Cafeography
Nairobi · Kilimani & Hurlingham

Cafés in Kilimani & Hurlingham

Chaka Road, Lenana Road and George Padmore Lane, around the Yaya Centre and Argwings Kodhek Road.

Photo: Ken Mwaura, Pexels License

Kilimani lies about 5 km west of the CBD, with Kileleshwa to the north, Lavington to the west, Woodley to the south and Upper Hill to the east; the Kirichwa River marks most of its border with Kileleshwa.1 Hurlingham, a commercial and residential neighborhood about 2.5 km west of the CBD, spreads along Argwings Kodhek Road, which used to be Hurlingham Road.2

After the CBD and Westlands, this is the area with the widest café choice. Most of the cafés are on side streets: Chaka Road, Lenana Place off Lenana Road, George Padmore Lane and Kirichwa Road.

Local tip: Mode Cafe on Kirichwa Road serves until 22:00 every day, which makes it the easy choice for coffee after an evening at the Yaya Centre.

At a glance

10Cafés listed
2With opening hours
08:00Earliest opening
22:00Latest closing
  • Opens earliest: Lava Latte, from 08:00 (Daily 08:00–21:00).
  • Closes latest: Mode Cafe, until 22:00 (Daily 08:00–22:00).
  • Most common features: wi-fi (30%), outdoor seating (30%), open late (10%).

Nothing matches those filters here. See all cafés in Nairobi.

Coffee chains in Kilimani & Hurlingham

Bungalows, desegregation and towers

Kilimani grew in the colonial era as a European residential area of bungalows and maisonettes, was racially desegregated in the early 1960s and stayed low-density for decades.1 From the 2000s, offices, shops and high-rise flats spread faster than roads, drainage and water supply, and the press has called some towers that break county bylaws "vertical slums".1

Hurlingham followed a similar path. Colonial authorities treated it as a whites-only area until it was integrated in the 1960s, and it has turned mixed-use since the early 1990s; Argwings Kodhek Road crosses most of it and ends at Cotton Avenue (Ring Road) in Kilimani.2

The Hurlingham name points to polo: one account ties it to the sport's arrival in British East Africa around 1907, another to the Hurlingham club in Fulham, London.2

Yaya Centre and Lenana Road

The Yaya Centre, built in 1992 with more than 100 shops, was one of Kenya's first modern malls and made Kilimani a byword for shopping.1 Lenana Road carries Ulinzi House, the Ministry of Defence, and the TDB Tower, regional headquarters of the Trade and Development Bank.1 Urban Coffee and Kahvalti Cafe are both at Lenana Place on Lenana Road. State House, the president's official residence, is on State House Road in the wider Kilimani area.1

Kesh Kesh, Pete's and Mode Cafe

Kesh Kesh Coffee Roastery & Cafe is in Chaka Apartments at 375 Chaka Road, with Wi-Fi and seating indoors and out. Pete's Cafe & Burrito Haven on George Padmore Lane also has Wi-Fi and outdoor tables.

Mode Cafe on Kirichwa Road is open every day from 08:00 to 22:00. Coffee & Bagels and Moov Cafe and Bistro are a few minutes' walk from the Yaya Centre.

Ngong Road and Java House's first café

Prestige Plaza opened on Ngong Road in 2003, part of the area's turn to shops and offices.1 Ngong Road is also where Java House began: Kevin Ashley and Jon Wagner opened its first café at Adam's Arcade in 1999, and by June 2024 it had 73 branches across East Africa.3

Ashley later said he could not find good coffee when he first came to Africa, so he learned to roast in the San Francisco Bay Area and had the first roasting equipment flown in from Dubai. Nairobi, he said, needed a good coffee house and a place to have breakfast.4

Sources

  1. Kilimani, Wikipedia, accessed October 2026
  2. Hurlingham, Nairobi, Wikipedia, accessed October 2026
  3. Java House, Wikipedia, accessed October 2026
  4. Itinerant backpacker who co-founded Java, Business Daily (September 17, 2015), accessed October 2026
Keep exploring

More of Nairobi

Westlands & Parklands

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CBD

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Lavington & Kileleshwa

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In Kilimani & Hurlingham, also browse: Wi-Fi Outdoor seating

FAQ

Kilimani & Hurlingham cafés: questions

Where is Kesh Kesh Coffee Roastery in Kilimani, Nairobi?

Kesh Kesh Coffee Roastery & Cafe is in Chaka Apartments at 375 Chaka Road in Kilimani, about 5 km west of the CBD. It has Wi-Fi and seating indoors and out. Nearby, Pete's Cafe & Burrito Haven on George Padmore Lane also has Wi-Fi and outdoor tables.

What is the Yaya Centre in Kilimani, Nairobi?

The Yaya Centre is a shopping mall with more than 100 shops, built in 1992 and one of Kenya's first modern malls; it made Kilimani a byword for shopping. Lenana Road nearby carries Ulinzi House and the TDB Tower, and Urban Coffee and Kahvalti Cafe are at Lenana Place on Lenana Road.

What was Argwings Kodhek Road in Hurlingham, Nairobi, called before?

Argwings Kodhek Road used to be Hurlingham Road. It crosses most of Hurlingham, a commercial and residential neighborhood about 2.5 km west of the CBD, and ends at Cotton Avenue (Ring Road) in Kilimani. Hurlingham was integrated in the 1960s and has become mixed-use since the early 1990s.

For café owners

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