If you told anyone who has lived in Kampala for the past couple of decades that Mama Mia restaurant was on Kampala Road, they would call you misinformed or brand you an outright liar.
However, restaurants have been known to change addresses so it could well be that Mama Mia has decided to move but ever since its inception, besides Mama Mia being tout a fait an Italian joint even the very word is Italian and literally translated means “My mother!”.
We last visited this restaurant some time last year and it was still at the iconic Speke Hotel and there was nothing Chinese about their menu; the food was pizza, pasta, and the like.
Thus it came as a surprise when a friend asked me to meet them for lunch at Mama Mia on Kampala Road. I insisted that the venue mentioned was opposite the Sheraton Kampala Hotel.
Nevertheless, they stood their ground and lo and behold there is a new and completely different Mama Mia that has nothing whatsoever to do with the original establishment!
Chinese-oriented menu
As I was to divine, the new Mama Mia is the kind of fast food joint that has a strong taint of being Chinese-oriented. A look at the non-native staff reveals is a dead giveaway and no kudos for guessing.
On top of this revelation, a cursory look at the menu and who else but the Chinese dream of a take away with a menu that is unusually rice based for an establishment of this ilk. To mention but a few items; spiced beef with rice, curry chicken with rice, chicken wings with rice, mutton with rice and the list is endless.
Unique
By all accounts, this new kid on the block is novel and a great change from the staid greasy spoons of chicken and chips that are the generally accepted standard.
The food is definitely not Italian, neither is it Chinese, for want of a better word call it fusion cooking. It seems to work and though Shs8,000 for chips plain is surely a king’s ransom for a place of this stature, surely more like what one would expect to pay at Café Javas!
The deal
Address: Plot 65 Kampala Road
Smoke-free zone: Prohibited indoors
Recommended item: Chicken leg and salad
Service: Very good
Ambience: They deserve a B+ smart and trendy
Open: 7 days
Our rating: OK so-so
Menu:
The crowd: People who work in midtown
The bar: A variety of juices, milk shakes coffee and soda.
The damage: If you are on a budget, one can comfortably get by with a tenner if you make do with say fried rice with eggs and a soda or the beef steak with chips and an orange juice you would be looking at Shs30,000.
Sound level: Acceptable
Parking: A definite no-no, save for Sundays
If you go: Daily
NOTE
RATINGS: 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.
0 comments:
Post a Comment