My first thought when I got to Shamba Café in Loresho was, ‘my goodness, it’s a white people's food place.’ Well, it is but turns out I love white people's food.
We picked Shamba Café because we were looking for a quiet place away from the bustle of the city to do a little celebration of a week of success following the launch of YAZA Kenya. It turned out to be the perfect pick.
From the parking lot, you first see a magnificent red barn sitting in the middle of an actual shamba. No, that’s not the restaurant, that’s the restaurant shop. Next to it is a grey barn which houses the restaurant. We got here during the lunch hour and the barn which has a cozy, rustic interior was a little packed so we opted to sit outside.
We set up on a picnic table out on the lawn under this huge tree next to a boule court. Boules is a game that’s played like pool but on the ground, with your hands and huge heavy balls.
"Boules is not something you see a lot in the part of Kenya I come from."
Someone should have told our waiter that the only cheese I have had was on my pizza and my macaroni before he came offering a cheese board. What was I supposed to do with a cheese board? It turned out to be an assortment of cheese on a board.
I loved the goat cheese but the rest might take some getting used to - but if you love cheese, order away.Shamba Cafe Cheese Board The only thing I knew when it was time for the main meal was that I wanted chicken and that Mexican also sounded really nice. At the waiter’s recommendation, I ordered Enchiladas which I quickly learned are corn tortillas rolled around a filling and covered with a savory sauce. My plate contained beans, mushroom and yes, you guessed right, chicken. Enchiladas at Shamba CafeThis was served with Guacamole and Salsa Fresca and it was so good. I swear for a minute there I was thinking about giving up nyama choma. With such international kinds of dishes, Shamba is of course not your regular one coin place. You will need to cough up a little more to eat here.
I learned a few things on this trip
It can fill up pretty quickly on the weekends so you might want to make a reservation.
The Shamba shop sells a wide range of products most of them sourced straight from the farm ranging from chocolate and sausages to baked goods.
Everything in the Shamba shop is made in Kenya.
It sits on a two-acre piece of land.
They host a farmer’s market on Saturdays where you can sample different farm products from different vendors.
It looks like it’s been here a while but it only opened in March 2019.
After our meal, I popped in to the farm shop and it was overflowing with food supplies and Kenyan crafts.The Shamba Cafe ShopIf you are looking to dine with nature and in quiet, this is just the place. And you can bring your toddler too as they have a play area. It would be a perfect place for them to dine and run around away from the malls especially with the pandemic.
And then you can see if you love white people food as much as me.
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