Confession time... up until Saturday, the 11th of August, I'd never been to Osteria. However, my sister and I were long overdue a sisters' day out (read: a legitimate reason for a food coma), and so decided to visit Osteria. A few reasons for the choice - its reputation, the fact that she'd tried and liked it before, and its proximity to Keventers (more on their amazing milkshakes later).
Confession number 2: I've never been to Italy. However, when I walked into Osteria, I immediately imagined myself on a cute street corner in Italy, so seems that they've gotten something right! Again, lovely to sit and while an afternoon away, to paint for a few hours, to share some laughs with family, to enjoy a dinner date. I love that they've managed to create an ambience that's so OPEN while actually not being that open... does that make any sense? Alas, I didn't take general pictures, so you'll have to take my word on this one - or go visit yourself ;)
To start off, we ordered the large (hey, it was a Saturday afternoon!) glasses of house wine. Now, this was definitely a pleasant surprise. Many (if not most restaurants) in Nairobi just add fermented grape juice that has not quality whatsoever into glasses and call it house wine. However, I actually LIKED Osteria's!
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| Believe me when I say this glass took me from starters all the way till AFTER I'd finished my meal! |
The focaccia that they brought us to begin with was amazing, and I had to be careful not to fill myself up on this alone! It was fresh, with a hint of garlic, and some lovely rosemary. The tomatoes complemented it perfectly, as did my requisite green chillies in olive oil. Think of a light, flavourful, happy explosion in your mouth and angels singing.
For starters, we decided to split a soup - the zuppa di pollo e cocco. Fear not, dear ones - I did actually jot down the description this time! This was chicken, coconut, lemongrass and chilli. Now, reading the description, I immediately thought of Thai soup - so was unsure what to expect, but loved what I got! I think the soup and focaccia were easily my favourite parts of the meal, they were THAT good.
The soup was amazingly light, yet creamy. The chicken was great and had wonderfully absorbed the marriage of flavours the soup represented, giving a sweet and slightly tangy flavour, with finely diced onions rounding out this perfect blend. I'll DEFINITELY order this one again.
We decided to go halfsies (that's a word, right?) for mains too - this time choosing the tagliatelle pesto and the proscuitto e funghi pizza.
First of all, the pesto. Now, I'm a huge fan of pesto pasta, but somehow this just didn't do it for me! The over-sauciness and bright green colour served to act as a turn off, and I couldn't finish my portion. I wouldn't order this again. However, it may have just been me as my sister did like it, and actually had my leftovers for lunch the next day.
The pizza, on the other hand, was great! Again, light and refreshing (I was left wondering how all this light and refreshing food left me in a food coma so bad...). The crust was amazing, thin, crispy in the right places and soft in others. The flavours were a lovely blend too - I'm personally a huge fan of proscuitto and mushrooms!
Alas, we didn't make it to dessert this time (but I'll happily come with you if you want to go!) as we were planning to try out Keventers' milkshakes, but I'll report back when I do.
Happy eating, nomads!
