EATING OUT: The holiday search for a good burger

Every time I go to The Village Market on a weekend, I’m always amazed by how packed it gets.

I don’t particularly like hanging out in malls because they get so swarmed you would think Diamond Platnumz was giving a free concert there. If you’re lucky to get a table at the Village Market food court since we’ve all pretty much resolved to spend the rest of 2018 eating and drinking in food courts, you’ll be surrounded by so many people that you might even have to whisper if you’re trying to have a private conversation. Depending on your mood, this space can either be lively and vibrant or crowded and claustrophobic.

For this visit, I chose RocoMamas. Everyone raves about the burgers at RocoMamas, and we were given individual menus in which we got to check off the items we wanted.

Their burgers come in three sizes: double (2 X 100g), 150g and 100g. I got a medium cheese and bacon one for Sh550 and that seemed affordable… until I realised that you’re charged extra for every single thing thereafter. It’s a wonder you don’t pay for your straw! Fries cost extra, as do other toppings like egg, guacamole, sauces, rocket and more. Unlike my friend, I didn’t realise this beforehand and ended up getting a very basic burger with a beef patty, onion slices, mayo and pickles. The fries were great but my burger was therefore nothing to write home about.

While still deciding where to eat earlier, we had wandered into one of the restaurants with its own space, and this was surprisingly very deserted given the beehive of activity outside. On getting the menu, we quickly realised that people prefer to eat in the food court because food and drinks are cheaper there.

Rather than get cocktails at that restaurant, we decided to order drinks with our burgers at RocoMamas – a beer for my friend and a cider for me. As working class Kenyans trying to have fun while still being frugal this December, we could only have one drink because even a regular beer which would cost Sh200 goes for Sh400 here.

RocoMamas also has a small indoor eating space, which is great. There was however so much smoke and heat in there from their kitchen, that we decided that we were simply too well dressed to leave smelling like we had been using twigs in a three-stone fireplace; I’m saving that for when I go to see my cucu later this holiday season.