The pizza at Mateos

May 17, 2001

LAST Thursday, in the company of my children, we visited Mateos. For starters we went in for the platter which comprises savoury chicken bites

Place: Mateos, Kampala Eat out Restaurant Location: Above Nandos, (Parliament Avenue) Ambience: Neat and modern Price: Definitely not for those on a shoestring budget, but then again reasonable. Open: 7.00am to 12.00pm weekdays and 7.00am to 2.00 am weekends. Parking: Street By Kaddumukasa Kironde II LAST Thursday, in the company of my children, we visited Mateos. For starters we went in for the platter which comprises savoury chicken bites along with chicken wings topped with a generous portions of French fries and barbecue dip. Indeed, it was worth every cent of sh12,000. No visit to Mateos would be complete without sampling their pizzas which come in either small, medium or large. The secret of a first class pizza are two fold viz the thickened tomato topping and of course the pastry base. No matter how good your fillings are, in the event that the two aforementioned are mediocre, then the results are bound to be a disaster. Fortunately, Patrick Kikwanga, head chef who holds forte at Mateos, is a man who has cut his spurs with the best. We sampled the pizza margherita, billed as the great grandfather of pizzas along with the so called quattro which has ham, mushrooms, shrimps, olives and asparagus. For the vegetarians, the choices are limited to either the pizza ott with a filling of mushroom, asparagus, green peppers, onions, olives, garlic and broccoli or the pizza Siciliana. The latter is topped with anchovies and olives. With a choice of 10 or so from which to choose, it really boils down to personal preference. For a change, I would suggest that you check out their fettuccine alfredo which in reality is, wheat flour, butter, parmesan cheese, light cream, egg yolks with truffles, the last item being optional. As for you who prefers to stick to the traditional, then go for the Bolognese pasta sauce which was very well seasoned and prepared. Nevertheless, a word of caution to the non-pork eaters, both the Bolognese and the Carbonara sauces contain bacon or ham, at least in the case of the authentic version, this would be the case. Moving to the favourites, the Rack O'Ribs consisting of choice cuts of spareribs grilled with sweet and sour, or peri peri sauce and served with chips, is indeed truly mouth-watering. While in the main, the food at Mateos is excellent, well cooked and tasty, I am somewhat bothered by the lack of clear direction in which the place is focused in terms of genre of cuisine. From the consumers view point is the place Italian or merely Italian oriented or for that matter continental? The first impression one gets is that in fact Italian would be the case. But in reality one sees on the menu items like Cajun chips! Well, with all due respect chips have no place in an Italian joint. Otherwise, the service here is exemplary. ENDS

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