Valentine's Dinners: Top Hotels Offerings

Spice And Chocolate at Fairmont The Norfolk

BY DOREEN WAINAINAH

A glass of pearls tipped over, next to a centre piece of roses completes the decor on the intimate table at Tatu Restaurant at Fairmont The Norfolk in Nairobi.

Set under dim lights, a flickering candle and a background noise of the hiss of food hitting a hot pan, the ambience for Valentine’s Day dinner is set.

At the corner of the eye is a plate with chocolate. It is chunks of premium chocolate Lindt Excellence from Lindt & Sprüngli.

“It is the thinnest, finest chocolate. It breaks with a snap,” explains Fred Njagi, brand manager, East Africa at Lindt & Sprüngli.

‘‘Excellence’’ will be served alongside ‘‘Lindor,’’ smooth melting chocolate during the

celebration of love that will include a weeklong pairing of chocolate with champagne.

“Lindt chocolates play in the premium market as does The Norfolk and Moët & Chandon. We are giving a combined experience of a premium trio,” Mr Njagi says.

On the D-Day, Chef Lucien Pryssok, Executive Chef at The Norfolk will serve up a seven-course meal with champagne and chocolates.

To start off the evening, it is amuse-bouche of crispy scallop on wasabi purée or cauliflower on wasabi purée.

“Wasabi is a natural aphrodisiac,” says Chef Lucien.

The second course is a white tomato mousse with grilled asparagus.

“The purée is white in colour but the flavour is intensely tomato, making it a surprise for the taste buds,” he says.

The tomato soup is infused with cream before it is served up complete with a heart on top. That is followed by a tom kha gai soup with galangal and turmeric, another infusion of ingredients with aphrodisiacs.

The warm starter of kingfish medallion sits on a bed of blackened noodle, which the chef explains, is a play on colour.

Each course comes on a black or red plate, bringing focus to the colours and various ingredients that have been put together to make the dish.

Between the warm starter and main course is a chilli lime sorbert. This acts a palate cleanser before diving into the tornedo rossini with chocolate chilli glace with sautéed shiitake and potato gnocchi. This is beef medallions topped with foie gras with mushrooms, colourful vegetables, potato gnocchi and a croton.

There is a vegetarian option for each course. A wild mushroom ravioli with zucchini truffle and foam.

To cap the food offerings, a dessert of a chocolate soufflé with a gooey centre will be served with bourbon vanilla ice-cream and Amarena cherries — which resemble a heart.

dwainainah@ke.nationmedia.com

At Tamarind tree, you’ll want to order this

BY NASIBO KABALE

An apple and ginger alcohol-free bubbly is a great way to start a romantic Valentine's dinner. That is if you are a teetotaller or you want to start the evening sober.

At Tamarind Tree Hotel in Nairobi's Langata, I cleanse my palate while waiting for the six-course meal. I pray that the meal is as good as it looks on the menu.

The red petal roses on the table set the mood. Soft music croons from the Jazzique band as the meal kicks off with a beet and avocado fiesta starter that could very well be a meal on its own.

The food presentation is amazing, Instagrammable, if you would. The beetroot is heart-shaped and the feta cheese surrounding the avocado fiesta is simply lovely. The cheese’s saltiness is just right for the layered chunky guacamole, everything just comes to life in the mouth with every bite.

Roasted red peppers, red berries, hibiscus, and cream does not sound like a soup that I would like, especially because this the first time I find out that hibiscus is edible. But I am pleasantly surprised by the taste given that I am not a soup fan. At this point, the palate needs a break and the Executive Chef Philip Mugah recommends a ‘cool the heart moment’. This is basically a macerated wild berry sorbet. Wild berries are tricky and it is amazing how he balances the sharp tangy flavour of the berries to come up with this sweet sorbet that simply melts in the mouth.

“The raspberry is caramelised with sugar to make a base and we keep an eye on it to ensure the right temperature so you can get that sweet flavour,” says Chef Mugah.

Four options for the main course is hard to pick from. There are a grilled ostrich fillet and lobster tail, baked blackened salmon, grilled chicken or the fried tofu vegetarian option.

I opt for the chicken breast infused in lemon sauce, creamed spinach and parsley potatoes and it is heavenly. The chicken is soft when cutting through and the spinach is really yummy.

