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Restaurant

Thorn Tree Café

Café is an upmarket café with international cuisine. It has great atmosphere and the Acacia Tree in the centre is legendary. Thousands of messages would be pinned here by travelers and many times replies written in the past. Today message boards have been placed around the tree to protect it.

City guide

Overview & visitor information

Thorn Tree Café

Café is an upmarket café with international cuisine. It has great atmosphere and the Acacia Tree in the centre is legendary. Thousands of messages would be pinned here by travelers and many times replies written in the past. Today message boards have been placed around the tree to protect it.

Hotel Stanley, Kimathi Street, City Centre tel: (254) 226 996 (info)

Muslim check

Halal dining checks

These checks help Muslim guests assess service details before booking or visiting.

Serves alcohol?Not verified
Serves pork?Not verified
Separate utensils for pork?Not verified
Washroom has bidet / Muslim shower?Not verified
Has prayer room?Not verified

More restaurants in Nairobi

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Alan Bobbe’s Bistro

Alan Bobbe’s Bistro is a French Bistro gourmet restaurant with a rich décor. The dress code is formal, food is mouthwatering and menu extensive.

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The Lord Errol

The Lord Errol is a premium French and International cuisine restaurant situated in a peaceful location. It is a favourite of Nairobi’s expatriate crowd as well as local Kenyans. The wine list is extensive, service excellent, and the French food is the finest one can get probably in the entire East African belt.

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Furusato

Furusato, is a Japanese specialty restaurant. Considered the best in Nairobi for sushi, sashimi, tepanyaki, tempura and other Japanese specialities. The settings are elegant and subtle and the service has typical Japanese warmth and hospitality.

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The Carnivore

The Carnivore is considered amongst the top barbecue restaurants of the world. An open air restaurant it is a unique experience and a must for every visitor, especially for meat eaters. There is every possible kind of meat including wild game meat of the zebra, antelope, crocodile, ostrich, etc. These are cooked over a huge charcoal pit. The restaurant does not follow the norm in its service. Once seated, soup is served and there are side dishes of salad and vegetables with a variety of sauces to choose from. Unlimited and varied meats are then brought on huge swords and carved onto your plates. Dessert and coffee at the end completes the meal. The service here is exemplary and the ambience amazing.

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Trattoria

Trattoria is famous for its Italian specialities. The desserts here are mouth watering. The restaurant is on two floors and the upstairs balcony area gets packed every evening.

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Tamarind Restaurant

Tamarind Restaurant serves the best seafood brought in fresh from the coast everyday. Besides seafood the restaurant has a range in other meats and vegetarian dishes. The place has won the best restaurant award many times. It also has a choice of specialty African dishes to choose from. It has a classy Arabic-Moorish décor and one is expected to dress up for this restaurant. It is advisable to make a reservation.

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Panda Chinese Restaurant

is the best place for authentic Chinese food in an atmosphere created to fit the quality of food served. The interiors are classy and this is a popular restaurant even though it takes time to find it on Kaunda street.

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Fiesta Restaurant and Bar

Fiesta Restaurant and Bar has international dishes on its menu giving authentic flavours to food in its varied choice. Service with a smile is the motto of the staff. The décor is bright and appealing.

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Siam Thai

Siam Thai serves authentic Thai food which is perhaps truer to the taste than attempts by other Chinese or Thai restaurants in Nairobi. It has a very pleasing setting and friendly, helpful staff.

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Slimmers Restaurant

Slimmers Restaurant has African and international dishes on its menu. It is a popular cosmopolitan place. There is always some form of entertainment here with a lot of live music as well as recorded, making the atmosphere very enjoyable. Credit cards are not accepted.

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What to do with Children in Tow

Activity

Children will enjoy every aspect of this child centric tour. One could avoid the city sightseeing and spend more time at the Nairobi National Park. They will just love the Giraffe Centre where they can come really close to the huge Rothschild Giraffes and actually feed them. The Animal Orphanage at the entrance of the National Park is a place all children enjoy. Orphaned wildlife is looked after here and there are lions and leopards, chimpanzees and otters amongst others.

