BEST PLACES TO GO ON A DATE IN NAIROBI

Planning a date, especially the first one, can be a fantastic experience or the greatest pain. I’ve been on many dates and, not to brag, I’ve been told that I plan awesome dates. The real secret, I came to discover, is to have a few places that you can head to in the course of your date rather than just doing one thing the entire time. Please don’t do dinner or lunch or some kind of self-contained meal activity for a first date.

In the initial phases of dating, avoid passive activities like going to the movies or dinner. Dinner, being the traditional date idea, isn’t bad but you have to consider how boring that could be. Sitting in one place and talking to someone for a few hours can get old fast. On the other hand, movies are not great because you will not get a chance to talk and learn more about each other. If your relationship has progressed a bit, movies and dinner can be great.

My formula for planning dates is to start with a light snack such as ice cream, coffee or some other quick snack. I do this to see if I’m at all interested in the other person. I would then have an activity lined up like bowling, a nature walk or some other fun activity. I conclude the date with a quick meal at the end to tie things up properly with a nice bow. This creates the feeling that you’ve done a lot and feels like you’ve already gone on 3 dates in one day. It pushes things forward faster if you’re interested in each other.

I’ve compiled a list of the best places to go on a date that, mostly, won’t break the bank. I’ve personally sampled these places and had awesome dates at the spots below. Enjoy the article.

Rustic Haven.

Rustic Haven is located along Entomoto Drive, close to Maasai Lodge. You can find the specific location pin here.

The first time I went to Rustic Haven was at an event that a friend of mine does, that is called The Vibe. I have to admit that I immediately fell in love with the place. The ambience is fantastic, the food is amazing and the service is top-notch. It’s a chill place that doesn’t usually get filled to capacity, so you can be guaranteed to get sitting space when you visit. It has sort of an outdoor feel with shaded areas to protect from the elements.

I’ve gone on a date here but wouldn’t say it was an official date. It was more of a casual date with someone I was already talking to. We loved the place. In the evening, especially during the week, there’s lots of privacy and the lighting kind of just sets up the right mood. The food pricing is reasonable. I cannot recall the exact pricing, however, I think we were served a whole kienyeji chicken at around KShs 1,500. Just a heads up, they don’t serve alcohol, so if you’d like some you might want to consider somewhere else.

This feels like a place where I would go to wind up a date after visiting other areas prior instead of it being the main event for a date. You might stay here for about 2 hours eating in the evening after an epic date during the day, sounds like a good plan.

The place is also convenient for medium-sized groups and family gathering-type events.

The Waterfront

The thing that I like about malls, especially big ones, is that you get the chance to walk around and talk and explore stuff. The waterfront is really big and has a lot of room to roam around. Other than that, it has a lot of stores and stuff to try out. You could range from quick snacks to whole meals. Walking around together is also nice as you get to talk and spend some quality, uninterrupted time.
Malls are also a safe option if you’ve never met the person before. There’s always that nervousness that comes with meeting a new person for the first time. Are they a serial killer? Are they some sketchy vagabond? This way, you get rid of the nervousness related to first meetings because you can investigate who they are subtly in a public place.
You’ll also get stuff to talk about because there’s a lot of visual interaction. I know introverts won’t like this idea much, but it really helps your cause. If you run out of conversation topics, you could always comment on something you’ve seen or ask them to go check something out and conversation will eventually arise from that. If you’re running out of conversation topics, however, that’s not a good sign.
Scoops.

This is a personal favourite! Scoops is located in Kitengela, along Namanga Road, at Ole Timz building. In case you miss it, which I doubt you will, here is a pin to the location.
Scoops is like one of those thin slices of heaven. They have a variety of in-house goodies like pizzas, burgers and ice cream among many other things. The cool part is that they make a lot of their stuff in-house. Yes, even the ice cream. You can check them out on Instagram here and be the judge.
They also offer some board games, which I honestly didn’t check out but think you would be interested in if you like that kind of stuff.
The place just has a unique vibe. It’s like those tiny, cute little coffee or ice cream shops that you see on Pinterest I loved the sofa-style furniture and also thought the bench-style furniture was cool for when you’re having large groups and you’re engaged in a game. When I visited, there was a large gathering playing a game of Djenga and they had three tables attached together. It looked like so much fun.
Other than that, it would be a great place to start or end the date with some ice cream or a pizza. Remember what I said though. The food location shouldn’t be the main event of the date, so just keep this one in your arsenal for starting or ending dates or for a rendezvous as you head towards your next destination.

Charlie’s Kitengela.

