This post is a review of the Halal Kilimanjaro Jamia restaurants, menu options, and all that is offered here.
A Halal restaurant is simply one that follows the Islamic laws of food preparation, especially meats and how the animals should be slaughtered.
There are 3 branches with two in Nairobi CBD; Kimathi Street and Banda Street. The third one is in the neighborhood of Eastleigh
Kilimanjaro Jamia: Kimathi Street
Kilimanjaro Jamia: Banda Street
Kilimanjaro Food Court: Eastleigh
Pricing & Value
Prices are very friendly starting from KSh 100 for some breakfast pastries and nothing really exceeds the KSh 1,000 mark unless for a handful of special dishes, thus this is a really affordable restaurant
For less than KSh 700 you can have a decent dish and a drink that will literally fill you up with possible leftovers.
For this review, I had passion juice and chicken biryani and it was all under KSh 800, and yes I didn’t finish the whole plate.
The food quality is excellent and the quantity is more than generous, this perfectly struck balance is what makes this a good value restaurant, you are getting more for your money than you would elsewhere.
Kilimanjaro Jamia is what I would crown as the best value restaurant in Nairobi CBD.
Menu Dishes
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Yeah, their menu is literally 7 pages, so you know that is alot of food and drink. You simply won’t miss anything you would like or want to try.
They however don’t have a physical menu, just a QR code that you need to scan to access the menu online here.
Starting off with breakfast, they are really extensive; eggs, toast, sausages, chapatis, samosas, pancakes, salads, omelets, yogurt…..all those classic breakfast goodies are there.
Their full breakfast is just KSh 570 and it has it all, with a side of a hot beverage or fruit juice.
They also have signature Somali dishes, which I feel would be their best offering since this is a Somali-owned restaurant.
These dishes are under the ‘Somali Delicacies’ tab and they are probably the priciest dishes in the entire restaurant’s menu.
They also pack Indian Cuisine with classics like; Butter chicken, naan, and curries
At least 5 pizza options off the menu too in the small medium and large offerings. The prices for pizza are probably the lowest I have ever seen with their large costing just KSh 990
Kenyan and East African dishes are also served, including chips masala, chips mayai, fish, mukimo and so on,
Drinks are extensive from hot beverages to cool refreshing ones, they have it all; just check the menu since I can’t cover it all here.
Personally, I feel like the best items to order are the Somali dishes and the local ones, those ones are done nicely and are the main characters here.
Food Quality & Quantity
After sampling different dishes, the quality has been good consistently and the quantities are humongous, you will always have leftovers, that is just a guarantee. And not because the food is underwhelming. No, it’s because the portions are ridiculously big
Normally if the food is delicious the portions tend to be small, and vice versa at least for most restaurants, At Jamia Kilimanjaro however, they have both sides fused which is really impressive.
The food here is like 10 times better than most of the fancy restaurants that cost an arm and a leg only to serve mediocre food and make up for it with their nice wall decor.
Let’s just sample this chicken biryani, for instance, keep in mind it costs just KSh 540
The photo is not doing the justice, so trust me here when I say the plate is big, yeah like a big oval and filled to the brim, half is rice and the other half is like 4 medium chicken pieces. That is a very big portion of the price.
Yes, the serving is big, but how does it taste like, you ask?
The onions are good and crunchy, with different depths of flavors.
The rice is really long and fluffy, thus soaking up the curry really well. This rice is peculiar, it is white, orange, and red, I call it chameleon rice. This rice is just sweet by itself.
The curry or gravy or soup(I don’t know), whatever it is, is rich and creamy, with mild spices that balance the flavors, nothing is underwhelming or overwhelming.
The chicken itself is well done, but not overcooked. It is crunchy on the outside, and soft on the insides with all balanced seasoning.
The chicken and rice portions are well balanced and it’s not just all rice with a small chicken quantity, no. Just perfect.
Honestly, there is nothing I would ask to be improved on this dish.
Ambiance & Atmosphere
While this is not the restaurant you go for ambiance, it is decent with Arabic touches. You literally go to Kilimanjaro Jamia for the good food and large portions.
The atmosphere is just mid, but you shouldn’t care for that again, for the class and budget of this restaurant.
The seats are very comfortable you just can’t ignore that, they are bucket-like on the backrest so they really hug you well, plus well padded so you won’t feel uncomfortable 2 hours later.
Perhaps the highlight is the cleanliness, very, very, very clean. Despite the place always packed during peak hours, cleaning is beyond what I would term as good…more like excellent.
It is the place where you won’t see any flies which is impressive for the budget class of this restaurant.
Spacing is decent and there is no overcrowding even when all seats are occupied.
Lighting however seems to be a miss, the place is not very well lit, but that is just a minor detail, the food is good, and that is what I personally care about.
Service
As always, service varies depending on who attends to you, but generally, it is average here or good at most.
The service speed is quick, very quick, infact it is just other aspects like communication and attentiveness that are average, but not unpleasant.
Verdict
If you are really all about good food that comes in large portions so that you get the best bang for your shill within Nairobi CBD, then Jamia Kilimanjaro is a top-recommended restaurant.
Restaurants fancy or budget should have good food primarily and then other aspects like ambiance and aesthetics should be complimentary. Jamia Kilimanjaro is exactly this.
Read More from Category: Restaurant Reviews
Links
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