Mode Cafe — Restaurant in Nairobi

Mode Cafe is quite REFRESHING :) and yesterday was my 1st time to Mode Cafe and the service and food were ABSOLUTELY DELIGHTFUL.

We ordered the beef burger and were pleasantly surprised when the waiter told us its a Buy-One-Get-One Free offer and boy did we go for it. The presentation was rather a BIG LET DOWN :) as it was two burgers one ONE PLATE with the fries and a rather "sad" looking salad on the side. We did plead with the waiter and chef to reorganize and they obliged us by bring two plates...fully plated and properly 🙂. The burger was delightful...beef patty was well grilled and had that delightful char taste to it (@Mama Rocks... pleeeeease take note how a burger patty is MADE 🫣) The fries were good. Crunchy...hot and clean (none of that old and reused oil taste) and not those mass produced ones. The salad was fresh with a complimentary dressing that suited it quite well. The Double Espresso was done really well...full coffee flavour seeping through to give one that jolt of caffeine sooo needed. All in all...the food experience was delighful 😋

The service was spot on...very eager and alert waiters. Good knowledge of the menu and they even went out of their way to make sure our order was fulfilled perfectly 👍🏽. While the ambience or decor is somewhat a clean look....it comes across as a "work-in-progress" or not yet done but that aside it is a good spot to unwind and just have a hangout and conversation. Mode Cafe is DEFINITELY one of those places I shall be coming back to...

The place is clean and spacious and the service was nice. The food unfortunately was lacking. It wasn't bad it was just ok. We ordered the chicken bao buns, we felt like we had more batter than chicken and the salad in it was wilted, not so fresh. Then we ordered the shashuka, I want to say the egg"s" were way overcooked. It seemed it was 1 egg not 2, and it was hidden below a thick heavy dark tomato sauce. And it felt like it was scrambled or it fell apart and the yoke was solid and all white. If you've had this dish before, you may understand why we weren't impressed. especially when the professional picture they've added to the photos looks nothing like what we were served. The "sour dough" bread was soft and not very sourdoughy at all. I'm not saying it wasn't sourdough it just didn't taste like any sourdough I've ever had. Again, none of the food was bad, it was ok. Will we be running back to try it again? not necessarily. Perhaps other dishes are their strong suit. What did stand out, which makes me think that we should have gone for the "cafe" part only, was the drink we got. It's a seasonal one. A karak latte. Really enjoyed the flavor, and I really liked that it was iced but not full of ice. One of the best iced...

We visited Mode Cafe on a whim for dinner, and overall had a good experience. The staff were friendly and kind, which made us feel welcome right away.

For starters, we tried the chicken dumplings. They were well cooked and flavorful, though they did tend to fall apart a little.

For mains, we ordered the protein bowl salad. It was fresh and satisfying, but the flavors were a bit flat until we added some salt and soy sauce to bring it to life.

We also had the beef tandoori, but asked for it to be served in a taco wrap instead of a bun. That was easily the star of the meal—we loved it so much!

The drinks were our least favorite part. The strawberry lemonade in particular tasted very synthetic and didn’t quite hit the mark.

All in all, Mode Cafe was a nice spot with friendly service, solid food, and a few things that could be improved. We went for dinner, but I think it would be even better to visit for brunch and try their brunch menu instead. Worth a visit if...