Chills pride themselves in pilao

Apr 29, 2004

Jasmine Adams, also known as the wife of Dipu Ruperilea, is an old hand at catering and for a long time was better known for doing outside catering than what one might term as ‘retail cooking’.

Place: Chills n’ Meals
Rating: X
Food: Local interspersed with the so- so-called Swahili
Location: Crown House, Plot 4A Nkrumah Road
Service: Encouraging
Ambience: Smart
Parking: Compliments of Multiplex
Prices: Par for the course
Open: Monday to Saturday

Jasmine Adams, also known as the wife of Dipu Ruperilea, is an old hand at catering and for a long time was better known for doing outside catering than what one might term as ‘retail cooking’. True that she recently dabbled at offering catering services for a well known factory that has a staff of three hundred plus. Still
Jasmine must have found workers of such type hardly her cup of tea as is evidenced by her short stint at the place. Besides, having one’s joint is surely more challenging than serving posho and beans to the rank and file.
Anyway, one of the more preferred breakfast meal by many a Ugandan that seemingly cuts across all economic and ethnic barrier is the fabled katogo that literally means a ‘hodgepodge melange of many types of food.’ Admittedly, this is not the kind of dish that one would find at some of the better known local eating joints in town, somehow it tends to be more associated with the working class. Anyway, historically the price never deviates beyond the sh500 mark; notwithstanding I will be happy to part with sh800 for Chills n’ Meals’ brand that is a cut above the others any day. Still, breakfast is hardly their forte with lunch being the main ticket chiefly in the form of a buffet for a modest fiver. I will not bore you with the litany of dishes that comprise the standard buffet fare to be found everywhere. However, in all fairness the food is better than average far from being bland and run of the mill, one is guaranteed to leave well satisfied.
One of the specialities that Chills n’ Meals prides themselves in serving is their pilao, and indeed in terms of sheer diversity they are a tough act to follow. Each day of the week features a different pilao special. These range from goat, fish, beef and vegetable and are priced at sh3,000. While the standard was acceptable, if numbers are anything to go by the Maestro of pilao has to be Salim Saad Uhuru who surely ranks primus inter pares when it comes to this great rice dish!
Granted that one is free to take license and create an own version of any dish, but for some of us who have the benefit of experience, there is nothing to beat an authentic chicken or meat biryani and that means cubes of either type meat cooked with rice and various spices. As an after thought, why not call your version Jasmine’s very own chicken biryani? I have been privileged to have tried Jasmine’s Swahili food and was disarmed by its very authentic and taste. I recall with fondness the tasty stew that is made from mung beans or dengu. The service is brisk and the place is neat.

RATING:
XXXX UNRIVALED
XXX EXCELLENT
XX VERY GOOD
X WORTH A VISIT
0 NOT WORTH A VISIT


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