Malo Malo BBQ restaurant — Restaurant in Nairobi

📍The Venue and Ambiance📍

A hidden gem? More like an overrated restaurant. Walking in you would think it's a huge restaurant but it's an establishment with a huge seating area and small kitchen. The toilet and hand washing area is not well maintained. I requested to use the washroom as I waited for my friends to arrive and I was met with blood droplets at the toilet's entrance. Apparently someone cut themselves, resulting in the bloody mess. This, however, doesn't explain why they couldn't clean it up because it paints a terrible image of the establishment.

The restaurant's ambiance doesn't give much to write home about. It's a swahili restaurant so the decor edges towards the same but the execution fell flat. They do, however, have ample parking space and adequate seating areas, some with backrests and others without. You get to choose where you want to sit.

👩🏾‍🍳 The service 👨🏽‍🍳

My goodness, the service at Malo Malo Restaurant 🤦🏾‍♀️. I always say I can overlook a lot of things but the food and service always have to be top notch. The waiters are hands-on, that much I'll give them, but the restaurant's products 🙆🏾‍♀️, no, no and PLEASE NO! We ordered one tamarind juice and two servings of piña coloda mocktail after the waiter told us the signature mocktails were unavailable. You would think they can't mess up three simple drinks and somehow, someway, they managed to mess them up.

The waiter first served me my tamarind juice which was watery and sugary, and it tasted nothing close to tamarind. The piña colada mocktails were no better as they were also watered down and tasted nothing like piña colodas. Only one of my friends finished his drink because he was thirsty but the two of us were unable to down our drinks. To make matters worse, the waiter came to tell us to order our food early enough because food ends early 🤦🏾‍♀️. It's one thing to serve watered-down drinks but it's a whole new level of disorganisation to tell customers to order early because food is ending. This was at 2:30 pm, so I'm assuming those who'll visit the restaurant at 4 pm won't be getting food 🧐. It honestly makes no sense 🤷🏾‍♀️!

🥙 Overall review 🥞

Malo Malo Restaurant needs to improve and do so SIGNIFICANTLY. I could write so much more about my disappointing experience but I'll leave it at that. I'm glad I didn't get to try their food because I don't even want to imagine how disastrous that would have been. I won't be giving the restaurant a second chance especially not after that...

It’s pathetic that in the year 2025, we’re still mesmerized by whiteness and adjacency to whiteness. So much so, that we treat our own people like garbage and trade basic decency and morals for pennies from those who look down on us without flinching. My friend and I waited almost an hour to get served. We requested multiple times for our table to get cleaned, eventually having to move because the waitress basically dismissed our request. When we finally got hold of the server, we were told that the menu was restricted and that only three things were being served on the menu. I didn’t think much of it and just ordered whatever was available. To our surprise, when a group of Indian/ Arab (don’t know what ethnicity they were) customers walked in, they were tended to almost immediately, were given a physical menu and were able to order whatever they wanted. This left an incredibly bitter taste in my mouth, as I was excited to try this place while visiting my home country. Maybe one day we’ll be able to break ourselves free of the shackles of colonialism and internalized racism but I have no hope. The food is also not that great for them to be behaving the way they do. The next time I want authentic Swahili food I’ll just go...

This is one of the few places we found serving sheesha and open 24 hours. It has outdoor and indoor seatings however the outdoor seatings are pretty awkwardly arranged. If you visit after sunset, it is going to be pretty dark as they have kept the lightning to pretty minimum. You have to pay when you order. The service is pretty slow and take time to attend and serve. Not all food options are available as per what is shown on the menu and only the grill options were available. However, the food we ordered was good. Also, tables are shared so expect to be joined by complete strangers on your table who would order alcohol even if you are not comfortable with it. Luckily we had our own table however it was at the very end of the restaurant. There is no music at all thus it could get a little dull and boring. There were people who were consuming khat / meera. The vibe can be pretty shady at first and takes a of time to sink in and get comfortable. P.S - The restaurant serves alcohol and allows its customers to consume khat / meera however will not allow you to vape!! They would not even allow you to keep it n the table not considering the fact that you...