The best dinner and drinks that we had recently in Nairobi, Kenya was at a cocktail bar called Hero Nairobi! Hero Nairobi is a cocktail bar serving Japanese food in a very cool atmosphere with a comic book theme. The food was good and the cocktails were fantastic! Highly recommend if in Nairobi.

THE SPACE AT HERO NAIROBI

Hero Nairobi is located on the 9th Floor of the Trademark Hotel inside the Village Market mall. The theme of the restaurant is comics, and the restaurant is decorated with comic-style paintings on the walls. Even the menu is done as a comic book. Aside from the comic theme, a grand bar is situated in the middle of the restaurant, with seating on either side. While closed on our visit, I understand there is outside seating with Nairobi views when the weather is nice. The restaurant has a very cool vibe, with a live DJ playing loud music even on a Sunday night. Reservations recommended, especially on weekends, given the limited seating.

THE DRINKS AT HERO NAIROBI

We came to Hero Nairobi first and foremost for cocktails. I read about Hero on World’s 50 Best and a contact in NYC recommend the cocktails here and the bar is friends with Lisbon’s famous Red Frog on Istagram, so we absolutely had to stop in. The cocktail list at Hero Nairobi is long, with interesting cocktails to fit every palate. The menu includes a description of each drink, as well as three words describing the cocktail, which we thought was helpful in choosing a drink. We each had three drinks, and they were honestly all fantastic, and very reasonably priced for great cocktails! For those not into cocktails, there is also beer, wine, soft drinks, and a very decent mocktail list (i.e. the Law Enforcement, see below!).

THE FOOD AT HERO NAIROBI

While my pics look otherwise, the food at Hero was actually really good. The entire menu is Japanese themed, including a sizeable offering of sushi. Given that we had already had one food poisoning issue in Nairobi, we skipped the sushi and went for cooked options. After eating here, however, I would return for sushi.

We both started with soup, which is kind of odd in a hot place like Nairobi. Dan ordered the Clear Mushroom Soup, which was spring onions, assorted mushrooms, and aged Parma ham in a dark broth. I went with the White Miso Soup, which was sweet red chile, daikon, root vegetables and soy braised pork belly done in a soup. We tried each others and were both pleased, although I think mine was slightly better. Highly recommend both soups.

For mains, I opted for the Panko Breaded Chicken Bao Buns, which was 3 fried chicken bao buns topped with Chinese cabbage, pickled cucumber, and kimchi mayo. These were very tasty; they were giving a bit of old school Big Mac with the sauce. I would absolutely order them again. I also ordered the Aji potato fries, which were think potato fries topped with aji amarillo, soy sauce, garlic, and onions. I enjoyed the toppings here, but wished the fries were a bit crispier (in fairness though, I don’t like thick cut fries as a rule).

Dan went a bit “healthier” than me and ordered the Pressed Pork Belly Skewers, which was marinated pork belly squares with a spicy miso sauce and cucumber sesame sauce. As you can see, the pork belly was served on its own little grill, which was a cute touch. Dan thought these were served a little odd, but tasted good.

THE DESSERTS AT HERO NAIROBI

Although stuffed, I could not leave Hero Restaurant without trying the Uncle Obama dessert (solely for the name)! And side note, until visiting I totally had forgotten about all the Obama birther nonsense, ha! The Uncle Obama was banana ice cream, dried bananas, exotic caramel, banana bread, namalaka cream and sourdough chips. And, it was really great!! Even better than its name. Too bad the lighting didn’t permit a decent picture.

STEAL OUR DINNER

Hero Nairobi: 9th Floor, Trademark Hotel, Gigiri, Nairobi. Open Tuesday – Thursday 5:00 PM – Midnight, Friday and Saturday 12:00 PM – 1:00 AM, Sunday 12:00 PM – 8:00 PM.  Closed Monday. Reservations suggested.