Tokyo Drift

Tokyo Drift is a Japanese izakaya restaurant meaning a kind of tavern/casual bar that serves hand-crafted drinks and small plates much like the Spanish tapas style of dining. It focuses more on the social aspect of dining and the meals here are inspired by the night life and street food in Japan.

It is part of the Sierra restaurants and is located on the 1st level of the Sierra restaurant in Yaya centre. Can’t say much on the decor as they didn’t change much other than add a new sign for Tokyo Drift but that tracks with an Izakaya.

The menu is succinct with a good number of options to choose from for both meals and drinks. I’ve been here a few times now and this is what I’ve tried so far: Tuna Tostada (KSH950), the Salmon Rice Bowl (KSH1700), Boran x Wagyu Flat Iron (KSH1500), Pork Belly Sliders (KSH1200), Chicken Wings (KSH1200) and Panko Calamari (KSH1100).

The pork sliders were extremely tasty, my only complaint is that they were too few, they only served 2 sliders as opposed to the usual 3. Since a slider is basically a mini version of a burger which is served as an appetizer, most places serve a portion of 3 but I guess recession indicator and all that… 2 is a bit too small a portion for baby burgers lol. The wagyu dish was just there, not enough flavour, which is odd given how strong of a flavour eggplant is. The steak was nice and soft though.

The Salmon rice bowl was 10/10! The salmon was well done with a nice crispy exterior, so flakey, so good. The saltiness from the soy reduction helped balance out the fried rice, and it’s surprisingly such a filling dish despite it being a small plate. This is my constant go-to order there every time, so good!

The chicken wings were way too salty - they tasted just like the normal Sierra wings, I didn’t notice a difference between the two. The Tuna tostada was delicious! The smoked tuna which I would usually never try - was actually very flavourful paired with the chives and I added some mayo so that plus the garlic toasted bread - so yum The calamari - I didn’t actually try this but my friend who did said it was just okay. The mayo that came with it didn’t help either but the calamari was fresh at least.

The service here is good, same service you’d expect from Sierra, zero complaints there and the ambience is nice and chill whatever time you go. You can decide to move to the terrace for more of a vibe and view outside, the Tokyo Drift menu is not only limited to the lower section of the restaurant.

Great place for casual after work drinks, I may not drink but I think that’s where they shine too with their well-crafted cocktails. If you’ve tried the cocktails here let us know what you think about them

I like that it’s pretty low-key and not too much going on, they focus on the food and service and that’s it and that’s something that will keep them operational for quite a long time.

Ratings

Food: ⭐️⭐️⭐️
Service: ⭐️️⭐️⭐️⭐️
Ambience: ⭐⭐️⭐️⭐️

Menu

• nairobieats
• restaurant review
• tokyo drift izakaya
• japanese cuisine
• izakaya nairobi
• tapas nairobi
• tokyo drift menu
• Restaurants In Nairobi