EATING OUT: Fresh fish and reasonable prices

Le Rustique is one of those places that anyone who lives in Nanyuki is always quick to recommend that you visit. My impressions of the place based on recommendations alone were therefore that it was chic, high end and likely very expensive.

If you’re planning to go dine at such a place, one would therefore expect you to be well dressed. Or, at the very least, look clean in the most basic of ways: clean shoes, no twigs in your hair or soup on your shirt… things like that.

The image we presented at the reception however startled the waitress into asking us if we were farmers and had had a really tough day out in the field.

You see, the thing about driving up north is that the roads are largely not developed, the amount of dust and heat only being rivalled by strong winds.

“Maybe if the waiters at Le Rustique see us stepping out of a Landrover they will understand that we’ve just come from safari,” my companion said hopefully.

The parking lot of the restaurant was however not in direct view of the bar, and when we sheepishly walked in, we half expected to be turned away, or, at the very least, be asked if we could actually afford a meal at the restaurant.

To their credit, other than the waitress’ initial surprise – and she was really sweet – everyone acted like this was all quite ordinary.

GOOD DEAL

The food was more affordable than I thought it would be, with our entire bill coming to about Sh3,000, including three fresh passion juices and a milkshake between us. The menu largely offers contemporary Mediterranean cuisine.

I had a grilled red snapper topped with a cheese and leek sauce, served with a side of chips (Sh1,050), while my companion went for the fillet steak au poivre (Sh1,150) with a side of fries.

I love sea fish and I’m always impressed when you get them at restaurants in the mainland while they still taste fresh. If you’ve dined a lot at the Coast, you will taste it when a piece of fish has been iced in a refrigerator for too long, and Le Rustique’s was certainly still fresh.

You can also get burgers, sandwiches, salads, pizzas from a wood fired oven, an array of coffee and breakfast which includes sweet and savoury crepes and waffles.

If only the human stomach could consume a lot of food in one sitting so that we can then chew cud throughout the rest of the day like a ruminant! That would also not be a repulsive thought if we were actually ruminants.

It was about 3pm on Monday and there were only two other guests at the table. We sat out in the garden next to a soothing water fixture, a kid’s playhouse and a spa. They would have probably politely asked me to take a shower first had I decided to pop into the spa. I would recommend carrying a sweater as well... Nanyuki is an igloo.