Highland short rib
Slow-braised beef, roasted root vegetables, and a mountain honey glaze that tastes of the heather it came from.
$28 per plate
Garden to table
Dining at Mbuni
East African cooking with a fine-dining hand, served on a terrace above the highlands.
The restaurant
A kitchen that reads the season
Breakfast is a spread, not a plate — fruit cut to order, house yoghurt, pastries from the village bakery, and coffee roasted in Arusha. The chef writes a daily menu each morning around what the garden and the market offered that day: vegetables that were in the ground at dawn, fish from the lakes, lamb from the highland flocks.
The cooking is East African at heart with a fine-dining hand — familiar and patient, finished with mountain honey, garden herbs and filtered water from the springs above the lodge.
Sample menu
What's on the table
Savanna tagine
Spiced lamb, dates, preserved lemon and millet couscous — slow cooking that fills the whole terrace with its scent.
$24 per plate
Garden breakfast
House yoghurt, fruit from the garden, pastries, eggs any style — served on the terrace from first light until mid-morning.
$16 per person
The rest of the table
Lake fish — pan-seared tilapia, coconut broth, garden herbs ($22). Cardamom crème brûlée with honey-roasted banana ($9). Menus change with the market; the chef writes them fresh each morning.
The evening
Dinner when the light goes amber
As the highland light goes amber, the terrace tables are set by candlelight and the bar begins its sundowner hour. Dinner moves slowly here — courses arrive when the conversation allows, and nobody clears a plate still in use.
The bar pours one signature cocktail, named for the bird the lodge takes its name from:
The Ostrich Feather — gin, rooibos syrup, citrus, a drift of smoke.
House cocktail, served from four o'clock
Everyone eats here
Dietary needs, taken seriously
Gluten-free, vegetarian, vegan, halal and children's options are all handled by the kitchen, without fuss and without a separate menu apologising for itself. Allergies are taken seriously — tell us when you book, and the chef will plan around them.
Reservations are welcome for dinner, drinks, or a private long table on the terrace. Send a reservation request and the team will confirm personally.
Stay for dinner