Kenya & Tanzania Connoseur (jan-mar)

This is the dining area

Our elegant restaurant is designed to replicate a Maasai boma, with swirling primary colours on textured white walls and traditional beadwork, gourds and leatherwork.

Breakfast is presented buffet-style and features global fare, complemented by the finest Tanzanian coffee and tea. We also offer a full English breakfast – as well as the opportunity for guests to watch their meal being prepared by the chef in an exciting live cooking environment.

Our buffet lunch typically includes meat, poultry, fish and vegetarian options. Table d'hôte dinner menus feature a salad buffet, soup, an entrée, dessert, cheese and biscuits and tea or coffee. Vegetarian options are always available. The majority of our meat and dairy products, as well as our fruits and vegetables are sourced from the communities that surround Lake Manyara National Park. Guests are invited to learn how to cook and serve traditional dishes as well.

Choose from a broad selection of old- and new-world wines, as well as local and imported beers and spirits. We also offer a wide range of soft drinks, fruit juices and and herbal infusions.

In addition to our dining room, we’re pleased to offer a scenic outdoor terrace with awe-inspiring lake views. Join us here for atmospheric evening cocktails and outdoor BBQs, or reserve a private party. Our terrace is also the venue for cultural dance and music performances, which are usually held after supper.

Begin your day with breakfast in our bush dining area, which is located on the top of the escarpment and boasts panoramic views across the lake. Just a short stroll from the lodge, it offers safari chairs and tables and a full team of chefs ready to prepare a full English breakfast, which will be cooked on blazing charcoal stoves in front of you.

Alternatively, you can take a picnic breakfast in the bush whilst on a game drive (packed breakfasts can be provided at no additional cost, or a tailored “bush breakfast” experience can be planned).

The concept of enjoying a drink in the bush whilst watching the sun go down dates back to the great safaris of the 1920s. In keeping with this tradition, the lodge offers a selection of sundowner venues, both on the escarpment edge and within Lake Manyara National Park itself. Begin with a gentle stroll or drive to the chosen spot where chairs, lamps, campfire and a bush bar with cocktail snacks will already have been set up. Musical entertainment can also be provided.

There are few things as magical as dining beneath the stars in the heart of the African bush. Our lodge has its own al fresco dining area, located on the edge of the escarpment cliffs and offering magnificent views across the lake.

On arrival to the dining area, you will be invited to enjoy cocktails around the campfire while your selection of meat and fish is prepared on the glowing charcoal stoves. After dinner, a display of traditional dance, song and theatre is offered.

Lake Manyara Serena Safari Lodge is a member of the Mbu Cultural Tourism Programme, which is run by the local community. Part of this programme is the village lunch – a unique insight into the daily life of local residents. Guests enjoy a fascinating stroll around the village in the company of a trained guide, followed by a delicious buffet lunch in a pretty clearing amongst the banana plantations.

The Main Restaurant at Ngorongoro Serena Safari Lodge is beautifully designed in the traditional style and décor of Tanzania to create an enchanting dining experience. Savour a delightful range of local and international cuisines crafted from the finest and freshest meats, produce and ingredients.

Featuring charming stone-built architecture, a glowing fireplace and walls adorned with prehistoric cave paintings and flickering torchlight, the elegant yet relaxed dining space is ideal for any taste and occasion. Floor-to-ceiling windows and double doors leading out on to an expansive terrace complement each meal with panoramic views of the Ngorongoro Crater.

Breakfast and lunch are served buffet-style and feature a wide range of international choices. In typical safari style, we offer a full English breakfast as well as European options while our lunch menus include meat, poultry, fish and vegetarian options. Our table d’hôte dinner menus feature a salad buffet, soup, entrée, pudding, cheese and biscuits and tea or coffee. Vegetarian options are always available. The majority of our meat and dairy products, as well as our fruits and vegetables, are sourced from local communities.

Kindly note that our restaurant caters to any special dietary requirements our guests may have.

One of the highlights of the Crater visit, the bush breakfast is an experience not to be missed. Typically, guests are awakened by a very early morning cup of tea; they then set off down the steeply winding road that leads to the Crater floor.

After a game drive through primeval forests and acacia groves, the guests arrive by the selected spot where a spectacular cooked breakfast is served. After breakfast, the game drive continues around the 120 km of roads that circle the lakes, forests and plains of this unique conservation area.

Because entrance to the Crater is strictly limited – and also because there is so much to see – many guests prefer to take lunch on the Crater floor. This can be provided as a picnic, which can be enjoyed in one of the forest clearings, or as a full cooked lunch, which is typically cooked and served in the acacia groves.

Before and after lunch, the guests are then free to enjoy extensive game drives around the Crater floor.

Typically, the Ngorongoro Bush Dinner takes place at a scenic location on the rim of the Crater, with stunning views over the plains below. Timed to coincide with the setting of the sun, which on the Equator is around 6 pm, the bush dinner will commence with a short drive to a panoramic spot on the Crater rim. Here, tables, chairs and lanterns will already have been set up, and a campfire will have been lit.

Beginning with sundowners around the campfire, we are proud to entertain our guests with Maasai dance and song while their 5-course dinner is prepared on the blazing charcoal BBQ. The choice of meat, fish and poultry will be supplemented by vegetarian choices, salads, fruit and desserts from the main lodge, and a full safari bar will be provided.

The camp has a cosy indoor and outdoor dining.

In the evening before dinner enjoy a sundowner round the fire.