[June 13, 2011] Efficient Service And Good On the Pocket Tweet Nairobi, Jun 13, 2011 (The Nation/All Africa Global Media via COMTEX) -- We reviewed another place at Thigiri Ridge in 2010 and despite giving out general directions to the place in our article, many readers wrote in to ask where Thigiri Ridge was; so allow me to repeat myself here. If you head out of Westlands, down Peponi Road towards the United Nations in Gigiri, the road that veers right and leads you to Gigiri is Thigiri Ridge. It is a hilly, relatively green suburb of Nairobi with large mansions; it used to be part of coffee plantations but has given way to housing which seems now to be giving way to commercial ventures. An old school has now been converted into a shopping mall. It is an old building with three floors of shops and a supermarket. The new developers have not destroyed any of the old beautiful trees so there is plenty of shade and it is relatively cool. Despite being open for nearly a year, there is hardly anyone in the centre during the week so it does afford one a quiet lunch. For the moment, there seems to be plenty of parking round the building, a lot of it under the shade, which is lacking in most of the shopping centres in the city. However, on Sunday it is a different story. The huge empty plot adjacent to the centre, and which seems to be part of the property is a popular venue for family fun with bouncing castles, children's activity sets and marquees erected (during the current rainy season) to protect the older customers. It is thriving and noisy, and the scene, resembles a good Sunday outing for the family. On one side of the ground floor, as an extension to the main building, is a restaurant, an ice cream parlour, a juice bar and a couple of more, smaller eateries. They had seemed like individual eateries previously, but it turns out that clients can sit anywhere and order bits from both eateries - like a mini food court set-up. Recently, it has become quite handy to stop over at the Thigiri Ridge for a quick bite which has allowed me to try both the below places: Bamboo MoonFood: AverageAmbience: GoodService: GoodPrice: Sh650 (inclusive of taxes) for a combo meal and soft drink. I must qualify the above ratings immediately. The ambience is not that of a proper indoors restaurant. It is a simple, informal setting - the sides are open, but the big trees around provide enough shade and breeze to make it feel less causal and more comfortable. In fact, it is more pleasant to sit here than inside many full-fledged restaurant in Nairobi. Bamboo Moon has enough to offer for such a small place. It is one of the few Chinese joints in the area that has more vegetarian choices than meat. However, the fare doesn't taste the best, and after two visits, I figured out why: some dishes taste of overused oil! Why can't restaurants learn to change their cooking oil every so often? Mercifully, the dishes that were merely stir-fried do not have that taste. I like their soups; there are times when I am in the mood for a clear soup and am always at a loss to find a place that does anything but 'cream of such and such' kind of soups. There is a crispy rice clear vegetable soup and a noodle soup, both of which are good. I haven't had the courage to order shrimps here, but every time the waiter assures me that they are fresh and should I not find them satisfactory, I can reject them, which is good assurance. Nevertheless, I still haven't had the courage yet. They offer chicken, beef, shrimp, lamb, fish and whole fish in various sauces and styles: Sweet and Sour, Hot Garlic, Red Chilli, Cashew Nut, Hong Kong, Black Bean Schezuan etc. Vegetarians can have Manchurian, baby corn and snow peas, spicy bean curd, Singhoi cashewnut, bamboo shoot and mushrooms etc. There are main courses as well as combos with one of the above dishes, a choice from various rice or noodles dishes, and a spring roll (the latter is really not the best). Kebab CornerFood: AverageAmbience: GoodService: GoodPrice: Sh800 (inclusive of taxes) for a shared starter, a main course and soft drinks. A much more wholesome place is the Kebab Corner next to Bamboo Moon. Most of the dishes are dry roasted in a tandoor oven, including Chicken Wings (Tandoori Wings), which is a healthier choice and therefore tastes better as well. There is Chicken Tikka (leg or breast), whole Chicken Tikka, named correctly for once as Chooza Tikka, Boneless Tikka, Tandoori Wings, Mutton Kebabs, Beef Mushkaki and Lamb Chops Masala. For those who are confused by the wide choice, they offer a mixed platter of some of the above. Seafood also makes an appearance here in the form of Prawns Tandoori, Fish Tikka and Fish Pili Pili. As a pure meat joint, there isn't much for vegetarians except mushroom skewers, Veg Kebabs and Paneer Tikka. The appealing aspect of both the above places is that the food is served with relative efficiency and is reasonably priced. [ Back To TMCnet.com's Homepage ]