Best restaurants of the year

FANG FANG Chinese Restaurant 30 Kampala Road, Greenland Towers: Open 7 days a week, lunch and supper. For the finest Chinese food, served in opulent and air conditioned splendor, very elegant coupled with the presence of Madam Fang Minh who truly epitomises the splendid qualities of the place. Goodness knows how she manages to remember each customer by name as well as making it a point to know their pet peeves, likes and dislikes, garlic or no garlic. the lady has the memory of an elephant! It must rank as a restaurant which is primus inter pares. It remains our favourite establishment and we are frequent dinners who never tire of the place. -------------------------- SHANGAI Restaurant Kampala Club, Ternan Avenue: open 7 days a week, lunch and supper First class Chinese food within a very nice ambience. Listen for their fabled Chinese music which is one of a kind and rarely heard in town. They also have a hotel with a dozen or so rooms. Owned and managed by Jeff Lin and his wife Mei-Pyuan, they have a very innovative and interesting menu. Here one can order crocodile meat as well as such traditional Chinese fare such as hot and sour soup. Good service and decent prices, it is one of our preferred joints. We go there frequently. -------------------------- HAANDI RESTAURANT Commercial Plaza, Kampala Road: Open for lunch and supper 7 days. Quite possibly the best Indian food to be found in Kampala. From their curries to their tandoori. Prepared dishes the food is extremely tasty. They have moved to new and spacious premises, which have air-con and the transformation can only be described as formidable. The service is all that one would expect from a place of this calibre. -------------------------- Villa Flora, Ristorante italiano Plot 62, Lumumba Avenue: Open for lunch and supper but never on Sundays. Gianfranco Piva, the owner of Villa Flora is a man who gets full marks for being the dotting and consummate host without a peer. Not only does he make it a point to personally meet and greet all his customers, and he takes their orders. He knows each and every component of his menu, which bears his signature and imprint. The food is as authentic as one could hope, and as for his pizzas, they are wonderfully done and they do offer you the choice of the thick crust. Of course, for us true aficionados of pizzas, the thin crust is very much de regieur. Service is very efficient, while the staff is neat and courteous. -------------------------- N. Uhuru Restaurant, off Namirembe Road and adjacent to Nakivubo Stadium. Open for lunch Monday through Saturday. They are big on take out orders and are perhaps unrivalled in this area. There are probably just a handful of dining establishments that can boast of having been in the same location for almost 40 years. Totally unpretentious and down to earth, they have the best Ugandan food, with for want of a better word a Swahili/Coastal flair. You will not find better pilao or chapatis in Kampala! And as for prices, you simply cannot beat them. All credit must go to Salim Uhuru, the main man who is not only behind the scene, but his presence is very much felt all around. True, we have never serve the claim that they make the best matooke but then this has never been their main force! -------------------------- Kyber Pass Restaurant Speke Road: Open for lunch and supper 7 days. Superb Indian food, good ambience and the service is not at all lackluster. Kyber pass rates with the very best. They are reasonably new on the scene and have established worthwhile reputation. -------------------------- Le Petit Bistro, Kansanga, Opposite Tickles and Giggles: Open for lunch and supper 7 days. When it comes to value for money and a good and worthwhile product with authenticity being a consideration then Le Petit Bistro is the place. Here you are pretty much certain of getting the real Mcoy minus all the pretentious trappings which some places are renowned for having. And then they include it in the price. They are on to a winning formula and we expect them to be around for a long time. When the need arises to bite the bullet and yet you want to be seen in a somewhat classy joint, then remember Le Petit Bistro. -------------------------- Pause Café, Metropole House, Entebbe Road: Open for breakfast and lunch. Closed on Sunday. This has to rank and merit as a truly authentic café in every sense of the word. They serve Hot Pastrami, roast beef sandwich which is rare, the way we aficionados like. try their Triple-decker or ham and cheese, they are in a class of their own. When it comes to puddings, their Black Forest cake is sinfully delicious. Pause Café has no serious rival, they are great at what they do and seem to enjoy doing it. -------------------------- Pearl Restaurant, Nomo Gallery: For good and well-prepared food, in an ambience which is conducive to making that business deal, or just to be in a place which feels serene, comfortable and has a hint of elegance then you need look no further. Their buffet is remarkable for its plethora and diversity. Their matooke is always something to be proud of and the food is on the whole tasty and never too local. At sh8,000 plus three for the luwombo, there seems to be no end of diners. -------------------------- Khana Khazana Restaurant, 20 Acacia Avenue, Kololo: Open for lunch and supper. Closed on Monday’s. in a relatively fickle market, Khana Khazana is one of the premiere Indian food joints in Kampala. The place is located in the posh Kololo area and they have built up the outdoor area in a very attractive and appealing manner. The food is very good and the owners are always there to take their customer’s orders and to ensure that service is at its optimum.