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Safaris

forest

Besides these, are the Safaris one can take to game parks which are just 6-7 hours drive from Nairobi. Amongst them the most popular is of course the Masai Mara Natural reserve. This is in the beautiful Savannah Grasslands area of Kenya and has a huge number of large animals. The Masai community has been allowed to graze there and very often can be spotted in their traditional attire asking you to photograph them at a price.

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Ice Skating rink, Panari sky center

Building

Within 5 kms of the City Center is this architectural masterpiece. Considered the largest rink in East Africa, the Ice Rink is on the 2nd floor of the Panari Sky Center. It has 15,000 square feet of ice and can accommodate 200 skaters. The ambience of the Alpines have been recreated.

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Bomas of Kenya

House

This has become a regular feature of every Nairobi tour. It is a village cum cultural centre where traditional African Music and dance performances are held to specially attract the tourist to African life. Traditional African homes have been modeled and visitors get a feel of life in Africa before modernization.

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Giraffe Center

zoo

Rothschild Giraffes faced a fear of extinction. It was this center which made an all out effort to save them. There are Giraffes which can come and feed from your hands here now. It is a favorite with children. There are also bushbucks, dik-diks and warthogs found here. The gift and souvenir shop is well stocked and not very expensive. The Giraffe Manor in the premises is now an up market hotel.

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Karen Blixen Museum

Museum

The famous Danish author, Karen Blixen, who wrote under the pseudo name Isak Dinesen lived here. She is the author of ‘Out of Africa.’ Her house was originally in the coffee plantations in the countryside, but now with the growth of the city, it is just in the outer region of Nairobi and has been converted into a museum. It has many of her famous books and paintings of African life. It is the highlight of every tour of Nairobi. A peaceful atmosphere pervades this area where trees abound.The grounds have been looked after well. The Karen Blixen Coffee Gardens Restaurant is a nice place to relax and soak in the atmosphere. The Langatta area on which it is located is in the richer neighbourhood of Nairobi.

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Kenyan Railway Museum

Museum

A bit hard to find, this is a must see for any tour of Nairobi. Kenyan modern history is linked to its railways, and this museum has relics and photographs of old trains. There are some old carriages kept which one can climb into and explore. These speak of amazing incidents and have pictures to bring them alive.

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Uhuru Park

Park

This is the most famous and popular park of Nairobi and is just off the city centre and extends into the west into Upper Hill area. It has a lake where boats can be hired. There are vantage points at a height where the city’s skyline can be admired from. President Moi had wanted to build over this park but his efforts met with great resistance from Wangari Maathai and he had to give up this idea. She won the Nobel Prize for her efforts in saving this park. This is also the place for most demonstrations and political rallies. These must be avoided if touring the city.

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The Arboretum

forest

This beautiful forest reserve is spread over 80 acres and has more than 300 species of trees from Kenya. It is a beautiful place to walk around in and absorb the sounds and sights of pure nature.

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Parliament Building

Building

Visiting times to this colonial building depend on when the National Assembly is in meeting. The Parliament House besides its imposing building showcases intricate tapestry needlework, a mosaic of Kenyan tribes and a table made purely with trees from Kenya made by the Women’s League of East Africa.

More hotels in Nairobi

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Nairobi Serena

Considered as Nairobi’s finest hotel by many, the Nairobi Serena keeps the highest standards in service, quality and hospitality. The Serena Group is considered a highly professional group and all its properties are well known for quality of service.

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New Stanley Hotel

This hotel has been made world famous by the many authors, film makers and artists who not only stayed here, but got their inspiration and best creative spirit while seeping in the atmosphere in The Stanley as it was called then. Some of the more famous ones are Elspeth Huxley, author of books like the ‘The Flame Trees Of Thika,’ Col J H Patterson author of the true story ‘The Maneaters of Tsavo’, Ernest Hemingway who wrote many of his famous works while staying at The Stanley, recuperating from an illness. Films like Mogambo, The Macomber Affair or King Soloman’s Mines, were either filmed or had production units and crew and cast staying here.