All ingredients are locally sourced, says Chef Mugah, and it is easy to see how the entire six course ties together especially during dessert.

For dessert, the pastry chef made mango sauce, which floats in an edible chocolate base, and fluffy strawberry mousse which has a biscuit at the base.

Every bite of this entire Sh9,000 per couple meal is worth it.

knasibo@ke.nationmedia.com

Food Meets Romance at Sarova Hotel

BY NASIBO KABALE

At Sarova Panafric in Nairobi, the Valentine's dinner has aphrodisiacs, the chef says. However, it is not in-your-face kind of aphrodisiac. Chef Avraj Singh Marwa says the food has garlic, which makes the brain more attentive and truffles.

I had a taste of what lovers will eat on Valentine's Day and it started with smoked salmon and balsamic caviar. I'm a unique diner, I loved the caviar served in a shot glass.

For starters, I had caramelised onion and goat cheese tart cured in beet brush. The sweet and savoury battle in the mouth is amazing. The taste left me wondering about my onion-cooking skills because I have never tasted onion made this way in my life.

The jazz band that will be performing next Thursday was fine-tuning the love ballads. My next course was brought, food that Chef Marwa calls a palate cleanser. It was double tomato consommé which was light and tasty.

The pesto mascarpone cheese quenelles is served on a plate and the soup is poured with intent to bury it in the bowl. It slowly dissolves and every spoonful of the delicious soup leaves you wanting more!

For the main course, the hotel has an option of vegetarian, beef or chicken. I loved the chicken option, especially if you are in the mood to try something new.

The duo stuffed chicken roulade is filled with minced ostrich and served with a mushroom gravy along with a smoked potato truffle mush. At this point, I understood why every meal before this was so light. Chef Marwa definitely wanted the main course to make its mark and it sure did.

The smoked potato truffle mush was airy and melted in the mouth. The chicken was moist and the ostrich meat is something I would definitely recommend.

What you need at the end of this Sh5,500 Valentine's Day feast is a light, fluffy dessert and that is exactly what the chef offered. The raspberry napoleon with white chocolate mint starts and ends in your mouth. The heart-shaped puff pastry filled with all this spectacular goodness is so good; it must be bad for me!

knasibo@ke.nationmedia.com

Homely Dishes With a Tinge of Love

BY WINNIE WANGUI

Valentine’s is the busiest date night of the year for most restaurants. Restaurants have gone all out with meal and accommodation packages for couples celebrating love. Here’s what to expect.

Utamu Restaurant at Ibis Styles:

Roasted bell pepper soup, a robustly flavoured appetiser introduces the Valentine’s dinner at this restaurant on Nairobi’s Rhapta Road.

Next up is stuffed plantain on mushroom confit with sweet and spicy sauce. The stuffing in the plantain includes leets, celery, sultanas, and cashew nuts. These plus the sweet taste of the plantain turned into a synchronised medley on my palate.

For the main course, the grilled beef tomado and the potato gnocchi pasta in red pepper sauce showcased the chef’s talent.

Glistening in the orange lights, my medium rare beef was tender, juicy and it was laid on a bed of creamy mashed potatoes.

Gnocchi, the vegetarian option featured a plump and pillowy texture with a mild, delicate flavour which made it balance perfectly with the boldly flavoured red pepper pesto—a decadent meal for vegetarians.

Ending the night on a special note was dessert, a rich, moist chocolate cake with a light, airy and spongy texture.

Tulip Restaurant at Golden Tulip Hotel

Golden Tulip Hotel is home to Tulip Restaurant (Multi Cuisine restaurant) and Ocean Fresh Restaurant (seafood only restaurant).

Their Valentine’s dinner will start with an avocado salad that reminded me of home-made guacamole.

What followed was lamb chops with stuffed potatoes, vegetable rice with barbecue sauce.

The serving is generous. I loved the chicken and stuffed potatoes. The stuffed potatoes were coated with breadcrumbs. They had a crunchy outside and were soft and creamy on the inside.

The chicken marinade had seeped through the meat, reaching the inner parts of the meat resulting in a meal that was prepared to perfection.

Eat the lamb chops with the sweet and sour sauce, it brings the flavour to life.

Dessert was a simple mixture of pawpaw and strawberry ice cream.