Maboneng Lounge & Restaurant — Restaurant in Nairobi

Everything from décor to service to the ambience was bad. Had gone for the weekend brunch, the waiters kept passing by our table as we tried to get their attention, but they pretended to be busy with other things. They even started assisting other people who came after us 🤦🏾‍♀️. We asked for them to combine a table since we were a big group, but the waiter said they couldn't, another waiter combined it for us. We should have walked out then, but we decided to give them the benefit of the doubt. When we were eventually able to get the waiter's attention, it was a waiter who would come to the table and then walk away as we were talking to him. Eventually, he came back and started taking down the order, I saw him writing his own things and knew we would get wrong orders, so I had to direct him on how to take down the order. Part of the order was water for the table and some other drinks. Those took 30 minutes to get to the table. Then, eventually, we are like, where's the starter as promised in the brunch? He says it's still coming. After waiting for about 45 minutes, he tells us one of the accompaniments is over if we'd like to choose, and we're wondering, he just realised this? He didn't know in advance that there wouldn't be enough of them for us? But we're like, it's okay. We'll change. After about 10 minutes, 1 of the 7 meals is ready, so he brings it out. At this point, he says even the other option is not available, so we have to make a new order for one person. By this time, we are just done. We have watered down drinks, no starters, and 1 of 7 meals. We call the manager who takes +5 minutes to come around, and she's not even trying to make us stay. We just asked for the bill and went to For You where we were bombarded with appetisers, cutlery, and a waiter the minute...

The building that house Maboneng is quite the character. The stairs are poorly lit, directions to the lift weren’t as clear. Security guards didn’t seem interested in assisting either. Now, Maboneng gives the vibes of a club when your approaching it. We arrived at 1.30pm and they were still cleaning up not yet ready to start. We got offered a table irregardless. Our hostess, Conso was bubbly and quite the vibe but didn’t seem to know what was in the menu in detail. (I mean the common simple menu items) she did make the effort to inquire from her colleagues- this I appreciated. We started with simple drinks, then waited for the 4pm bottomless cocktail package. It states to offer, a 3 course meal, and bottomless gin or whiskey based cocktails. You get starters, and main meal. I guess the third lives in your imagination. We were advised to order early so as to get our food out quickly. The package service started at 4.20pm (Not sure if this was just a bar and kitchen delay or the norm) The food was MID!!! We ordered goat wet fry with fries - we got stewed goat with fries. The cocktails weren’t too bad by the third, you’re already dancing. Things to note: it’s the same cocktail for everyone and you cannot switch between different gin/whiskey based cocktails. Price for the gin based is KES 2500pp and whiskey based is KES 3000pp. Overall, I don’t think it’s worth the money and don’t see myself going for that package. You’re better off ordering...

I put in an order through Glovo - garlic Parmesan wings and cheesy sweet potato fries. I had originally ordered cheesy bacon sweet potato fries but they apparently didn't have them. So I changed my side.

First of all, my delivery time kept increasing by 10 minutes. When I asked the rider what happened, he said the kitchen was giving priority to dine-in customers. He sat for 45 minutes waiting for my order. To Maboneng's credit, he said that they apologized, including the manager.

The bag my food came in was used (it was rumpled and had black spots). Not only that, but it was a Carrefour vegetable bag; I recognized the partially torn off label. I'm all for recycling but don't make it obvious or use a bag that's in better condition.

I opened the used bag to find an order of plain potato fries. Not cheesy. Definitely not sweet potato. The wings didn't impress. The burst of savory flavor from the combination of garlic and Parmesan cheese was missing. They were also on the drier side.

I would not recommend ordering through a delivery service. I'm yet to try the dine-in option but hopefully if I do, it will be better than what I...