This is likely my favourite restaurant and/or club. The Kitengela branch is sort of like a bistro whereby during the day it acts as a restaurant but when the sun goes down, it turns into a lounge.
The aesthetics of the place are just amazing, the ambience is good and the food is on another level. If you happen to visit this place, make sure to try the pizza they offer. I will confidently say that that is the best pizza I’ve ever had in my life.
The menu is a bit pricey. A beer would fetch about KShs 300 as of the writing of this post and other drinks are also a bit pricier. This is, of course, due to the exclusive type of environment that they offer. It’s almost never crowded over here, so it would make for great intimate setups. Sometimes, at night, when there’s a big DJ coming, the place can be a little packed but there’s always room to sit. The crowd that patronizes the place is also a great crowd, no sketchy people. They also don’t allow you to come in with jaba or miraa so keep that in mind.
Two Rivers.

This one’s really a no-brainer. If you’ve stayed in Nairobi for any amount of time and you don’t know Two Rivers then you must have been living under a rock.
Just like other malls, two rivers is good for first-time meet-ups. There’s so much to do in this place. There’s the Ferris wheel, of course, which can be quite nice. There are also many other rides at the amusement park that you could take advantage of. The price for the Ferris wheel is about KShs 500 per person so it’s good.
Other than the rides, you could take a stroll around the mall since it’s very huge and has a lot of ground you can cover. There are also plenty of food courts where you can grab a bite, a movie theatre, a supermarket and all kinds of stores you’d expect from a mall.
I love it because it provides some versatility in the activities. In one place, you can do a lot of stuff for a small amount of money, which is nice.
Garden City.

I think you’re getting my drift here on the mall thing. Malls are always a great idea, especially for a first date. The thing is, it would be better to look for a large mall that has a lot of stores, which are the ones that I’ve mentioned in this post.
Garden City is nice for that same reason. I like that it’s close to the CBD and close to other facilities in the area like TRM, clubs like Embassy, The Loft and Clarett, Kiambu Road and Roysambu area where there are a lot of entertainment spots.
I think it’s an ideal area to start off your date.
Ruiru Dam.

The Ruiru Dam has become infamous for all the wrong reasons. A car slipped into the dam and the occupants drowned, very sad. However, I still feel like it’s a spot worthy of mentioning. Since the incident, the government moved in and there’s a company that’s now managing the dam. They’ve fenced the area and installed safety measures to try and prevent cars from slipping into the dam.
I’m not sure of the standard route to access the dam, however, I’ll give you a little run down of how to get there. To get there you can search for Titanic Resort, Ruiru Dam Road and use Kenyatta Road to get there. There are a couple of routes but I found that this was the best one.
This is more of a relaxed, chilled-out type of date. It’s also advisable to go with a car although you could also do it without one. It’s the kind of place where people just park, play music, drink alcohol, eat food and so on. There are no food vendors as of July 2023, that may change though.
It could be a good place to wind up a date after all previous activities since the place is open even at night. There’s an entry fee of 100 KShs per car, which I think is reasonable. It’s also worth noting that the view is spectacular. Other than just chilling, there’s not much else to do here.

Clubbing.

Clubbing is nice but I don’t think it’s for everyone. It’s best to not go clubbing on a first date because you or your date might get drunk and make a fool of yourselves. That being said, if you’re a little bit acquainted with your partner, I guess it would be alright.
The issue with clubs is that they’re usually crowded, especially on weekends and you might not get a chance to really interact with each other in peace. Otherwise, there are some nice clubs all over Nairobi that you might want to visit. Some of the best clubs are as follows:
1. Thika Road: The Loft, Embassy, Clarret, Quiver, Aluta Garden, Paris, Switch Lounge, Tessara, Velar, Burudani address and many more along that route.
2. Mombasa Road: Golden ice, Kifaru, Hornbill the Flight, The Tunnel, Lounge 254, Captain’s lounge, Qkao, Zazu bar etc
3. Lang’ata Road: 1824, Pitstop, Quiver and I guess that’s it. There’s Legend and Hornbill in Rongai as well.
4. Ngong Road: Casa vera, Gemini, Onyx and many more in Kilimani area like Blackyz, Blackstars, Beirut, The Vibe Tamasha, Ashaki, Bar Next Door and many more.
5. Kiambu Road: Whisky River, Bar Next Door, The Vineyard, Kentwood Address, Allure Lounge and others.
6. Waiyaki Way: 40forty, Nairobi Street Kitchen, Santa Fe, Galileo, Milan, Muthiga Inn, Relax Lounge, 105 Republik and many more.

These are just the main areas where Nairobians like partying. Of course, there are other clubs in areas like Kitengela, Rongai, Thika and many more but I’ll leave you to do your own research on that front.