Let's Meat At The Carnivore

Rashmi Uday Singh’s

Good Food Guide

Get a taste of Africa! Savour its flavour! It's marinated and served up, elegantly skewered on Masai spears in this restaurant famous as 'Africa's greatest eating experience'. It very simply calls itself 'Carnivore'.

Zebra, giraffe, impala, ostrich, wildebeest, kongoni, crocodile….you name it, they'll grill it. And they'll serve you as much as you can eat. Veggies (provided they can stomach the sight of so much meat around them) are very well taken care of too.

Drive ten minutes out of Nairobi and through the imposing large gates into the large 420 seater 'Carnivore' restaurant. At the entrance, legs of lamb, haunches of wild game, rumps of beef, skewered kidneys are constantly basted and turned until cooked to perfection in the large charcoal pit. Go at dinner time, enjoy the medieval dining hall, with its rough hewn beams, wooden floors and tables, streams and waterfalls and gardens.

A small flag on a wooden base sits in the centre of our table. "You have to turn it sideways when you want us to slow down the service" Leonardo Mudachi informs us, "otherwise we will keep serving you". The parade begins. Crackling crisp pork spare ribs, succulently soft zebra meat and of course the crocodile which tastes like a cross between fish and chicken meat. Slivers of the Ostrich are knifed off the spear and dropped onto my plate and I prefer the more flavoursome giraffe and venison meats. The bow tied waiters keep up the endless serving of the meats and glide between the tables. The dipping sauces and the salads help break the meaty meal. So does the man serving 'Dawa'. He moves around offering vodka, lemon and honey shots, "It's medicine" we're told. Piping hot chicken tikkas, chicken wings, livers and gizzards, pork sausages and beef sausages are continuously served. Every now and then I feel the purring fur of a cat who walks past my legs, licking her chops in pure contentment. A careful look reveals many such cats…nature's and Carnivore's vacuum cleaners!

Some not-so-great desserts (apple pie, brandy snaps, cheese cake) are offered to wind up this meal, they are included in the price of 1490 Kenyan shillings per head.

And if it's your birthday, don't forget to inform them. They'll line up (spears et al) and sing 'Jambo Bwana' for you! The world's a restaurant. Agree?

Carnivore, PO Box 56685, Langata Rd, Nairobi, Kenya, tel: 254 2602764 / 66/75 fax: 254 2 602993