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The Grand Regency Hotel

This is a fairly new hotel with a typical high rise modern façade in white with solar glass look. It is in the up market business district of Nairobi overlooking the Uhuru Park. It has color and class in its style. The interiors have high atriums, skylights and intricate mosaic and bead work.

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Norfolk Hotel

Ideally located on Harry Thaku road, only 5 minutes from the city centre, this is a landmark amongst the Nairobi Hotels and is the oldest Hotel in Nairobi with a historical and colourful past. Today it is still one of Nairobi’s top hotels. It is almost as if the city was built around Norfolk rather than the opposite. It was first opened as a small hotel way back in 1904 by Major CGR Ringer. With nothing but open lands in front and behind the area, this was the place for all weary travelers and game hunters to look forward to after a tiring journey and then completely unwind and relax. It is older than the London Ritz, and has a truly romantic ambience. The hospitality and standards of service it was famous for then are still unmatched in the country. All the important state visitors have stayed or at least visited The Norfolk. It has witnessed history like no other. The meetings of the First World War leaders with the military used to be held here, the British crown was accepted by the Kenyans here. Many important events have been witnessed from this historical place.

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Windsor Golf and Country Club

Expensive Hotels

Whether you are a golfer or not this hotel / country club will completely bowl you over. It is only a fifteen minute drive from the city center but is far from the madness and tension of city life. The resort is in a lush quiet peaceful tropical country setting, with a beautiful 18 hole golf course, lovely open areas for meetings, social events, outdoor parties or conferences and conventions.

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Holiday Inn Mayfair Nairobi

Moderate Hotels

This charming historical hotel is a blend of the modern and the traditional. Its architectural style is distinctive and goes back to the colonial days of the 1940’s. Earlier known as the Mayfair Court Hotel it is now part of the Holiday Inn group. The rooms are large and comfortable with all modern luxuries. The gardens are very well preserved. The staff is warm, friendly and extremely hospitable. They speak English, Swahili, German and French.

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Giraffe Manor

This is a small boutique hotel which only has 6 double rooms to offer, yet it is a retreat which creates incredible warmth and gives the traveler an experience of a life time. Where else would you have Giraffes literally peering into your window while you enjoy a scrumptious breakfast? It is surrounded by 140 acres of forests. It is famous for its Rothschild Giraffes which have been given protection here and saved from extinction.

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Macushla House

Another boutique hotel, this place can accommodate up to 10 guests only. It is surrounded by indigenous forests and is a great retreat to escape from the stress and severity of today’s city lifestyles. Macushla gives the right amount of privacy and space, yet provides for all comforts in an atmosphere of warmth and homeliness. The lawns have been allowed to grow naturally to attract the local flora and fauna.

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Hilton Hotel Nairobi

Expensive Hotels

Built in the 1960’s this cylindrical shaped hotel has an excellent location, both for the business and leisure traveler. It is in the heart of the city, right next to the Craft Bazaar and only about 20 minutes from the international airport. The famous Kenyatta International Conference Center is very close to the hotel. The hotel itself has 7 meeting rooms which can accommodate up to 500 guests. There is a business center with high speed Internet connectivity. It also has an outdoor pool, a massage, a gym and a health club.

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The Safari Hotel and Casino

This sixteen storey hotel is located just 15 minutes from city center. It is on a 64 acre open plot and combines the best of African style to give a uniqueness and exclusivity to it. The landscaped gardens, sparkling water gardens, the inland beach, elegant architecture and a choice of fine dining make a stay in this hotel truly memorable. The hotel has 30 deluxe suites and 174 luxury rooms. Each room has a huge carved four poster bed.