert after such a decadent brunch. Brownies are usually too rich and too dense for my liking but these ones I could handle because the thick layer of mousse on top gave the brownie layer a nice balance. The brownie itself was nice and rich, with a crunch at the bottom, not sure what the crunch part consists of but it was yum!
Now let me talk about these condiments! The spiced butter - A1! I don’t know how she makes it but I need it bottled and sold everywhere. The vanilla glaze - so thick yet so smooth and tastes like heaven on a pancake. I’ve kept that glaze so long I’ve even been using it on other cakes and desserts because of how good it is. The apple cider syrup - again, I don’t know how she does it but this syrup is better than any of these makeshift local pancake syrups they sell in the supermarkets. The berry compote is very very berry. It could have been slightly denser, like a light jam consistency but it was probably made in a rush hence its more liquid form but still really good.
In summary - I enjoyed the brunch, some dishes could have been better but what I liked I really ate more of. One of my friends made us realise there was barely any veggies/salads/fruits included which I wouldn’t have noticed before because brunch is usually not the healthiest meal but after she said it, I realised that truly it was just a lot of starch and meats and sugar and maybe a side salad or fruit salad would have helped bring some colour into the meal.
The portions were great, and because they were also quite filling, there was food leftover which I had the next day and the next lol… Pancakes for breakfast on a Monday is never a bad idea. I’ve really made use of the condiments - in fact I’m going to use the last of the spiced butter in a sandwich I’m making for breakfast today, so excited😋
I’d love to try more of her other dishes outside of brunch, like her massive burgers and her very delicious looking cakes. I think as a delivery only service she’s doing well. She recently opened a dine-in restaurant in Tigoni - Como Tigoni - which I’m really looking forward to trying soon.
Ratings
Food: ⭐️⭐️⭐️.5
Service:⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️
