Spicy treats from Ghana

Restaurant review. One of the reasons we enjoy going to Mama Ashanti is the consistency of quality that keeps this place going year in and year out. People in society are fickle and have little loyalty in terms of allegiance to food and with the ever increasing new joints opening up in and around Kampala; competition is getting tougher and better.

Who would ever have known that a humble eating joint that opened up as a converted shop along the Bombo Road with seating for no more than two score plus (even then it was crowded and stuffy) would become such a rousing success in the fashionable Kololo area?

It was only a few years ago that Mama Ashanti, that quaint West African joint, for the first time in Kampala, offered us such exotic fare as okra soup, fufu (fresh boiled cassava and raw plantain pounded and served in a black pot), palaver sauce (egusi) and so many other wondrous delights from Ghana.

I have always held the belief that good food not only speaks for itself, but in time, will generally act as a magnet in attracting clients. This is all the more a bonanza when one takes into account the fact that good and spicy food in Kampala is woefully conspicuous by its absence (and you will excuse me for not including Indian and Chinese) and when it comes to West African food surely a much welcome first.
The good news for Kampala diners is that Mama Ashanti is alive and well and thriving.

In touch with West Africa
It was heartening to note that they have expanded the Mama Ashanti Special Sauces and added beef, chicken, spinach to mention just a few. A case in point is the vegetable sauce that comes out looking and tasting like something out of the Far East that causes one to pause and think at the ingenuity and simplicity of this item. A medley of colourful vegetables such as carrots, baby marrow, French beans, onions, eggplant, chili, fried and then doused in a liberal soaking of corn flour I am inclined to think that West African no, but Oriental yes.

However, I am the first to admit that in the real culinary sense of the word, there is no such thing as the definitive coq au vin or for that matter chicken luwombo, and last but not least the Ashanti grilled chicken. No doubt, each chef has his very own interpretation of a particular entrée and never shall the twain meet.

Now having said that, my argument here is that when I go to a place like Mama Ashanti, whatever the chef’s inclination may be, it behooves him to expect there to be a strong overall bias of West African flavours that form an integral part of their food. Hence, we would expect a good dose of the fabled palm oil, dry shrimps, dry fish, leafy vegetables.

One of the very favourites has always been the Ashanti Special Grilled Tilapia that is large enough to serve at least two people. Modestly priced at Shs25, 000, it is wonderfully marinated and grilled to perfection, sans bones is always our preference. Another superb gem is their spiced gonja. Known as Kelewele plantain in Ghana, the secret lies in the piri piri lacing that gives it an incredible flavour making it pure ambrosia fit for the Gods.

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