Restaurant G’s secret is in quantity, pilau

If you ever needed any evidence that Kampala’s economic epicentre is downtown, just visit G’s restaurant at Kirumira Towers along William street.

While the uptown eateries are in a struggle for diners and are all crying ‘economy, economy’, G’s restaurant is a beehive of activity, with diners queuing up to spend their money.

As soon as the latest diner gets up, there is another ready to grab the seat. The Observer was attracted by the buzzing traffic and had to patiently wait for an empty seat. Here, sharing a table is almost a given.

At no time are there any two free seats at the few tables. Their single room also hosts more than five waitresses and waiters and five chefs, but you will never feel the kitchen heat from the dining area.

Despite the heavy traffic, the service is impressively quick and local food dominates, although they also do fast food. Soon enough, the reason for the high traffic was on full display. It is the huge food portions – all below Shs 15,000.

From the food, and sauce to juice, everything is served in the largest portions. However, the taste comes in the smallest portions.

By all means, stay away from their cowpeas. They are dry with a flat and unusual crunchy taste. But don’t ever miss out on their pilau. It is uniquely aromatic, slightly moist and very well-seasoned and spiced.

Although they fry their food, they use minimal oils. The matooke is expectedly yellow-smooth and cooked in the traditional steaming style. With such high traffic, you can always be assured of fresh food.

fkisakye@observer.ug