Dig in for pizza, Thai dishes

Upon entering Nakajukko Restaurant the place strikes me as being the sort of joint that would best be suited for the main Street in the city centre. True that Kansanga has a large community of students and fast food joints are a dime dozen, but in the main, they are selling chicken and chips which in terms of Ugandan students has to be the preferred menu of choice. Conceptually and in terms of layout, this latest fast food joint is trying very hard to make an impression. Despite the close proximity of Kampala International University and its vast cosmopolitan student body the punters are simply not impressed.

Menu
The menu is unusual for this genre of roadside eatery, and given the prices that are unrealistically low, authenticity is not only farfetched, but keenly absent. Better to have done something along the lines of Tipsy or Chicken Tonight and compete with them all the more so considering that the startup cost for the venture is the same either way.

Dishes
Jerk chicken, Teriyaki chicken, Japanese beef these are incredibly recondite (in Uganda) items that are prominently featured on the menu, but despite their presence are poor renditions of the real deal. Jerk is the Jamaican barbecue and like its North American counterpart, jerk is simultaneously a dish, a cooking method and a way of life. In Jamaica it turns up at rugged roadside eating joints.
Compared to others
Honestly, the only place in town that can lay claim to making an authentic variant of the dish is Café Javas. To make jerk, the meat of choice is washed with lime juice and or vinegar and marinated in a fiery paste of Scotch Bonnet chilies and other spice and smoke cooked over smoldering hardwood.
The chicken teriyaki fared no better and sadly lacked adequate marinating and as for the Japanese beef, the beef used was not Kobe which pretty much sums it up. We ordered burgers and were not impressed.
As for the kitchen it is really tiny and no bigger than the size of postage stamp. One can only pity the poor chef who is most likely a tenderfoot in the field and given the cramped quarters that obtain it is hard to see how they can cope with large numbers. It took for ages for our burgers to arrive and that is despite our being no fewer than a half dozen diners.

If you go…
Our rating: Worth a visit
The Place Olives Italian Kitchen & Bar
Address: Plum opposite The Surgery, Naguru Kampala
The Space: An improvement from Centenary Park
The Crowd: Expats as well as the hoi polloi Ugandans
The Bar: Coke/Fanta, coffee and wine
Recommended dishes: Pizzas are very good not to mention the spinach and ricotta cannelloni
The damage: At least Shs 50,000 for a decent meal and a couple of sodas
Sound level: Good
Parking: Available
Daily specials: Ask the waiter
Smoke free zone: Not allowed
What we liked: The pizzas are definitely worth the wait
If you go: Daily for lunch and supper

NOTE

RATINGS: Not to be missed, worth a visit, OK/so so, don’t waste your time. These ratings are purely the reviewer’s personal reaction to food, ambience and service factoring in price. The menu listings and prices are subject to change