Ali Barbour's Cave Restaurant — Restaurant in Ukunda ward

Having a 5 star as we heard the ambience in Ali Barbour, we were excited to make a booking a week prior with Mukami and came all the way from Nairobi (by car) The night of our dinner was on 28 July 2024 at 5.30 to 8pm, we make order of 3 entree and 4 main dishes as a family of 4. Since my Husband is A BIG TIME alergy to Coconut, we made sure that the server understood. As night went on, our food was served, we ate happily except for my husband, he got a swollen tongue and itchy throat after taking a small bite of the mashed sweet potato that comes with the catch of the day meal that is not "supposed" to contain coconut "according to them" but apparently "contained coconut cream". We were not sure how this could possibly happen after clearly making sure few times before ordering and after the food came. Then we asked again to another person "a woman" we thought was more "in charge" than the server in red uniform, the woman wore a black uniform (skinny with eye glasses), she also confidently said it does not contain coconut, but we are certain it had coconut cream. What it does'nt reach my understanding is, even after we asked again and again like retards more than 4 times, none of these workers thought to make sure in the kitchen!! Until at the end, we forced the server to do it for him to come back trying to avoid us. We pushed him for an aswer and he admitted it that sweet potato mashed "contained" coconut cream! Both the server and the woman (the woman in black uniform and the guy in red uniform) "tried" to avoid us. I literally called her and pressed this matter with her again of why she said something she had no clue about?? She could've gotten my husband killed by both her and the server's unprofessionalism, then to just offer an insincere appology like -ok thats a mistake from the kitchen- just get it over with-now leave- kind of attitude A 5 star dine in restaurant offering an insincere appology as literally both of them saw my husband can't have a proper dinner, at least try to replace the carbs in my husband's meal that they ruined. Our Dinner and experience was ruined, we paid more than 20K for the dinner my husband couldn't eat nor share the enjoyment, and not even a "5 stars" appology offered by the management. The night shift "resevation manager" as what she called herself promised to let Mukami give us a call for clear clarification the next day after chasing after us to the car, We waited and gave them enough credit not to post online last night, but nothing has come from their side. How I wish I could throw all the food up back to them and listen to the bad reviews as it is very clear they dont have safety precautions or training. Greatful that my husband followed his instinct and stopped after tasting only a tiny bit. Imagine if we were just trusted them and ate it all, my husband could be in...

Old School Elegance in a 120,000 year old cave! This is one of a kind!

You enter under a portico which is quite nice considering it rains a lot here. Especially in November, which is one of their two rainy seasons. It's also a low season which means you might have half a chance of getting a reservation. If you want to be certain that you get to dine here, I would suggest calling ahead as early as possible. They will take walk-ins but while we were there we watched one couple wait almost the entire time before giving up and leaving.

This is not someplace that you should miss out on if you are in Diani, Kenya. The cave is thought to be at least 120,000 years old. There are openings in the roof of the cave that allow the stars to be seen at night. It was raining when we visited so they had pulled the covers and the cave was quite dry.

We got there early and were given a tour of the cave and restaurant facilities. Then we sat in their charming bar area up top. Sipping on some beverages while we waited for our seating time.

Dinner was decided well in advance by salivating over the menu. Check their website.

Dinner starts with a beautiful bread board featuring several kinds of house made breads, fresh butter, olive oil and balsamic. I was able to try a little of each. Perfection!

I got the Lobster Thermidor, an old school steak & seafood dish. I love lobster, perfectly cooked in large bite size pieces. It served in its shell with a burre blanc and parmesan cheese. A slight broil to brown the top. It's the best thing you will ever try.

A couple I was with got the Tomahawk Steak for Two. Served with mashed potatoes, steamed veggies and a tiny pitcher of gravy. I had a taste and I can say. Perfectly seasoned and seared over flames. Served with the bone removed and the steak cut into delicious morsels to be shared with someone you really like. The 7 inch long bone is served alongside this impressive dish. This would be my other choice. Equal to the Lobster.

The seven year old ordered the duck. She is a lady of good taste, she devoured the duck. I'm told it was really good 😋

My only regret is that we had to leave to catch a bus back to Nairobi before we could order dessert. I will need to go back for the lime cheesecake!!!

Best part of this dinner was the exchange rate. Dinner for 5 was 19,650 ksh- which concerts to $128 USD. I can assure you, you can't even get a tomahawk steak in the US for this price. Let alone...

After a gruelling and hot work day, my colleagues and I decided to go kick off our formal shoes and throw them away for a relaxed night of enjoyment at the restaurant.

On arrival, my breath was taken away by the beautiful set up and ambiance. The cave is a true beauty. We sat under the beautiful African night sky, right above our heads.

The waiters were lovely and very friendly. They made us feel at home. However, for a table of 14 people, 2 waiters were never going to serve the team in time. With that said, we sat and enjoyed our drinks and starters. The starters were all enjoyable, although at times mixed up.

The problem started when the main meal was delivered. One of our colleagues, never enjoyed the starters as they were not closer to him. He still was not bothered as he was intent to enjoy his time with us and looking forward to the main meal. The main meal was served an hour later but the manager explained that they cook everything from scratch so we did not mind this as we were out to have fun.

The problem started when 2 of my colleagues’ main meal was delivered with missing items which were misplaced on the table. When one of the colleagues calmly addressed this with the waiter, the waiter called the manager on duty to come address the issue. He then complained that my colleague needs better manners and should not speak to him as he wants because he is the boss.

That manager did not display any concern for providing great customer service but rather to flex his muscle as “the boss”- as he referred to himself.

When we tried to explain to him what happened and how he did not address our colleagues respectfully he was intent and firm he was right. He had terrible resolution manners and very entitled in his attitude. He resorted to speaking French to one our colleagues, rather than address us in a language we can all understand. I, without doubt classify the treatment as racism. I could relay every word and action step by step but this post will take two days to write and I might not have enough space for the review.

I have never felt so disrespected in a long time. In 2023, one would not expect that a black person would be addressed with disrespect for simply being black.

This manager has terrible treatment of customers and does not understand that customers should be treated...