As soon as you walk into Sikia Restaurant at the Crowne Plaza Hotel in Nairobi, you notice the hushed ambience — especially after crossing through the bustling hotel lobby. The restaurant is set in a long room, with dark brown armchairs offset by the russet coloured carpet, white linens and oil paintings.

On a wall by entrance hang a number of awards. Sikia won the 2016 Chef’s Delight Award for the Best Contemporary Fusion Restaurant, a culinary reward based on consumer feedback. There is also one from Nairobi chapter of the Chaine des Rotisseurs; Chaine is a renowned global food and wine society that recognises establishments for their excellence in quality and service.

I sat at a table by the floor-to-ceiling glass wall overlooking the reception and lounge café, the sheer curtains allowing me to discreetly watch the goings-on below. I noticed that the business clientele preferred to sit along the solid wall, probably preferring the greater privacy on that side of the room.

It was a hot day, so I started my lunch with a garden salad, on the waiter’s recommendation. I was pleasantly surprised by the artful presentation of lettuce, Italian spinach, cucumber slices, carrots and avocado pieces dressed with an orange vinaigrette.

In Kiswahili, sikia is means to hear or pay attention to, and Sikia Restaurant aims to captivate the range of human senses of sight, smell and taste. A good example is the soup duo. It has a bright yellow and vivid green colour from the combination of butternut cream and asparagus cream puree with vanilla.

Sikia offers a fusion menu of European and Asian dishes with elements of local ingredients. The starter selection has European classics like beef carpaccio with balsamic vinegar and flakes of parmesan cheese, chicken galantine, classic escargot in garlic butter, and mushrooms in light Vol-au-Vent pastry shells.

The crab and mango salad and the fried calamari sautéed in sesame sauce bring in a South Asian flavour to the seafood appetisers, while the deep-fried plantain fritter balls and warm lentil and scallop salad complete the African essentials of the first course.

Although Sikia has an extensive wine list, I opted for a fresh squeezed fruit cocktail, and it really was freshly squeezed juice.

I took in more of the little touches that define a fine dining establishment. They have coat stands for men’s jackets and the table tops are padded — kind on the elbows.

For the main course, I opted for grilled seafood and was almost tempted to have the lobster thermidor — I have not had this French classic in years. But I settled for the seared salmon instead, a thickly cut chunk “sealed in a red-hot pan,” topped with a blob horseradish foam and a side of sweet apple tapenade.

The plating was well presented although rather busy with many little bunches of vegetables and several dollops of sauce. The salmon was wonderfully tender and flavoursome.

The entrées accompaniments are mostly local: Sweet potato mash, arrowroot dauphinoise, irio, savoury grilled ugali, as well as rice and potatoes. The vegetarian options include pasta parcels, crepes and moong dal curry.

After dusting the crumbs off the table, the waiter re-arranged the silverware for dessert. The crepes rolled over ice-cream with strawberry sauce could have been a little thinner, but it was a refreshing sweet for a warm day.

I found there was very little to fault about the service and attention to detail at Sikia. The restaurant is elegant yet it does not feel overly formal making it ideal for both business lunches or leisurely dining.

Head chef Joseph Wamoto has international experience, including a stint with Gordon Ramsay, the celebrity British chef. Although upmarket casual dining is the current trend, a dose of gourmet dining is quite the treat.