Kampala’s top five new restos of 2010
1. Place: Javas Nakumatt.
Rating: XXX.
Food: Global/Continental.
Smoke-free zone: Not allowed indoors, though one is free to smoke on the terrace.
Price range: Breakfast from Shs3,000 and Shs15,000 for the truly gargantuan house breakfast. Soup of the day Shs7,000, salad between Shs7,000 for the garden salad to Shs11,500 for the grilled Cajun chicken salad, sandwiches between Shs10,000 and Shs15,000, main course between Shs15,000 and Shs17,500, wraps around Shs9,000. For quesadillas and burritos, expect to pay anywhere between Shs12,500 and Shs15,000.
Recommended dishes: Grilled fish, pepper steak and jerk chicken.
Ambience: Extraordinarily well planned and designed.
Sound level: Comfortable.
Open: Every day of the week.
Parking: Underground and limited in forecourt.
2. Place: Boda Boda
Location: Garden City Shopping Mall, formerly The Venue.
Rating: XX.
Food: Afro fusion food at its best, most delectable and definitely in a class of its own.
Ambience: Absolutely tops, with the added benefit of two bars, a lounge that can accommodate 100 or so and an alfresco setting.
Service: Commendable.
Prices: You can go First Class or Club Class, though you would be somewhat hard pressed to find Steerage Class in this classy joint.
Parking: Available, ample and secure.
Open: Lunch and supper, 365 days of the year, with a brunch for 30K every Sunday.
3. Place: Cayenne Restaurant and Lounge.
Rating: X X.
Location: Plot 1313 Old Kira Road, Bukoto, next to Kabira Country Club.
Fare: Continental fusion along with tandoori and grills, though the food is not yet of the standard that one would expect; it is lackluster.
Recommended dishes: Beef fillet steak and their grills.
Service: The staff is very enthusiastic and surprisingly well informed on the fare.
Ambience: Enticing and wonderful and rarely to be found in greater Kampala.
Prices: Appetisers from Shs12,000; entrees, Shs20,000 and up; desserts from Shs9,000. A meal for two with a few drinks would set one back an easy 80 or 90,000 bob.
Sound level: Not the best.
Smoke-free zone: Much to our irritation, it’s allowed outdoors but proscribed indoors.
Wine list: A broad range of prices, grapes and styles from RSA, Chile, France and elsewhere, with a bottle of premium champers (Dom Perignon) costing all of Shs600,000.
Reservations: Recommended for groups and those wishing to sit in a particular area.
Open: Lunch and supper every day save for Monday.
Wheelchair access: Inaccessible.
Parking: Abundant and very secure.
4. Place: The Lawns.
Rating: XX.
Location: Impala Road, Kololo.
Food: Continental and probably Kampala’s only game restaurant where they serve a large range of game meat ranging from Eland, crocodile, venison and ostrich, to name a few. Prices begin at around Shs30,000 per person. They also do a range of excellent continental fare.
Open: Daily until late.
Service: Very good.
Prices: Reasonable.
Parking: Available.
5. Place: Faze III.
Location: 10 Circular Road, Entebbe.
Rating: XX.
Food: From the chicken sumbies (any of their samosas are to be recommended) made with exquisite phyllo pastry and a filling to die for, to the whole grilled fish or be it the cheese nans, or the wonderful luscious and tender pork that will literally melt in your mouth, their grills are out of this world and generally done to perfection minus all that smoke.
Open: Daily.
Ambience: Can’t complain.
Service: Very good.
Parking: Secure and ample.
Prices: Not bad and affordable for all types of pockets.
