The Carnivore Restaurant Nairobi Review, Menu & Pricing

Carnivore is probably the only Kenyan restaurant famous beyond our borders, and it’s all thanks to their exotic wild meats that you can’t easily find anywhere else. But things have changed. Back in the day, Carnivore used to serve all kinds of game meats—think ostrich, crocodile (alligator), giraffe, gazelle, wildebeest, buffalo, impala, and even zebra. Nowadays, the only exotic options left on the menu are ostrich and alligator, with the rest being your regular domesticated meats.

So, what happened? In 2004, Kenya banned game meat to help with wildlife conservation efforts, except for ostriches and crocodiles, which can be farmed. There’s an ostrich farm in Kitengela and several crocodile farms, so any game meat you’re enjoying at Carnivore today is farm-raised, not hunted in the wild.

The ban came after local poachers, who were hunting game for food, started facing fines and even prison time. They questioned why restaurants and farms could serve this meat to foreigners and wealthy locals when they couldn’t. In response, the government put a stop to all game meat being cooked or sold. Despite this, Carnivore has been lobbying for the ban to be lifted ever since.

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Pricing

No doubt, this place is overpriced—not just expensive, especially for the locals. For tourists, it’s not as much of a stretch. Most people consider Carnivore a “tourist trap” because there are usually way more tourists than locals.

As of 2024, it costs KSh 4,800 ($38) per person for their all-you-can-eat meat deal at Carnivore. Sure, you can eat as much meat as you want and feel like you’re getting your money’s worth, but just so you know, there are Brazilian steakhouses in Nairobi offering all-you-can-eat meat for half the price—and with better quality, too. Plus drinks and water aren’t included here.

That said, Carnivore is iconic. It’s always packed, and anyone visiting Kenya is told to check it out. It’s been around since 1980, making it 44 years old in 2024, and it’s famous worldwide. It even made it into the World’s Best 50 Restaurants back in 2003 and has its own Wikipedia page.

Carnivore Dining Concept

The Carnivore | Different Assorted Meat Cuts

The whole dining experience here is Brazilian-style, where they bring meat right to your table and carve it for you on the spot. It makes sense since Carnivore took inspiration from Brazilian steakhouses. To give it a local twist, the meat is skewered on a traditional sword.

Each table comes with a selection of sauces, and each one is recommended for a specific cut of meat. You also get a flag to signal the meat servers making rounds with their skewers.

When you’re ready, put your flag up, and the servers will start coming to your table. Eat as much meat as you want, and if your plate is getting too full, tilt the flag down to a 90-degree angle so it slows down and gives you a break. Once you’re ready for more, flag up again, and they’ll be back.

Salads are offered and sauce pairings for different meats are recommended as follows:

Garlic Sauce: For Chicken and Crocodile
Barbecue Sauce: Beef
Wildberry Sauce: For Turkey and Ostrich
Mint Sauce: For Lamb
Chilli Sauce: For any Meat
Fruit Salsa: For Pork
Tomato Telish: Ox Balls

When you’ve had your fill and don’t want anymore, take the flag down completely. That’s their cue to bring out dessert and wrap things up.

Food Quality

The sizzling hot plates are a nice touch, keeping your food warm throughout the meal. Before you dig in, there’s the signature dawa drink – a mix of lime, vodka, ice, and sweetened with honey, whipped up right in front of you by the “doctor” or Dawa Man. The word “dawa” means medicine in Swahili, hence the mixologist’s title.

Once you’ve had your dawa, you move on to the soup starter, some fried potatoes, and then the meats, finishing up with dessert.

The meats are generally alright, but some cuts are so tough they’re nearly impossible to eat—chewy and hard. If you’re into flavorful meats, you’ll be disappointed as they’re just salted and cooked, leaving it to the sauces to add any real taste.

The exotic meats, which are the main attraction, only come in tiny, bite-sized portions, so it feels more like sampling than enjoying a full experience. The regular meats are what you get the most of.

If you’re a fan of exotic meats, Carnivore isn’t what it used to be. You’ll get small portions of exotic meats and more of the regular stuff, which kind of defeats the purpose.

For regular meats, you’re better off at places like Fogo Gaucho in (Westlands, Kilimani & Panari Mombasa Rd) which costs just KSh 3,000 per person compared to Carnivore’s KSh 4,800 or The Brazilian Steakhouse (Lavington). Another commendable option for a buffet is Barbecue Nation in Westlands, an Indian buffet for just KSh 2,650 per person, but keep in mind Indian buffet doesn’t serve beef so it’s mostly mutton, lamb, and chicken.

The Carnivore just isn’t the same anymore and it is hard for me to recommend it