Having been away from the Nairobi scene in a while means I have missed out on some good things. One of these good things, the Valley Coffee Shake!!

With some hours to spare before my departure from Nairobi last week, a friend suggested we meet at valley coffee shake. At first I was skeptical because from where I was at the time, that meant walking and having lately developed a major love-hate (mostly hate) relationship with walking,  yes I have become very lazy! but am working on it, this didn’t seem like a very good option for me. Nonetheless, I did find my way to valley coffee because what else would I have done in those 3hrs?

Since my friend was running a little late, I got some ample time to survey the place and get a feel of the establishment’s personality.

The space serves dual duty as a business center and cafe with a full functioning state of the art boardroom inclusive of a modern projector, high-speed Free Wi-Fi Internet access and an AC system. If you are in a fix for a meeting place, or simply just enjoy a relaxed working environment – just you, your computer and a latte, don’t bother looking elsewhere.

Valley Coffee Shake comes with some great balcony space, nice view of the city and awesome ambiance. When I arrived, the balcony was full so sadly I missed out on the best seats of the house.

If I could rate the service we got that evening on a scale of 1 to 10, it would probably be above 10. Here’s why, I ordered a plate of Masala fries and a glass of cocktail juice whereas my friend ordered only a glass of juice. Normally, when I order Masala fries, the restaurants take a long while to bring out my plate and when it arrives, the fries are usually all soggy. Personally, I love chips za kukaushwa!! This time my food came out in good time and just the way I like it.

Why I say the service was above and beyond, once the server  brought  my plate, he asked if the portion was enough or if perhaps they should add some more. I usually have trouble just getting through a full portion of fries (by a full portion in my case, lets just say some people would starve) but just to see if he was serious, I obliged to them adding some more. Usually in such a scenario, the server would just laugh and walk off right? well, not this time. To my surprise, he took my plate and walked off only to come back with an extra saucer of fries. This was a first!!

As we were still trying to grasp what had just happened, ’cause let’s be honest such hospitality in kenyan cafe’s is raaaaare!!!, the  server came back to our table…with another saucer of fries. Okay, either this guy was pranking us just to see our reaction and he was coming back for the two saucers, or valley coffee was feeling extra generous that evening. My friend thought the guy just liked me. Either way, there was no loss because my friend was lucky enough to have some fries he hadn’t ordered for having ordered only a glass of juice (besides, the extra fries weren’t that much. The fact that we were actually given something extra was what was so surprising), and the cafe gained a return customer!!! win-win situation.

Sadly, I didn’t quite catch our server’s name, nonetheless he is highly recommended. Good quality service.

All that said, the food here is really good with greater variety and larger portions in comparison to similar establishments in the city. Even ordering just sides makes for a great meal. And what they refer to here as a small glass, well let’s just say drinks here are well worth it! Really loved their tropical cocktail mix as well and the fact that their is no sugar added allegedly, was a plus for me.

Price: Masala Fries: Ksh. 300