Cocktails, Kijiji Chicken and Waffles at The Singleton Brunch

One of my few favourite things about adulting is brunch. Bottomless fantastic food and drinks on the weekend at a great restaurant is one of the best things to ever exist. I have a few places I enjoy having brunch at and most of my brunch dates tend to be with my girlfriends. The things I consider before settling on a place for brunch are convenience in location, price, variety of cuisine, drinks selection and timing.

Brew Bistro has a reputation for offering gastronomic cuisine. I have had the Brew Brunch a few times and it’s been a favourite. Singleton is one of my favourite whiskys, so it was quite lovely to be at Brew for The Singleton Brunch.

The Set-Up

Brew Bistro Westlands is already a beautiful spot – on the top floor of Fortis Towers, it gives a great view of the city, making it a perfect brunch spot to take in Nairobi. There is inside and outside seating, though for brunch, the set-up is outside. The Singleton team did a great job with the set-up – I loved the displays and the art. It was tastefully eclectic.

The Menu

The Singleton brunch offers diners a customized street food menu featuring dishes from Executive Chef Dennis Sawo such as the Lamb Fire Gyro (Fresh lamb slow cooked in Tailfire BBQ sauce served with pickle red cabbage, crunchy lettuce, American garlic sauce, salsa and herbs sauce) and Pork Ban Bhao (slow n’ low Singleton infused pulled pork sliders on a steamed bun).

Diners will find an assortment of light morning dishes in addition to a heartier lunchtime fare (served every last Saturday of the month from 11.00 am to 5.00pm).The menu features meals inspired by the three Singleton variants; The Singleton of Dufftown, The Singleton Tailfire and The Singleton Sunray.

The Cuisine

You can have food from the buffet or order from the streetfood menu, which features Singleton infused dishes. I prefer to do both as brunch does run for 6 hours. The buffet is a nice spread with the basic cheeses, salads and sides like rice and couscous. There is a live grill station with all my favourites including lamb, beef, chicken, calamari and fish. There is also an oyster station where you can get your pick of fresh oysters shacked for you. A live pasta station where you can have a freshly made bowl of noodles was a favourite. Watching the chefs work, especially the flambé, was a delight.

I tried most of everything, but my favourites were the calamari, the oysters, the noodles, the Kijiji (grilled) chicken, the fish fillet, smoked salmon, the beef burger  and the potato salad.

The winners for me though were the waffle station and the brownie station. It’s a build your own station so  I had 2 servings of each and they were sinfully decadent.

The Cocktails

It’s not brunch if there are no cocktails! The Singleton Brunch menu features 3 cocktails:

• The Singleton Double C Cocktail – Singleton sunray single malt scotch paired with coffee and coconut water.
• Singleton of Dufftown 12-Year-Old Fashioned – timeless classic cocktail made by stirring scotch with angostura, orange peel and sugar syrup.
• The Singleton Tailfire Berry Jam Old – whisky sour cocktail made with egg white and a spoon of berry jam.

My favourite was the Double C followed by the Berry Jam and then the Old Fashioned. All the cocktails are balanced and satisfactorily potent.

The People and The Experience

The ambiance was fantastic with a lot of the most beautiful people in Nairobi in attendance. Merging the modern contemporary style of the Brew Bistro restaurant and the oak wood rustic, artistic feel of the Singleton whisky, The Singleton Saturday brunch provides a charming venue and a relaxed ambience for a leisurely brunch with family and friends, destined to become one of Nairobi’s new weekend rendezvous.

The Brunch will be on at all Brew Bistros every last Saturday of the month from 11am to 5pm.