Prime
Emin Pasha’s new restaurant commits to fine dining
Equatoria Restaurant at Emin Pasha Hotel in Kampala City
What you need to know:
- The quaint architecture from the 1920s, the prime location, the illustrious story behind Emin Pasha, the man, the arresting privacy, and the aura of utter exclusivity, all play a part in making this new restaurant a worthwhile dining location.
A few months ago, a brand new restaurant called Equatoria was opened in Kampala, with one clear purpose; fine dining. It couldn't be positioned better to attract the finest of diners. It is located in the quietest, most exclusive part of Nakasero Hill, where traffic is minimal and the breeze is chill.
The amount of forest cover in this part of Kampala will momentarily make you forget that you are in the heart of the city. Housed in Emin Pasha Hotel, the brand new restaurant boasts of an expansive sitting area that merges indoor and outdoor spaces in the privacy of a large enclosed garden.
It is easy to see why Babylon Hospitality, a premium hotel operator from Spain, sniffed it out and decided to make Emin Pasha a part of their prized portfolio. The quaint architecture from the 1920s, the prime location, the illustrious story behind Emin Pasha, the man, the arresting privacy, and the aura of utter exclusivity, all play a part in making this new restaurant a worthwhile dining location. As you read this, the shiny new joint is being launched officially today, June 5.
Fine dining at Equatoria
Picture an open terrace that flows seamlessly into a forested garden that goes on and on until it disappears into the darkness of the evening. A garden so private, people of the streets outside don’t have a clue it exists. A garden so surrounded by trees and shrubs that there is no speck of dust anywhere.
This space was made for fine dining in mind. The natural inclination is to sit in the nearest garden couch and take it all in before thinking of ordering your first course. Standing in the garden, at 7:45pm on a Wednesday evening, you can see the floral white interior walls of the restaurant slightly turned golden by the warm electric lighting. Dinner tables draped in white linen everywhere.
Fine dining, as it turns out, is synonymous with romance.Almost all the diners here are couples. Some are cozying up in the garden sofas outside, while others are inside, seated opposite each other talk or feeding each other. When you are finally ready to order, the waitress comes over with the menu.
A single page containing all the three courses. The beverages menu is no different. Hard to imagine. Waiters here are gastronomic experts. They will engage you, find out what might work for you and recommend something that will agree with your palate. If you are the adventurous type, and you would like to have something from another universe, they will be there to recommend a meal that is exotic but agreeable to you at the same time.
Part of their job is to recommend which wine, champagne, or whiskey will make your meal even more exquisite. How he is able to make time for each table to chat with whoever in interested in beyond belief considering that he's so busy making dozens of gomet meals at a time. He wants to know how your main course went. He's here to recommend a third course that goes with what you just hard.
Vacation for the palate
Fine dining is not just eating or drinking, really. It's like a vacation for your palate. Instead of seeing new places, you taste new cuisines. Instead of soaking in nature by the shores of a lake far away, you taste lobster for the first time in your life. Instead of staying at the Barj Khalifa in Dubai, you pick out the most exotic, most expensive champagne on the menu and check it out just for the heck of it. Fine dining is getting vulnerable with your palate, letting the food have its way with you. Chef Alvaro says he created the menu to reflect Emin Pasha’s journey from Poland to Uganda.
Taste the journey
Chef Alvaro talks about his menu the way a mother speaks about her baby. He created it to reflect Emin Pasha’s journey from Poland his home country, to Uganda where he worked as colonial administrator in the late 1800’s. The menu reflects European dishesand ingredients, Mediterranean cuisines and Equatorial cuisines including Uganda dishes.
Different diners will naturally gravitate to different dishes. So while the cautious diner may order pork ribs to keep with the familiar while the adventurous may order lobster or rare steak. But no matter what you order, you will experience food like you have never.
