Mutura sausages are hardly pretty. This one was a recent afternoon takeout from Buffet Park located in Hurlingham, Nairobi.

This mutura from Buffet Park, just popped in my mouth exciting all my five senses. It looks pretty ordinary yet it is extraordinary. I don’t know why it is so good, but it is.

The casing had snap, not your usual tough chewy mutura casing. Inside was finely chopped goat meat & tripe(i think?). A good sausage can’t be lean, this one had a healthy dose fatty goat meat. Fat is flavour! Curiously, it is not apparent if any goat blood was included as is the case with other mutura.

Along with the mutura was sliced tomato, sliced onion & chopped chilli, this condiments just brought this dish all together. The flavour combination of sweet sour tomatoes, slightly pungent onions & the heat of the chilli met the flavour of the savoury mutura perfectly.

Is there a better mutura than this one, if you know where I can find some. Please do share.

This is post brings my Mombasa posts full circle. First up was the RVR railways train trip, then followed by dining reviews of The Moorings, Whitesands breakfast, Whitesands Lunch, Whitesands Dinner & Canton Malaysian Chinese.

After a saturday morning and early afternoon at the Nairobi national park, it was time to fuel up with some food. Leaving Langata I had two choices, I could head down to Sierra on mombasa road or Mediterraneo at the Junction. I Decided to head to Mediterraneo because I had not been there since early 2006. Plus I was really curious to see how the food there had evolved and also because every time I was at the junction Mediterraneo always seemed packed. So the masses must have been on to a good thing.

I arrived at Mediterraneo and was sitted promptly, received the menus & the waitperson took drink orders. Two food menus were presented, one for the specials and the other being the regular menu. The regular menu was large in fact I think too large, to put it in numbers 4 soups, 7 salads, 15 starters, 20 pastas, 20 mains, 20 pizzas & 14 desserts. The brigade working the kitchen really have their work cut out for them. Some of you may think choice is good, but in my none-expert opinion too much choice chokes me(you). The specials menu at Mediterraneo changes every month, in my none-expert opinion they should ditch the regular menu & stick to the specials menu, if only just to make it easier for me(you) to choose.

Drinks were served along with a selection of bread, that came with extra virgin olive oil & balsamic vinegar. The bread selection was great, the basket had white bread, whole meal bread, focaccia & bread sticks. The focaccia was amazing, the baker must love his olive oil, the focaccia was really rich & tender. I learnt from the waitperson, the focaccia is baked at the restaurant while the rest of the bread was from Nakumatt next door.

First up was a starter from the specials menu. Nuggets of Brie & Camembert with Cranberry Sauce. The sesame crusted nuggets were filled lovely molten cheese. The cranberry sauce paired well with the cheese. A great way to start the meal.

Next up from the specials menu too. Roast Duck Breast, Braised Red Cabbage and Mango Cinnamon & Grappa Sauce. This was a really easy choice for me, I had not had duck in 4 months plus the combination of duck, red cabbage & a fruity wine sauce seemed like a winner. It was not, this dish was not executed well. It was rushed, the bay leaf left on the plate was a clue to this.

From the regular menu. Veal escalopes with mushroom & mint. This was alright. The veal & the mushrooms worked well together, the little pastry cup with the veggies was cute.

The chef here loves to use fresh herbs as garnish, I was really tempted to grab a napkin to wrap and take home the fresh herbs. Why waste good rosemary, lemon thyme & tarragon. I should have asked the waitperson where they source their lemon thyme, my local veggie shop & supermarket only have the regular one.

Despite the duck I still think I’ll head back to Mediterraneo to try their porcini/cepe risotto & for more of the amazing focaccia. Also have to say the service at Mediterraneo was great & quite attentive. The waitperson at my table was a great bloke.

