Shokupan Sarit Menu and Review

This post is a restaurant review of Shokupan, a Japanese-style vegan cafe in Sarit, Westlands in Nairobi

Off topic but on topic…. You’re probably wondering what Shokupan even means, cool minimalist name we all agree.

Shokupan is a fluffy Japanese-style sandwich milk bread, which makes sense for a restaurant wanting to be a Japanese bakery….It’s like imagining the alternate universe where you go to Japan to see Mt Fuji and find a Kenyan restaurant named “Smocha“

Where does our research and development take us this time? That will be Westlands, ladies and gentlemen, Sarit to be exact, but deep down I wanna say Sarit Centre…(I know I know such a boomer) let’s move on

Sarit is a love-hate relationship for me; it’s one of the malls that has everything, whatever bizarre mall errand you’re running, Sarit probably has a shop for it. That was the love part, what about the hate? THE NAVIGATION.

I know, I know they are doing a great job these days with signage and maps mounted to the walls….Admirable.

But somehow, it still feels like you’re navigating a mildly confusing Role Playing Game, like why do they have two ground floors?

Should call one the basement or something…I walk 4 floors up and I’m still on the 2nd floor? 😂

WHYY…WHYYYY…anyway lemme calm myself down….breathe in….breath out. “You’re not lost, you’re just in Sarit”. It happens to the best of us.

Anyways, on Google Maps it says Shokupan is on Level 1….can’t tell if that translated to the 1st floor or the 2nd floor in true Sarit’s fashion…..I can’t remember the details (I went to public school)… but it is up there

Table of Contents

Ambiance

Ambiance Score: ★★★★☆(4)

The highlight of this place is the iconic cherry blossom tree at the centre of the restaurant.

And no, it doesn’t take a genius to figure out it’s artificial — we’re not exactly in Kyoto, in April.

If you’ve seen Shokupan anywhere on the internet, then it’s this tree you probably came to see…get a life.

Why is the tree here? Well, decor, obviously. But to be fair, in Japan, cherry blossoms are kind of a big deal — national symbol, fleeting beauty, all that poetic jazz.

So, while I usually don’t care about decorative trees in restaurants, I’ll give this one a pass for actually making thematic sense. It’s not just a random plastic plant, it’s a relevant plastic plant.

Looking past that, the restaurant is “just okay.” Well, there is soft, warm lighting on the walls, but everything else is basic…basic is okay, looks nice, furniture is not very comfy, however.

Ah yes, forgot to mention — Shokupan is affiliated with Barista and Co., which explains a lot. Specifically, the shared commitment to aesthetically pleasing but wildly uncomfortable seating.

I took off a star rating purely for that

Pricing & Value

Value Rating: ★★★★★(5)

Pricing: ＄-＄＄, Affordable.

I didn’t see any menu item exceeding KSh 1,500, personally, I think a restaurant meal hovering below the 2k mark is a good spend, and that is my benchmark

At Shokupan, most menu items really never go past KSh 1,300, even though it’s mostly between 1050, and the average price for a plate is KSh 1200, which is super duper affordable

A simple casual date shouldn’t set off more than 3,500 here, which is affordable, and for solo dates, 2k is more than enough for food and drink

Okay, the spend is affordable for most, but is the food and drink any good? Yes, totally worth the money. Let’s review them both below

Food Review

Food Rating: ★★★★★(5)

Came to Shokupan expecting Japanese pastries and breakfast — you know, what you’d reasonably expect from a place calling itself a Japanese bakery.

But I noticed the place has a broad selection of Asian dishes on mains; Thai, Chinese, and not much of Japanese, as they identify.

Even on the bakery side, I was bracing for melonpan and anpan… and got pretty conventional breads that looked suspiciously familiar. Yeah, slightly disappointed with that

Also, this place is like 100% vegetarian or vegan… can’t tell the difference.

Yes, they have burgers and sandwiches too, but no meat products here. They use alternatives like mushrooms and tofu for protein

Food Items Tried Out:

Pad Thai
BBQ Mushroom Sandwich
Butter Croissant

Shokupan is really good, didn’t expect much from here honestly, but ended up liking every food here… can’t say the same about the drinks tho

1. Pad Thai

Pad Thai is well, Thai food. You go to Thailand to see ladyboys, I go to Thailand to eat Pad Thai…we are not the same

This Pad Thai was so good, the highlight was the sauces which tasted like tamarind, lime, and fish sauce…perfectly soft noodles, and well-cooked tofu..and yes, tofu is so hard to cook perfectly so I’m clapping for them here….not clapping them, you dyslexic degenerate.

Normally, if I had a Pad Thai craving, I’d head to an actual Thai restaurant — something like Bang Bang at Village Market. (Cue Jessie J and Nicki Minaj echoing faintly in the background.)

