EATING OUT: Touch-and-go delivery service

Nagala’s maru bhajia came with a half-cup of fresh tomato-chilli-coriander sauce, and the portion was big enough to make it a meal all on its own. PHOTO| MADAME CONNOISSEUSE

What you need to know:

  • The first time I came across Nagala’s Chakula which, according to their website, is in Two Rivers Mall.
  • After order and location, the person however hung up mid-conversation and didn’t even pick up when I called back.
  • I decided to give Nagala’s another shot and this time, there was a lady on the other end and the order went smoothly, delivery happening some half hour later.

I tend to either eat out or order food online a lot when I’m home because it always seems like I’m either running around packing up to leave or wanting to just laze around after getting back from another manic trip. Unless I’ve been in my apartment for at least three days, cooking is always the last thing on my mind.

The first time I came across Nagala’s Chakula which, according to their website, is in Two Rivers Mall, I had been craving Kenyan or Indian food, preferably from a place I had never tried before.

Their menu was fairly decently priced, and when I saw that they seemed to be running some sort of offer, I called to place my order. Chapati and ndengu would be only Sh250!

I’ve placed enough orders online to know that it usually follows a given format: you give said order, state your location, the person reads back the order and asks if you’d like anything else then they tell you how much it will cost and estimated delivery time.

After order and location, the person however hung up mid-conversation and didn’t even pick up when I called back. I figured I might as well try someplace else, but a delivery guy showed up at my apartment about an hour later like a Jehovah's Witness door knocker inviting me to a kingdom hall, except he had chapati and ndengu and a bill of Sh600. I turned him away.

COMFORT FOOD

A couple of days later, an aunt called to say that she would be visiting that evening and I should therefore make dinner. Don’t you just like how relatives always invite themselves over?

I had just driven back to Nairobi after exploring Uganda’s swampy wetlands and had no intention of getting up to do as little as chop an onion. For some reason (likely a subliminal message from a Jehovah’s Witness leaflet), I decided to give Nagala’s another shot. After figuring out what my aunt wanted to eat, I placed an order for bhajia, chapati and an Indian chicken curry.

This time, there was a lady on the other end and the order went smoothly, delivery happening some half hour later.
Their maru bhajia came with a half-cup of fresh tomato-chilli-coriander sauce, and at only Sh300, the portion was big enough to make it a meal all on its own. The accompanying sauce was really good but was slightly cheapened by the added artificial tomato sauce. Their chapatis were really well done; soft and layered like an exercise book I wouldn’t have minded doing multiplications in.

While the chicken curry was decent, I have been off very spicy food, especially Indian curries, because they always give me heartburn. True to form, my problems started right on cue.

My aunt however said that she had ingested so much beef cubes throughout her life that she’s now invincible to such things. Overall, Nagala’s comfort food tastes quite like home... just make sure they actually confirm your order.