K'Osewe Ranalo Foods

Our guide brought us to this restaurant after a walking tour in CBD Nairobi, this was truly my first authentic Kenyan food restaurant. If you want to try the real traditional Kenyan food come to this place, as it is more of a local place they don’t have a written menu which didn’t bother me as it is part of the experience. I tried dry fish with ugali, how it works : you go upstairs sit in the table the waiter tell you the options of meat they have and side dishes and you choose.

If you want to try African food and feel the real local atmosphere this is the place! I found it on a blog and was a bit cautious but we came here twice when in Nairobi. At lunch we were the only foreigners! And the food is really tasty!

K'Osewe Ranalo Foods along Kimathi Street in Nairobi's CBD is the third generation of a remarkable rags-to-riches story of one William Guda Osewe. From hawking mishikakis (shish kebab) and later setting up his first eatery under a tree in the Kaloleni area of Nairobi in the early 70s to opening Ranalo Foods at the Kenya Railways Central Station, then relocating it to the former Cameo Cinema on Kenyatta Avenue, Ranalo Foods quickly became the go-to place to experience authentic African food. These days, the family run restaurant popular for serving traditional and local dishes and playing smooth tunes from the Lingala maestros of Central Africa appears to have seen better days. Thanks to a harsh COVID-19 season and the proverbial liquidity trap. Perhaps the Westlands branch is doing better. What's your experience there? Yet still the fish here slaps in a certain special way and when combined with wimbi ugali and that rediculously nutricious mrenda, while a TPOK jazz classic plays in the background, Ranalo confirms it rightful place among the great eateries to experience that truly authentic Kenyan food affair.

Great food and service. Will return

The foods are authentic, gives the home cooked food feeling, the variety is wide and I love their fish even more, the ohangla music playing at the background takes you to another world while enjoying the meal, they serve their dishes with any variety of traditional vegetables.

Cool place, great staff... awesome services...

Food was good. There was no written menu which could lead to confusion. Service was a bit strange as the server who assisted me wanted me to pay him instead of paying at the counter. He kept on insisting that “everything is okay” but he wanted to charge me more for something which I told him at the beginning that I didn’t want.

As we went late most of the food was finished however we got the best service and really good atmosphère