The Nook Cafe & Bar - Nanyuki

April 24, 2024

Talking about a nice culinary gem in Nanyuki today. The Nook actually used to be in Nairobi and then they moved to Nanyuki to a bigger space that fits their aesthetic quite perfectly I feel.

Located on Haile Sellasie Drive, the Nook has a very ranch style aesthetic. Lots of grass, lots of wood features, and lots of outdoor seating available. They have a beautiful succulent garden built into some tables that made me wanna have a little succulent garden built into my coffee table too. Who can do this for me please? Given Nanyuki’s brilliant sunny weather during the day, it’s a setup that works perfectly. I did notice though that the bathrooms barely had water during our visit there, we had to wash our hands by the tap at the entrance which - luckily enough is strategically placed.

Their menu is a mix of some specials that change every week and some items like burgers and steak that are a permanent fixture. I was very starved on this day so I was ready to try everything😄

For starters we had the Garlic Prawns (KSH1950) and the Hummus Tehina (KSH1450), both of which come with fresh pita bread. For mains - I had the Korean fried chicken burger (KSH1750) and also got to taste the Battered Fish & Chips (KSH1800), the Pork Belly Ribs (KSH1900) and the 3 Cheese Pizza (KSH1450).

The garlic prawns dish was excellent! It comes in a nice bowl of soup with a side of some of the freshest pita bread you’ve ever tasted. They have to make that bread in house because it was too fresh to have been brought in from elsewhere. The prawns were nice and juicy, they had a nice variant of spiciness from the soup and that combined with the pita bread… so good! That soup was so good I drank the rest of it right off the bowl😋

The pita bread and Hummus Tehina was also very yum and very filling👌🏾 That dish is a close 2nd to the clear winner of appetisers - the garlic prawns😄.

The Korean chicken burger, first of all, is very large. Like that was one big burger lol, I had no idea where to start from. But I was excited for the challenge! Sadly it fell flat fast tastewise🥲 It was very meh, very little flavour, you could barely tell there was any Korean sauce on it and it had way too much bread, the buns were a tad too thick. I like the amount of slaw on the burger though👌🏾

The fish & chips were perfect! That red snapper was super flakey and fresh, and the batter was just the right amount of crispy, not too thick, not too thin and it was altogether a great portion of both fish and chips.

The 3 cheese pizza is presented as a form of Turkish oval pizza that has 3 assorted cheeses baked within it. Surprisingly it wasn’t as cheesy as advertised but still quite tasty, especially with the arugula. Once again - that bread, so so good!

The pork ribs were definitely NOT fall off the bone soft, quite the opposite actually. Those ribs were quite tough, cutting through with a knife was proving to be quite a task which is not the norm for pork ribs… they also barely had any BBQ flavour😬 This was disappointing because I really love pork ribs🥲

I did not have dessert here but I did order some Chocolate fudge cake (KSH700) to have back home with some chai of course🙃 That cake was excellent. No notes, no critiques, just a well made chocolate fudge cake.

I really enjoyed my experience at the Nook and I can’t wait to go back to try more of their special menus which I find are a fun way to get patrons to try out different menu items before adding them permanently to the menu.

We had great service, the servers were attentive despite us being a large group. This visit happened on a Thursday so it wasn’t super full. The Nook is a perfect restaurant to add to your itinerary when visiting Nanyuki with family or friends for brunch/lunch or dinner.

This could also be a fun date plan that includes the scenic 3-4hr drive to Nanyuki (or a quick 1hr flight for those who’d rather not drive), visit Ol Pejeta conservancy and get to see the Northern White Rhinos, then head over to the Nook for lunch, and have a chill drive back to the city😊