P.S : Remember the deputy CJ who pinched a security guard’s nose at Village Market in 2012? I just love this country, we run on sheer audacity😂

So finding this quality of Pad Thai at Sarit, in a Japanese-ish bakery of all places? Shocking. I did not have that on my bingo card.

2. BBQ Mushroom Sandwich

I won’t lie — I was fully prepared to hate this one. Saved it to taste for last like the dramatic hater I am. A mushroom sandwich?

Sounds like a damp forest between bread. I had my harshest vocabulary lined up, ready to drag it.

Then I took a bite… and my whole personality rebooted. Took a few more bites to come to terms, I was wrong — it was actually good. Like, really good.

I can’t quite explain it, but the bread was thick and perfectly toasted — sourdough.

The mushrooms were sliced thin and grilled to a crisp, perfectly salted and seasoned like someone in the kitchen had a vendetta against blandness.

And there was just the right amount of sauce to keep it all from tasting like dry cardboard.

Bonus: it comes with sweet potato fries and a dipping sauce that’s basically ranch and buffalo sauces having a beautifully seasoned child.

And listen — I normally despise sweet potato fries. But these? These were unreasonably good. I’m slowly healing, you can say…

…I also tried making sweet potato fries at home once. Let’s just say the results were… humbling. Total skill issue on my end, I’ll own that.

Feel free to witness my tragic attempt here — go ahead, laugh, mock, throw digital tomatoes. I deserve it.

But these ones? At Shokupan? Offensively good. Soft and fluffy on the inside, perfectly crispy on the outside.

Like, why are they good at everything? I just needed one dish to roast. One. But no — they had to go full overachiever on the fries too. Rude, honestly.

3. Butter Croissant

This is the prettiest croissant I have ever seen in Nairobi….it is so perfect it doesn’t even look real…looks cartoonish…or a digital render…..and it glows…glows like an artifact from an Indiana Jones movie..Does it taste as good as it looks?

Yes, soft butterly and flaky, not extra flaky as you will find at Le Grenier à Pain in Riverside, but close enough…

I would say this is in the top 3 of the best croissants I’ve ever had in Nairobi..They didn’t cheap out making this…nicely laminated….they sure used all the butter they had in the kitchen

They are generous, the croissant comes with a complimentary jam that is so good….I noticed a trend, restaurants have good jam spreads for some reason…even the most premium options at the supermarkets just don’t hold a candle to this.

This was so good, and that statement comes from someone who hates fruit jams..Comparable but not as good as the jam at SugarBowl in Spring Valley

Drink Review

Drink Rating: ★★★☆☆(3)

Drink Items Tried

Saffron Latte
Mango Coconut Sago

Okay, I know — regular readers are probably wondering why it’s been nothing but sunshine and compliments so far. Suspicious, right? Don’t worry, I’m not being held hostage.

Blink twice if I was, etc. I just genuinely liked the food… so far.

And then I got to the drinks.💀

Yeah, this is where the magic stopped.

Tried two random options and neither made an impression — like a handshake that’s too firm but somehow still forgettable.

So no, there’s no such thing as a perfect restaurant. Balance has been restored.

The drinks aren’t bad, but let’s not pretend they’re good either. They exist. They’re average. Passable.

Started off with a saffron latte — because I love saffron (in rice, where it belongs).

What arrived was a bright pink beverage that looked like Barbie’s pre-workout smoothie. The glass didn’t help either. Truly humbling for a man with facial hair.

Tried to offload it to this random girl with a cool watch who was at my table — and for some reason stealing food from my plate.

She took a sip, winced, and hit me with a firm no. And just like that, I was stuck with the glittery potion of sadness, sipping it like a clown attending a unicorn tea party.

Would not recommend this one to the bros. Not even to the brolets.

The mango coconut sago didn’t impress also but it was thick like a smoothie with lots of mango chunks, and a straw and a teaspoon were provided…that tells you how thick this is…like a pudding almost

Service

Service Score: ★★★★★(5)

Service was all excellent, nice accommodating waitress, fast service…did not wait more than 10 minutes for the food, really impressive

ToasterMeter™️

Shokupan averages to an 88% ToasterMeter™️ score, making it currently one of the top 5 personal favorite restaurants.

Now, for a restaurant to make my personal favorites list, it’s not just about tasting good — it has to offer value.

I’m talking “for this amount of money, I simply cannot get better food elsewhere” levels of value.

Shokupan passes that test. It now sits proudly alongside La Villa Kitisuru — my fancy fine-dining MVP — and Crave Kilimani, for casual budget dining.

Shokupan joins the ring as a new favorite budget spot on the affordable spectrum.

Budget doesn’t have to mean compromise. Sometimes it just means knowing where to spend less and get greatness.

Shokupan still has room to improve on especially drinks, and maybe comfier seats…I know I complain alot about seats….. but I’m a skinny brethren built like SpongeBob, I really need that padding