The Summer Lounge

April 30, 2025

The Summer Lounge is a fairly new establishment in Nairobi’s food scene. It’s the sister restaurant to The Spring Noshery and is located at Sarit Centre, Westlands. It’s quite a stunning restaurant, they really said we’ll give you ALL the summer vibes.

Love the airiness and freshness you can feel throughout the place as you walk in and take in the vibrant decor. You have your mint green theme on the inside and a yummy pastel pink theme out on the terrace section. Everything has been outfitted very well and it really gives a classy yet casual ambience.

The menu very much follows the summer vibe, it’s been designed very meticulously and it is quite detailed. I was here for an event and I got to try a little bit of everything from their menu. In no particular order: Salted Caramel cold brew (KSH550), chicken lollipops (KSH950), strawberry lemonade (KSH700), fish & chips (KSH1950), T-bone steak (KSH2650), grilled salmon (KSH3250), tiramisu and an ice cream sundae (KSH850).

I’ll start with the drinks - I loved the salted caramel cold brew! I love coffee and I love anything salted caramel so these two combined was a no brainer for me. The salted caramel syrup was just the right amount, not too sweet, not too bland and the coffee was great. The strawberry lemonade however was a bit too sweet for my liking.

The chicken lollipops were tasty, they’re baked in bbq sauce so the sweetness of the sauce was a great addition. The fish and chips was an absolute no. The plating looks great and the portion is good but there was barely any fish in said fish and chips lol, the batter was overpowering the fish and after one bite I had to send it back. I showed our server that most of it was just batter and they understood and let me pick a different dish which I appreciated.

I chose to have the grilled salmon instead, figured you can’t go wrong with something grilled and I was right. The salmon was a much better choice. It’s accompanied with your choice of either fries or mashed potatoes and a side of steamed veggies. I enjoyed everything on this plate, you can’t go wrong with salmon and some mashed potatoes - such a perfect combo.

I tried my friend’s T-bone steak and it was super delicious as well. It’s a nice big portion and they don’t mince on the cut of meat when making this steak. Grilled to perfection and it did come off a bit fatty but that just adds to the flavour I feel They do need to consider getting bigger plates for the steak/lamb chop dishes, the wood board versions don’t give enough room for everything to fit and also doesn’t allow one to cut into the steak easily without risking half the food falling off the board lol.

Now for dessert: the ice cream sundae was well presented, a nice healthy serving of two scoops of ice cream with two chocolate chip cooking holding each side of the sundae and a nice dollop of fresh fruit at the bottom of the glass which I felt was a nice touch. Did I have my lactose pills on this day? Of course not. Did I suffer? Of course.

The tiramisu was a very large piece of cake! But it wasn’t that good. It had way too much cream… barely enough biscuit/cake… I think if you’re going to attempt to make a tiramisu dessert, make it well otherwise it just comes out tasting like a basic cake with way too much coffee powder on top, just my thoughts.

The service here was not great at all. Everything was very slow and even though I appreciate them accommodating the change in meal request, they were still not managing the tables efficiently. This was a few months ago, I’m hoping by now their service has improved…

This event was on a weekday so you don’t expect the place to be too loud but the appointed saxophonist came in and started playing very loudly at about 2pm… So listen… I don’t mind a saxophonist, in fact if the saxophonist who plays on Sundays at crafty chameleon wants to give me a special show… someone let him know he’s welcome to do so.

That aside though - I think the saxophone playing can be kept at a happy medium volume no? Especially that early in the afternoon? And then maybe it can get louder towards the evening when more drinks are being served and you don’t even notice that you’re shouting to the next person lol. Anyway like I said… just my two cents but it would be nice to be able to hear each other over a nice jazzy lull as opposed to struggling to share juicy tea with your girlies but they can’t hear a thing.

The place is definitely vibey, perfectly for a cute brunch with your girls or for birthdays, bridal showers, book clubs etc. Also great for breakfast dates with your SO or with your bestie and I think if they really work on that service part, it’s a place that will maintain its popularity for a long time.