Nothing Nuts about “Nuts”

….after Habesha (for those who’ve read my read my earlier post u know what I mean), the day was surely set up for what I thought was going to be an encore-like ending. The missus and I proceeded to the “now hallowed” grounds of Alliance Francais to catch “Nuts”,the much hyped play by Festival of Creative Arts.

 

I’d have to say from the word go it was a letdown (and this is putting it mildly). For a play that was billed as being “hilarious” it sure was a let down. Maybe my disappointment stems from the fact that having seen many of their previous plays, I have set the bar too high. Or maybe I have suddenly developed a subdued sense of humour (then there’d have to be an epidemic since the audience too was subdued).

 

I hope they read my post since I believe the fact that they were having two concurrent shows robbed them of many of their star performers. I certainly was looking forward to another of Derrick Amunga’s (If u watched Tausi back in the 90’s,he’s the “master sugu”) performances, only to have him slotted on the other play!!!

 

For something meant to be hilarious,this fell flat on its face..it was more like a courtroom drama with none of the attorneys being special. Too much was pinned on the lunatic antics of one “Charlene” and once this got too repetitive it was obvious there wasn’t much of comedy to go around.The casting of Mbeki Mwalimu as the judge was utterly wrong!!! Such great talent shouldn’t be condemned to a peripheral role and that lies squarely on the shoulders of the  play’s director. That said, Gilbert Lukalia gave an outstanding performance as Charlene’s step-father and in the process made up for the lack of comedy.

 

The missus was impressed (aren’t they all) and I guess all is well that ends well though…plus met kenyanpoet from the blogging community…so not a bad ending to the day at all.

 

Habesha-a true Ethiopian experience

If I didn’t count my fortuitous airlift from the killing fields of Eldoret earlier in the year, I’d be inclined to name last Saturday as the best day so far in the year. Yours truly was out once and for all to understand what all the hype about Ethiopian food is. You have to understand me, I really hate fads, and no where else is this culture of fads more prevalent than Nairobi itself.

 

So under the guise of treating a beauty to her preferred cuisine, I set out to debunk this latest of fads. We strode in to the grounds, located in Hurlingham (just b4 the junction of Elgeyo Marakwet road and Argwings Kodhek road 4 those who might get lost just like I did), to the most wonderful of aromas…we could smell our way to the kitchen literally!!!

 

Once inside, you can choose to either have your meal “al-fresco” (outdoors) or within the premises. I recommend al-fresco just so that those of you not used to incense burning don’t have to be bothered every time they do that.

 

The menu is quite impressive and different (but then again that’s why I went there), though vegetarians would struggle since as far as I could tell there was only one combination that was wholly vegetarian.

Spicy food is not my cup of tea (for lack of a better expression), so it was still a surprise (ok not a surprise coz women have a way of twisting your arm without actually raising theirs) that I found myself there.

Moving on swiftly to the menu, for the meat-lovers, there is plenty to choose from, from raw (yes raw) meat called “kitfo” to “shekla tibs”-the equivalent nyama choma.

 

I suggest that you order for juice or whatever poisons that tickle your fancy as you go through the menu. Habesha experience is a classic case of “the more the merrier”, since y’all can order varied items on the menu and proceed to partake of the different bitings since you will eat from the same platter. Being three, enough to make merry, we proceeded to order each a different item: I went for the “Shekla tibs”, while the missus went for “dor wat” (chicken stew) and our friend the “key wat” (meat stew).

All items are accompanied by “Injeera”(Ethiopian chapati if you like).Once offered the large tray, proceed to lay out the Injeera neatly and then pour the various sauces on to the platter since this is the way the food is traditionally taken. The food is surprisingly served in large quantities and some had to be packed to go.

 

All in all, I‘m glad to report that the place lived up to its expectation though their amenities would do with a little improvement.

I believe its a worthy indulgence,fad or no fad….