The railways in East Africa have a long history, the railway was built by the Brit’s with the help of Indian labour. The rail line opened up the interior of East Africa for commerce, during construction the famous man eater lions of Tsavo caused a spot of bother, added to that a pesky tribe of spear-chucking Nandi’s held up construction for almost 10years(we rock!). The British had not obtained the requisite building permissions from the Nandi’s, the Brit’s prevailed after killing the Nandi’s leader. After railway was built, train services were run by East African Railways & Harbour, which then became East African railways, which became Kenya Railways, which then became Rift Valley Railways.

End of history lesson, I was heading off to Mombasa for some rest & relaxation. The plan was to train down to Mombasa then fly back to Nairobi. Booked first class cabin, for an addition ksh 1,100 you get dinner & breakfast. The train journey is typically 13-14 hours long, the train engines have a top speed of about 55km/h.

Dinner menu, it reads very well, the execution was way off the mark. Yep, that’s my pilsner on the table too.

Bread service consisted of a single slice of cold white bread, margarine was served along with it. Margarine sucks, where is my butter?

The soup for the night was cream of leek soup, which didn’t taste like leeks. Total mystery.

Cool cutlery, this knife is labelled E.A.R & H, East African Rail & Habours. This is what the rail company was known as during Kenya’s colonial days. Amazing how long the cutlery has survived.

Fish appetiser, this tasted really good, the  sauce worked very well with the fish.

Main course of roast beef with potato puree & veg. Beef was cooked to leathery consistency, I can’t stand overcooked meat. Anyway, about the rest of the plate, you decide.

Other main course was chicken curry with steamed rice, this was way better than the roast beef but nothing special.

On the menu, we were promised chocolate cake instead we got a plain & very dry cake. The custard sauce was made using commercial custard powder. Commercial custard powder normally consists of cornstarch, artificial flavour & colour. This custard tasted nothing like real custard made from milk/cream, vanilla & eggs.

Breakfast plate of eggs, bacon, sausage & tomato. Also served was orange cordial.

Coffee with Kenya railways cutlery.

Anyhow, the train journey to Mombasa was great apart from the food. The cabins were clean, clean beddings & great service from staff. I would take the train again…….

On a random saturday afternoon drove myself to Sierra on mombasa road next to Panari hotel. The brewery is in a massive warehouse, the brasserie & lounge are set in the front corner. The decor is really great, minimalist & understated. In one corner is a glass wall through which you can see all the brewing gizmos. Great beer geek porn. It was very quiet when I got in, only eight other customers present then it was 4pm, Kenyans probably show up at more fashionable hours.

All those shiny vats containing liquid gold, I would love a tour of the brew operation. I should call & ask sometime or if Sierra brewmaster is reading this, how about a tour?

Porter to wet my throat as I browse the menu. The menu is not to big which is good, too much choice is bad for the diner & hell for the chef. The chef presents a pretty global menu, though Thai seems to be his biggest influence. Cuisines represented Moroccan, Spanish, Cypriot, Chinese, Malaysian, British & French. Almost all the desserts are classic French. Nothing Kenyan per se, but what is kenyan cuisine anyway? Kaasa asked this question a while back on her blog

I was not really hungry, so I had two starters & a dessert.

The twice-cooked pork belly with caramel tamarind sauce was beautifully presented & flavourful, if it were less sweeter or more spicier it would be perfect. The potato puree was heavenly, I wanted more.

The spanish influenced potato, bacon & brie croquettas was cooked to perfection & presented beautifully. Loved the garnish not 100% sure what it was, think it was pickled red capsicum, grated parma cheese & some mint oil(you can’t see it in picture). Should have asked the chef.

My dessert was a trio of chocolate desserts. A dark chocolate cake which I totally loved. The mocha ice cream which is bought in, was ok. The white chocolate cheese cake with a fruit coulis(can’t remember what it was) was great.

After my meal, I got to thank chef Eric personally for his great food. He trained at Utalii college and has years of experience working around Kenya & overseas.

I really loved the experience at Sierra, I’m definately heading back there with all my mates for dinner & beers. You should head over there too.