EATING&OUTING: Great atmosphere, good food, but...

Kempinski Hotels SA is a global luxury brand with a footprint of over 70 properties in about half as many countries under their banner. With this presence and over 100 years in the business, it has become synonymous with quality and consistency wherever they set camp.

Nairobi’s Villa Rosa Kempinski in Westlands is made up of a centre Tuscan style edifice flanked on either side by smaller buildings – one that houses the health centre and the other, an F&B centre which is home to three of seven restaurants and bars on the site. It is on the rooftop of the latter that Tambourin, a Levantine cuisine restaurant and lounge is situated.

The space maintains unmistakably Turkish-Ottoman themed décor, which recurs from the dining room wing, across the bar and to the hookah lounge section where my partner and I chose to dine on our little food adventure. Flame colours, especially of gold and amber hues, featured strongly in the upholstery and tasselled bolster pillows, contrasting subtly with the softer beiges of the drapes which hang from the ceilings of the cabana style structures designed to provide privacy for couples and intimate groups. Hand crafted leather poufs littered the beautiful floors decorated with mosaic floor tiling and wooden accents.

At an early point in the evening, an oud (traditional stringed instrument) player took his place next to us and proceeded to deliver enchanting performances of what sounded like ancient ballads.

As it turns out, Walid Salama is an Egyptian musician of some renown who, together with a belly dancer who was missing in action that night, is the resident entertainer at Tambourin.

As far as ambience and authenticity of décor is concerned, Tambourin plays in the big leagues, rivalled only (in Nairobi) by The Stanley’s Thai Chi.

Our assigned waitress was swift in offering us menus and taking our orders for drinks, which she did with great professional flourish. Thirsty for something strong, I ordered a gin and vermouth based cocktail from their signature cocktails list.

Definitely not making that mistake again. The Martini Rosso in my Zagroni was more than generously apportioned, causing me instant heartburn and tooth sensitivity. I wasn’t able to drink more than half of it and settled for a good old gin and tonic.

Our small dishes made for sharing and referred to in culinary parlance as mezzes were served in tasteful crockery including some gorgeous hand painted ceramic side plates which tested my otherwise resolute moral attitudes towards pilfering.

Sadly, out of our assortment of six dishes, I was only really happy with three. The classic hummus was alright, but nothing to write home about.

On my lover’s insistence, we had also ordered the muhamarra whose gritty consistency left a lot to be desired and the seasoning of my moutabel was overpowered by the smoky char grilled flavour of the eggplant.

However, my choices of sautéed butterfly shrimps with coriander, garlic and lemon (kraydes kozbareia) as well as the herby lamb fillet with pine nuts (rass asfour) scored major points with us, much to the chagrin of my competitive beau.

The fried minced lamb meatballs popularly known as kebbeh also went down a real treat. We both applauded the superlative atmosphere and service but agreed that there was room for improvement where it really mattered.