The Arbor is one of Nairobi’s hidden gems that I am ecstatic to have discovered. This eco-friendly garden cafe renders an unpretentious and relaxing atmosphere with the added bonus of a neighbourhood-market-type experience. Good food, organic herbs and vegetables, pottery, local designer clothing and jewellery, and rustic wooden home decor for sale, all under one roof.

Located on James Gichuru road, my only grumble is that the Arbor isn’t closer to me!

(Vlog is at the end of this post)

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Ambience

There’s a reason for the title of this post. A number of elements lend to The Arbor’s quirkiness. DIY-wine-bottle-candles for centre-pieces for instance, and metal bottle-tops set in concrete pathways. But it also has a traditional charm in its simple wooden tables, decorative wind chimes and garden situation. Everybody loves a nice garden cafe.

All the seating space is in the garden, with canopies for shielding on rainy days. There is greenery everywhere you turn; from lovely lush lawn and ornamental trees to herbs on sale.

Judging by the presence of fairy lights, it must have a nice vibe to grab a drink at dusk, or enjoy an intimate dinner with a loved one.

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Service

Service was swift. Shout out to Regina who was really nice about everything, and when she wasn’t sure about how DisCoucher worked, asked her colleague Bianca to step in. I admire it when people can admit that they don’t know something, rather than fake to know it and mess everything up. Wanjiru, the manager, was also gracious to me with my vlogging request. Not many people in Nairobi are welcoming of anyone wielding a camera. And vlogging is certainly something most people aren’t used to.

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Food and Drinks

My friend didn’t complain about his sangrias so I guess that means they were great. I had a hot chocolate and later on, pineapple and mint juice which took me straight to the beach. Seriously the perfect summer drink.

For my main meal, I had a lamb gyro which was bursting with fresh Mediterranean flavours. The side salad was the perfect balance of sweet and tangy.

Criticism: I would say that the gyro was less of traditional Greek gyro and more of an ordinary wrap. I also wish they served it with some tzatziki sauce.

My friend ordered the beef homemade samosas and also got a free soup of the day by using my DisCoucher voucher. It was the chicken noodle soup, which quite honestly was a full meal. It was laced with light Asian flavours and packed with generous chunks of chicken.

Chicken noodle soup

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Menu

They are a bit of a Jack of All Trades (in a good way) with their menu. There are foods from Asia: Pad Thai, Laksa and Pho. Then there are salads, pastas, gyros and sandwiches. Every category of food has a veg option. Stacking up brownie points on being vegetarian friendly, Arbor! 🙂 

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Pricing and value for money.

Soooooooooooooooooooo good! Their prices are seriously so good, and so are their portions. A hot chocolate is KES 200, a local beer goes for KES 300, and a sangria (a very potent one, I might add) for KES 500. Main meals go for KES 750-1000. They have specials and the quality of food is top notch too. They also accept DisCoucher vouchers which was a huge plus for us that day!

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Savings with DisCoucher:

• One free cocktail
• One free soup of the day

Saved: KES 900

Purchase your own DisCoucher book here and enjoy deals like I’ve been doing!

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Thank you so much for reading this post. I honestly do this for fun, and it’s a little crazy that people read my blog. I’ve met two strangers in the recent past who told me they read it and I was a little creeped out. I didn’t know what to say, how to act… Actual people read this stuff. It’s crazy. Thank you. I appreciate you. Check out the vlog and subscribe to my YouTube channel. ❤