Situated just 4 kilometres from Nairobi’s central business district, the Carnivore opened its doors in September 1980 to instant success. The food, service and atmosphere are strikingly different from anything ever seen in Kenya.
That the Carnivore is about meat is typically Kenyan for, in many middle class Kenyan eateries and homes, a meal is incomplete without meat or meat sauce. The Carnivore is a meat specialty restaurant and it is justifiably referred to as ‘Africa’s Greatest Eating Experience’. Every type of meat imaginable, including a selection of exotic meats including crocodile and ostrich, is roasted over charcoal and carved at the table. Delicious side dishes and an exceptional array of sauces complement this fixed price feast that also includes soup, a selection of desserts and Kenyan coffee.
The Carnivore’s main restaurant has a seating capacity of 420 and caters to a cosmopolitan blend of local residents. It is also one of the most popular tourist restaurants and regularly caters for large parties of tourists and conference delegates. Set in attractive tropical gardens, the service and the décor are outstanding. The Carnivore is also home of the Simba Saloon, a delicious a la carte restaurant by day and Nairobi’s most popular nightclub.
The informal indoor/outdoor atmosphere, exceptional snacks and the pulsating rhythms of Africa combine to ensure an exciting ambiance. Twice voted amongst the world’s 50 best restaurants by Restaurant Magazine the Carnivore is described as ‘amazing’. Since its inception, the Carnivore has played host to over 2 million customers from across the globe, including numerous celebrities. In fact, the Carnivore visitor’s book reads like a global Who is Who. Whole joints of meat – legs of lamb and pork, haunches of exotic meat, rumps of beef, sirloins, racks of lamb, spare ribs, sausages, chicken wings, skewered kidneys, even crocodile, and other tasty morsels – are roasted on traditional Maasai swords over a huge, spectacular charcoal pit that dominates the entrance to the restaurant. Constantly basted and turned until cooked to perfection, the meat is succulent and well flavoured.
The Carnivore does not conform to the familiar restaurant traditions of passing out menus and waiting for people to order. Diners simply take their seats on the zebra-striped chairs and the movable feast begins. First comes the soup of the day and a sizzling cast-iron plate is placed in front of each guest along with a plate of home-baked brown bread and butter. An army of carvers wearing zebrastriped aprons and straw hats move from table to table carrying Maasai swords laden with different prime meats deliberately carving unlimited amounts onto the sizzling, cast iron plates in front of each guest.
Accompanying the meat feast is a wide selection of salads and vegetable side dishes, and also a variety of exotic sauces made from the Carnivore’s own recipes and stacked on to a double storey revolving tray in the centre of the table. The feeding frenzy doesn’t stop until the guests signal that enough is enough by lowering of a white paper flag perched atop the central tray. This is followed by dessert and coffee. The full meal, including a soup course, is at a set price. A vegetarian menu is also offered. First-time visitors to the Carnivore are enthralled by the spectacle of the roasting pit, the service and the distinctive flavours of food.
The atmosphere of the Carnivore combines the rustic feel of a rural environment with the air of a medieval banqueting hall. This is accomplished by the use of streams and tropical gardens throughout the restaurant, and by using rough-hewn beams and local woods.