Mbale’s ultimate hang out

Eastern countryside. Protea Hotel has given Mbale District the feel of a five star eatery. While on a visit to this eastern town, you may want to take a minute and indulge in the expansive cuisine.

If you have never travelled to the eastern district of Mbale, you will be forgiven for assuming that all good places, including five star hotels, exist only in Kampala. I was one of those people who believed that luxury hotels were only found in Kampala Until recently, when I had the opportunity to visit the new Protea Hotel, about 2km along Bungokho Road in Mbale Municipality. What welcomes you at Protea Hotel is the adjacent Nkokonjeru ridge, with shimmering stony hills, and the water falls like a white sheet, which many new comes would mistake for Mt Elgon.

Although the exterior décor is often neglected by many hotel in Mbale, at Protea Hotel, it counts as much as the interior; it is a fine place for outdoor parties and has an admirable outdoor living-room.

The way the environment is naturally modelled and the way food is prepared and served, makes this hotel a gem in Mbale and perhaps the entire Eastern region. No wonder it is referred to as “The place to happen from”.
The local and international buffets one comes across in and around town are known for being boring, predictable and totally lacking in imagination. Protea Hotel’s menu, however, boasts of great variety, value and generous portions.

Most of the clients are expatriates; no doubt, this can partly be attributed to the wireless Internet, bar and a spacious restaurant where a wide range of dishes from Chinese, Indian and English origins plus a variety of buffet for various communities are served.

The magnificent of the hotel is not only reflected in the buildings and beautiful environment, but also in its décor, ambience and the overly ambitious menu. What makes Protea Hotel a place to go indeed are the special meals prepared specially by the chefs.

John Kwiri, the head cook, says being a place that attracts European tourists, Indians and Africans, there is a wide variety of food to choose from, including traditional English fish in chips served with malt vinegar, Queen prawn cocktail served on a bed of lettuce and coated in sauce mani rose. My colleagues and I had a hearty English breakfast which cost Shs37,000, but was worth every penny. Kwiri says besides treating their customers courteously, they will also offer them a new concept of eating out with quality, style and value. The aim is to make the quality of food served commensurate with the standard of the place.

Being a modern hotel, there is abundance of different types of coffee from which to choose running the gamut from coffee au lait to single or double cappuccino, of course there are also a number of assorted frappes and milk shakes as well as juices.
And do not forget to check out their fugato. The managing director Stuart Cook while commissioning the hotel on October 22, said the standards at Protea Hotel is high and the quality of food is consistent.

dmafabi@ug.nationmedia.com