Dine on a shoestring budget

In many ways Kampala’s,  The Food Hub located at Cargen House along Kampala road where Nandos used to be, is in reality a food court albeit with one landlord thus ensuring maximum control over standards and management. Ideally speaking, food courts offer the perfect opportunity to allow operators to establish eateries with a greatly reduced capital outlay as opposed to setting up shop from scratch in the conventional manner.

Unfortunately, the food court idea in Uganda, which saw its debut at Oasis Mall and then Acacia Mall, has never caught on in this country. Likewise, before the advent of The Food Hub, at the very same location was the home of Nandos which met an ignominious shutdown due to a host of reasons far too numerous to mention. However, they included inter alia; bad management, poor hygiene and lousy food, and in the main a laxity of standards resulting in the franchisor, from South Africa, terminating the contract.

Revamp venue

When the powers that be of The Food Hub took over the premises, the first thing they did was to close the place, take stock and come up with a totally new game plan resulting in a total retrofitting from the kitchen to the toilets everything had to be given a makeover without cutting any corners. It took a while, but the result was not only worthwhile, one hundred per cent successful and awesome.

Today, five years down the line and everyone would agree that The Food Hub is the first choice eatery for takeaway dining whether you are on a shoe string budget, and can only afford a banana spilt to share with your main squeeze or you are with family, with those hankering for pizza while others crave for grilled or fried chicken, the rest burgers, one need look no further than The Food Hub. As we discovered on Easter Sunday, in the company of the boys and fellow trencherman we could not have chosen a better rendezvous.

Services

Regardless of how busy they are, the self-service model minimises the need for staff and after placing your order at the counter, one is assured of having their meal ready within no more than five minutes. Unquestionably, one of the mitigating advantages The Food Hub has is having a central kitchen which ensures that many food items on the menu are prepped in advance and delivered before first light while at the same time freeing up precious space in the kitchen. Another great plus they have, is the total dispensation of non-disposable flatware and crockery which means zero need for washing them and absolute hygiene for the diners not to mention a reduction in man power. For those who are not familiar with a central kitchen, this is a common space owned by restaurants that have multiple branches or locations. It is used to prepare parts of a meal or even complete meals which are then packaged and distributed to their various locations.

A case in point are chips which for optimum results are twice fried before being served. With the advantage of the central kitchen, the first frying is done at the base and then they are distributed to the different outlets where the finishing is done.

Rice is another item that is prepped in the central kitchen, not to mention pizza bases, vegetables et al.

Another great advantage of the central kitchen is the purchasing being centralised and studies have shown that restaurants can save a good 10 percent in savings by buying all the required food inputs in bulk.

Last but not least, given the huge cost of premium space in Kampala, the kitchen for any restaurant would require considerably less space inasmuch as they would not be required to cook as much from scratch. The corollary to this advantage is that one has more dining space which means more revenue for the restaurant.

I ordered for the half grilled chicken with a side of Mex rice and coleslaw while fellow trencherman had a pizza and the boys shared a bucket of fried chicken with  eight pieces, chips and a king size bottle of soda.

Since opening shop in 2018, The Food Hub has become an established and unique dining feature for the Kampala fast food takers and can only get better and better and today stands unrivalled in their genre of food service delivery.

If you go…

Place: The Food Hub

Address: Parliament Avenue, Kampala

Smoke-free zone: Not allowed

Service: On point and orderly

Ambience: Informal and casual

Open: Daily 11am to 10pm

Our rating: Not to be missed

Menu: Mr. Goldens fried chicken, Wanda Crust and look out for their offer of  two for  one on Tuesday and Thursday, Mighty Burgers, Roosta’s flame grilled chicken Cream Supreme ice cream and juice

Prices: Reasonable and affordable 

The space: Spacious with ample seating including an outdoor space

The crowd: Most middle class Ugandan families

The bar: Soda, coffee, tea, juice, smoothies and milk shakes 

The damage: A family of four can get by with around Shs150,000 depending on what they choose

Sound level: Comfortable

Parking: Available on the street

If you go: Daily

RATINGS: Not to be missed, worth a visit, OK/so so, don’t waste your time.  These ratings are purely the reviewer’s personal reaction to food, ambience and service with price being factored into consideration. The menu listings and prices are subject to change without notice.