Great Nyama joint in Hurlingham
A visiting friend suggested going to Buffet Park for some real down-to-earth fun and Nyama Choma recently.
I had to rack my brain to recollect my memories of the place and realised that it must have been at least 5 years since I last visited the place.
So much so that it took me two tries to remember the turn off the main Argwings Kodhek Road, despite remembering that it is well camouflaged and a very sharp turn.
This is a whole universe of Nyama Choma that has completely slipped my mind, but as I drove into the general traffic that was heading towards the back, it all came back to me.
When I say traffic, I mean exactly that: a continuous stream of cars and people on foot coming in from the main Argwings Kodhek Road.
If you are a first timer, you will not believe your eyes as you drive through the back; this seemingly quiet, small, dusty alley off the main road leads to a beehive of activity with hundreds of people and over 200 cars on a Saturday evening!
I had to park right at the end, and even then, squeezing myself in between a couple of Prados! I remember that there was an empty plot adjacent to the main one and I wondered how it was possible to have such huge vacant plots in the middle of commercialised Hurlingham.
Well, now it has been developed into a concrete monstrosity.
A large wooden structure on the left hand side houses the main seating area with various spaces to sit at, like ledge bars, high round stools, normal tables and chairs.
Some people were even reclining against their cars and the beers were laid out on the bonnets (well, I certainly hope these were their own cars!).
There is some extra seating on the high ground on the right, in front of some shops which seemed to be open all night.
The best feature about this place is that one doesn’t have to make any effort to go there; one can either dress up and mingle, or just be casual and settle down with one’s own group in a corner.
This being my first time, it was almost like a carnival, but I was told that it was one of their “quieter nights”.
There was music, there was laughter, there was some dancing, there were drinks, and, there was food.
While some of the new Nyama Choma joints serve stuff like Pork Spare Ribs, Grilled Chicken and even Chicken Tikkas, the Buffet Park is your real, humble, down-to-earth, finger-licking good Nyama Choma.
There is mukimo, beef platters, chicken pieces, pork and goat meat chunks and gizzards. Accompaniments are ugali, irio, githeri, kachumbari etc. Dishes range from Sh200 to 400 maximum and the portions are more than generous.
Those who do fancy the items on the Tamasha Menu at the front can order through the same waiters, while seated at the Buffet Park side.
I was nursing a hangover from the previous night and refrained from putting anything in my mouth that wasn’t bread.
However, the sight of assorted mukimo, irio, ugali and kachumbari made my mouth water so much that I decided to eat anyway and was glad because it did my stomach good to have some heavy meat in it.
Then we met a self-styled aficionado who claimed that Buffet Park serves the best mutura so we tried some.
I found the casing was not tough like other sausages, but there was a lot of fat in the goat meat and I am quite averse to fatty meat.
It did go down a treat with the others so I guess it was good. Buffet Park is a little drab during the day.
The unevenness of the ground, the dust, the lack of gaiety of the crowds and the lack of a party atmosphere made it less attractive to sit here.
The compensation was the good food. A word of warning here: when ordering kachumbari, do specify whether you want chillies or not.
The small, green bits of ammunition are quite powerful, especially when you cannot see them in the evening, mixed with the tomatoes and onions, as was painfully found out by our friend.
So if you are looking for good food and cold beers at reasonable prices on a weekend, head down to Buffet Park; the party atmosphere and good crowds are an added bonus.
