20 July 2011

Local Moshi Lunch Spots

While working in Moshi my work colleague and I both wanted to find affordable options for lunch so each day we walked around town and picked a small local place to try.  Here's what we found:

Name: Chrisburger / Club Alberto
Location: On Kibo Road next door to the Impala Coach office just near the clock tower roundabout
Price: Their fast food menu is quite affordable.  Samosas are 500 TZS each; veg rice is 1500 TZS; and chai masala is 1000 TZS.
Atmosphere: the covered patio is enclosed with greenery and is a nice place to relax over lunch. Apparently it doubles as a bar/club in the evenings.

The service here is just as slow, if not slower, than most restaurants in Kenya. They forgot to charge us for our samosas one day and when we returned several days later for morning tea they hit us up for the amount. In general I find that very unprofessional since it was their mistake and it's not like they gave us a written bill in the first place so they couldn't show that we hadn't paid. However, I was worried the money had come out of the waitress' own pocket so we didn't comment.  

Name: There wasn't one
Location: It's pretty much a hole in the wall between Meridian Grocery and House of Art just off Mawenzi Road. It's directly across the street from Peace Palace Cafe.
Price: 200 TZS for one fried ndizi with cabbage; 2000 TZS for rice, beans, and sukuma wiki
Atmosphere: It's around the corner from one of the main backpacker spots so there are lots of hawkers hanging around trying to hit up any stray wazungu to buy a safari or cheap trinkets.

Name: New Bamboo Inn
Location: On Boma Road next to Stanbic Bank just past Rind Road
Price: 2000 TZS for ndizi choma; 2000 TZS for rice and beef stew; 1500 rice and beans; 1000 mtori (ndizi and choma) soup
Atmosphere: They have tables set up outside on the dirt and on a small covered porch.  It's laidback and off the main road away from the hordes of tourists.

Name: Aroma Coffee
Location: Across from Dar Express
Price: Coffees 400-500 TZS; black tea, tea with milk, masala tea 400-500 TZS; samosas 500 each
Atmosphere: It's a western sidewalk cafe with African service.

Name: Fig Tree Park
Location: Renguo Street, just past the the clock tower roundabout on the right
Price: Pilau 1700 TZS; rice with meat 1700 TZS; 1000 mtori
Atmosphere: Not only can you order lunch here but you can also get your photocopying done while you eat. There's about six tables situated under a large tree on the dirt out front and the wait staff was very friendly.

Surprisingly, we noticed that many people at most of these places were also drinking beer with or without lunch. It may be due to the Muthoto laws in Kenya but I never really noticed a lot of people drinking over lunch in Nairobi. Either employers here are really understanding or no one works, but can still afford to sit at cafes and booze it up every day.

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