Great food but poor timekeeping

Sumptous: Chicken roulade. PHOTO BY KADUMUKASA KIRONDE.

What you need to know:

  • SERENE SUITES. Despite the menu spelt out, our expectations were let down. I believe there is room for improvement.

Lately the word ‘fine dining’ is often brandished about in the better restaurant circles with total disregard for its true meaning. Fine dining, also referred to as white tablecloth restaurants, as opposed to ordinary run of the mill eating joints, cafes or family style restos, caters to a decidedly upmarket clientele while at the same time providing the highest quality of food. Without exception, a fine dining restaurant must have a formal atmosphere and ambiance and it is a rule of thumb that it be a sit down place.

Expectations
Fine dining restaurants offer wine lists as well sommeliers (wine connoisseurs) to help you with your food and wine pairing. Last but not least, they also have a dress code. Neither ripped jeans nor T-shirts are allowed. Ladies must wear smart dresses or tailored suits and an entrée will set you back at the very least Shs105,000 and in some cases a lot more. As for the wines, the sky would be the absolute limit.
In essence, I’m of the view that the word fine dining as used and practiced in Uganda is a total misnomer but nevertheless this past Sunday on July 1, we were invited to such a labelled event held at the Serene Suites. Roger Balamaga was the chef in situ and was the one who came up with the menu.

Ambience
Serene Hotel in Mutundwe offers a wonderful al fresco setting and is an impressive 3-star property and I believe would have been an ideal setting for a barbecue. Regardless, we had to make do with the chosen venue and duly arrived at the appointed hour of 2pm. As fate would have it nothing seemed to be ready and things got off to a start a good two and half hours later which was not only disappointing but unprofessional.

Dining experience
On the whole the food was of a high standard but not my idea of fine dining and then again that aside, all would have been forgiven and forgotten if only the time keeping had been observed. We had our final offering of the Barbecue sundowner at 8.30pm and six and half hours later left a lot to be desired.
Planes are sometimes delayed for whatever reason, but then once airborne things work like clockwork. Sadly, this event was not impressive and when people are paying Shs100,000 I believe they expect a lot more in terms of time keeping and I have my reservation about the choice of the menu. I’m not so sure whether Ugandans understand the meaning of vegetable crostini (little crusts in Italian) or chicken roulade much less beef Wellington.