Under the Swahili Tree

April 2, 2025

This charming restaurant is located along Marula lane in Karen. I love how vibrant it is right from the entrance with beautiful art works on display along the vast corridor that opens up to a stunning garden setup with lots of seating space and fun decor draped with lesos and ankara fabric.

I really like that they have a bonfire area for those cozy evening dinners. The menu is quite standard with various dishes available for breakfast lunch or dinner. I found it odd that a place called Under the Swahili Tree has nary a Swahili dish on the menu… not a biryani, not a kaimati, nothing lol. But they do have Swahili inspired dishes, sauces etc.

We tried the beef samosas and the feta & dhania samosas (KSH1200 for 5), the halloumi burger (KSH1500) and the bacon and cheese house smoked burger (KSH1500).

First of all - KSH1200 for 5 samosas seems excessive or it’s just me? That being said - the feta samosas were delicious! Especially with that tomato chutney, so tasty! I think they had a bit too much salt but I enjoyed them still. The beef ones were okay - not bad but nothing to write home about.

The Halloumi burger was delicious! Filled with so much flavour and the mixed chutney thing they put on top of the halloumi is fantastic, I had to add it to the beef burger as well.

The beef burger was actually quite plain taste wise, adding the chutney from the halloumi burger gave it some oomph! The burger buns were meh, disintegrated too quickly, they should try using brioche buns instead.

The service here was good, the place had a good number of customers but the service never wavered. I really like the ambience here, especially on a sunny day. It has vast space and greenery, perfect for families with small kids, who will end up playing in the compound as they wait for lunch/dinner.

It’s also great for events like birthdays, bookclub, chama meetings etc and friend meet-ups. I’d like to go back to try their grilled options, especially the ribs, they looked so good - I just didn’t have room to eat more.