EATING OUT: Great food, small portions

A global chain has brought its flavours to Kenya… but they need to work on their portions. PHOTO| FILE| NATION MEDIA GROUP

What you need to know:

  • The menu, which doubled as a place mat, was concise and items written entirely in French with descriptions in English beneath them.
  • Whether this is charming or annoying is something I am still not sure about.
  • Seeing the apple cinnamon French toast, I quickly abandoned any ideas I had of trying out their famed pastries (Lord knows I would trade a relative for a steady supply of good French toast), and asked for a cappuccino to go with my order.

When I heard that the global brand Le Grenier a Pain was setting up the first of their stores on the African continent right here in Nairobi, I was thrilled! This excitement was propelled largely by the frustration of trying to find superior quality baked goods in Nairobi. Established in the late ‘90s by an award winning French culinary arts teacher and pastry chef, the bakery chain has a footprint which reaches even unlikely markets like Russia and Kazakhstan. I first heard about it from a friend of mine who lived eight years in Paris before returning home with a book of bread recipes by Michel Galloyer, the group’s founder.

The flagship store’s address is on the ground floor of the newly built Securex building at 9 Riverside Drive which, because of my dislike for office building eateries, was something of a put off. But I finally made it there when one morning I was driving in that general area and the heavens split open to unleash a dumping of rain so heavy that visibility was reduced to almost zero.

As expected of a French bakery in the morning, the aromas of coffee and freshly baked bread permeated the air, stirring immediate upheaval in my stomach as soon as I crossed the building lobby into the warm interior of the restaurant. Hints of contemporary European coffee shop design are noticeable in the indoor dining area which features industrial type lighting, scanty furnishing and accent sofa chairs. The place is obviously very popular with professional creative and corporate types as it was packed with people banging away at their laptops or looking like they were in brainstorming sessions with colleagues. There is an outside terrace which I only glanced at cursorily because of the rain.

The menu, which doubled as a place mat, was concise and items written entirely in French with descriptions in English beneath them. Whether this is charming or annoying is something I am still not sure about. Seeing the apple cinnamon French toast, I quickly abandoned any ideas I had of trying out their famed pastries (Lord knows I would trade a relative for a steady supply of good French toast), and asked for a cappuccino to go with my order. Strangely, my French toast came out before my coffee which I had to wait another seven minutes for. My suspicion is that the waitress forgot my order because there is no conceivable reason a coffee should take that long, unless the baristas or their machines are out of commission.

At a mind boggling Sh900, I was going to get my money’s worth so I cheekily made a demand for two extra portions of cream and more maple syrup which my waitress happily acquiesced to. I had no doubts that it would be absolutely delicious and I was not wrong, but the accompanying fruit paled in comparison. Poorly chopped and stingily apportioned, it consisted of one strawberry split into quarters, a single grape, water melon, and roughly cut sweet melon. Call me a cheapskate but I haven’t felt more cheated in recent days. That said, I will be gathering my friends for a little brunch there soon because the quality of their food is undeniable!