Safari Njema — Restaurant in Seattle

If I could leave 0 stars I would!

My wife is from Kenya, and we came into Seattle from out of town, so naturally, we were both excited to try some authentic food from her home country. Unfortunately, the experience and treatment we received was so awful, my wife was apologizing the rest of the evening, and it wasn’t even her fault! She was embarrassed that a restaurant managed that poorly was representing her country! We sat for 30 minutes before the server even ASKED us what we wanted to drink, which I had to initiate. Not to mention every single table in the place was dirty. Once again, had to request that the server come wipe it down for us. She didn’t take that initiative either. After ordering drinks, another 20 minutes went by before I had to get up and go ask the server again for drinks…. She gave me my Coke, and brought my wife a Sprite she didn’t even order! She ordered a hot chai tea, how do you mix those 2 things up?? She was the only server, but there were only about 7 guests at this time. Shortly after, the couple next to us told the server they were walking out as they had been waiting an hour and a half for their food!! Server said they were plating it in the back, then made them wait 10 more minutes before actually bringing it out. When I enquired about our food at the 1 hour mark the server rolled her eyes at me and said it would be up soon. Mind you, their were several people in this establishment that were frustrated with the ridiculous wait time and lack of care on the servers face. Not to mention we ordered our food I tried looking at the pictures as I am pretty unfamiliar with Kenyan cuisine. My wife and I met in the USA and only have only been married a few years. The server told me “don’t look at the pictures it doesn’t match the food at all.” What the heck?!? She said it’s totally different and she’s been trying to have the pics removed from the menus for a while. (My wife happened to know that the server was also the owner) SUPER UNPROFESSIONAL! When the food finally came out an 1 hour 20 min after ordering, it tasted pretty good. Until my wife found a small piece of unidentified metal in her plate. (It honestly looked like a crunched staple after it had already been clicked out of the staple gun.) That was the straw that broke the camels back for me. I immediately went up and paid, didn’t ask for any boxes, and placed the piece of metal in our servers hand who simply said “I wonder where that came from?” I told her this was one of the worst eating experiences I’ve ever had, and stormed out. Sorry for the long rant, but this was horrifying. DO NOT EAT HERE! My leaving caused another couple my wife and I had been talking with to get up and do the same, as they saw bugs flying around and landing on tables, due to the owner thinking it was smart to keep the front door propped open just cause it’s August. Again, please take your business elsewhere. This place deserves to be shut down. My wife hated it and couldn’t even defend it because of how awful the whole...

I was excited to try this restaurant after hearing they sold mandazi, which I was craving. After work, I stopped by and placed an order for dry fish, a veggie samosa, mandazi, chapati, and a ginger drink. The staff told me the order would take 5-8 minutes since I was the only person there. However, another customer(seemed to be someone they knew) who arrived after me received their food first. Perhaps he called ahead, but I was the only one visibly ordering at the time.

When I received my food, I quickly realized my samosa was beef instead of veggie, as I had ordered. When I brought it up, the staff said I mentioned beef and assumed beef because I said samosa. It could be that she did not hear me say veggie. While they did correct the error, I was slightly disappointed by the miscommunication. I also noticed the veggie samosa costs $3 while the beef is $4, which I had paid. Upon biting into the corrected veggie samosa, I was shocked by a strong raw fish smell and taste. I couldn’t eat it and ended up throwing it away, as it didn’t meet the standard of samosas I’ve enjoyed from Ethiopian, Kenyan, Somalian, or Indian cuisines.

The dry fish was well-seasoned, but I requested the wet fish sauce on the side, which I was told would cost extra. I agreed, assuming it would be minimal, but I was charged $3 for what tasted like plain tomato soup. The mandazi and chapati were the blandest I’ve had compared to Somalian and other Kenyan versions. However, the ginger root drink was excellent, and they provided a generous portion of ugali. The sukuma mix greens were decent, but overall, the meal was underwhelming.

While the portion sizes were reasonable and the ginger drink was enjoyable, the overall experience—poor communication, bland flavors, and the issue with the samosa—left me dissatisfied. Unfortunately, I won’t...

Yesterday, my family and I were visiting Seattle, accompanied by a local friend, decided to visit this restaurant, hoping to indulge in some delicious African cuisine. Our friend did warn us about potential delays due to a shortage of labor. Despite this, we were willing to wait, anticipating that the food would be worth it.

However, the experience turned out to be even more disappointing than anticipated, and not just because of the delay, which was indeed longer than we had expected. What really upset us was that five people who arrived couple minutes after us were served before us. This blatant disregard for order and fairness was frustrating, and the owner seemed completely indifferent to the situation.

The restaurant displayed a level of unprofessionalism that not only let us down but also insulted the beautiful East African culture it is supposed to represent. If improvements are not made, we sincerely hope that a better establishment can emerge in the Seattle area to properly showcase Kenyan cuisine.

To make matters worse, our expectations were not just unmet; they were completely dashed. The only redeeming aspect of our visit was a kind lady, (not the one at the front) who came over and interacted with us with a friendly demeanor. Her effort was appreciated, but unfortunately, it was not enough to salvage our overall experience.

Go there with no expectations, and you might still find yourself disappointed. The restaurant needs serious improvements to meet basic customer service standards. One star is generously given solely because of the friendly lady who tried to make our visit a bit...