Fresh salmon served with rice and broccoli. PHOTO/KADUMUKASA
Unlike in France where since time immemorial, the best cooking traditionally is to be found in restaurants, in Italy it is in the home. Thanks to Guido Nortari, he is the one who introduced serious Italian food to Ugandans back in the late 1990’s.
The finest restaurants in Italy are not those much hyped and glittering that are known to every tourist. They are very small, family-run trattoria of a dozen or so tables that offer home cooking only slightly revised by commercial adaptations. Here, there are no menus with a spoken litany and if they are at all present, they are more often than not illegible.
By all accounts, when it comes to first rate high end dining, Mediteranno Restaurant should be among the top ranked joints in Kampala. Indeed truth be told, their food is better than par for the course.
Sadly, it appears that the powers that be at Mediteranno Restaurant have grown complacent.
This complacency is very noticeable at the outset when hand wipes remain uncollected throughout our meal and whatever advantage realised in their use, rather than the usual dodgy washable and reusable cloth hand towels, is immediately rendered null and void. So, what happens when they are busy and have a full house?
On our luncheon visit, the place had a few clients. The bread appeared to have been at least a day old. Stale for intent and purposes and wholly avoidable. Bread freezes extremely well and takes away the necessity of having to bake fresh loaves on a frequent basis.
I mean, these are first impressions, which are prone to leave an indelible scar. The lacklustre service, lack of attention to detail in the preparation of the Café Americano or should one say that they were skimping on the double shots and giving us a single shot of cappuccino?
The chef wearing worn out and dirty sneakers, (not to mention that his uniform had seen better days) was a big downer. There is no comprise in terms of chefs kitchen clogs.
These are essential for safety, comfort and unlike canvass shoes, are especially designed for the environment of the kitchen. To crown it all, the dilapidated parquet floors glaringly noticeable in the public areas, are besides being a dreadful eyesore are dangerous to diners.
Trust me, they are an accident waiting to happen for people who are walking. All these irregularities were woefully evident at our recent dining experience and conspired to render our visit not as pleasant as earlier anticipated.
Regardless, it is an ill wind that blows nobody any good and to be fair, the food is generally above par for the course.
Overtime, we have discovered that it is a safe bet that a soup will be a precursor of how good the food before us will unfold. To put this to a test, I chose the much maligned and distorted Risotto. This mainstay of Italian culinary fare is a uniquely Italian technique for cooking rice. There are a myriad things that one can do with risotto that it is almost a cuisine unto itself.
Lamentably, it is the most misunderstood of all the famous Italian dishes. The French will never tire believing that it is the same thing as rice pilaf. Others, think that it is simply once boiled in a broth with seasoning and voila; good to go.
I wager a bet that if you have never had it except in restaurants, then you have never had the real McCoy. Restaurant risotto, even at Mediteranno is usually precooked rice pilaf that is given a risotto treatment before serving.
Antipasti are the acclaimed rouges of the Italian table and nothing in all cuisine features, so boldly upon the eye to excite the palate and set gastric juices in motion.
The antipasto misto served with assorted salami, Parma ham, olives and grilled aubergine was a delight. The chocolate mousse was super light, dark, creamy and delicious.
It is always a popular item and maintains a high profile on the dessert menu. I also noticed profiteroles, which one hardly sees on Kampala menus. On the whole, the food at Mediteranno is worth a visit.
When one is paying top dollar for food in a posh eating establishment here in Kampala or in New York, it behooves management to ensure that customers are at all cost not short-changed when it comes to issues of amenities and non-food standards.
Restaurants ought to do renovations and touch up as a matter of course on a regular basis and not wait until the floor is completely dilapidated.
Ensuring that the handi wipes are promptly removed after use is not an arduous task and neither should there be any excuse for the cooks not to wear regulatory uniforms and footwear. There must be one established standard for the cafe Americano. Never should it be a hit or miss thing.
Place: Mediteranno Restaurant and Villa
Address: 42 Windsor Crescent, Kampala
Smoke-Free Zone: Applicable in the public areas
Recommended items: Risotto
Service: Sloppy and sluggish
Ambience: Semi alfresco
Open: Daily seven days a week for lunch and supper
Menu: Caprese, Gnocchi, Risotto, pizza, grilled spring chicken, avocado, tomato, and Mozzarella pasta salad with pine nuts aka Insalata Tricolore . Assorted pastas, fish fillet,
The Crowd: Well-heeled Ugandans and expats
The Bar: A decent selection of wines, cocktails and drinks of all nature.
The damage: A couple should plan to spend a good couple of Shs100,000
Sound level: Good
Rating: Worth a visit
Parking: Available and secure
RATINGS: Not to be missed, worth a visit, OK/so so, don’t waste your time.
