Papaz Spot & Restaurant

When it comes to dining out in relative comfort and style on local food in and around Kampala, I can think of merely two handful of joints worthy of mention, which happen to be located within Kampala and its environs.

Included in this list would be Uhuru Restaurant in Mengo, Jikoni Restaurant, Clement Hill Road, 2 K Restaurant on Hoima Road between Bakuli and Nakulabye, St Anthony in Nakasero, Feedrite in Kamwokya, Shaka Zulu, Bugolobi, All Sisters Restaurant in Ndeba, Baguma NP in Nakasero and to this list we are pleased to add Papaz Spot and Restaurant owned by the legendary crooner, Mesach Semakula. No doubt there exists a plethora of other establishments which in many cases prepare and serve excellent local food but unfortunately all too often are let down by a dodgy environment and ambiance, questionable loos etc.

Papaz Spot and Restaurant opened its door some four years ago and we have been meaning to check out their food and finally got around to doing so last month and we are glad to report that all is well. First impressions are always important, and if I were a betting man, from the outset the place does not appear to be anything to write home about. Matters are not helped by smoke emanating from logs near the entrance, presumably rendering dining downstairs not a wise option. As it turned out we were ushered upstairs where we sat in a dreary veranda that could have been enlivened with some form of decorations such as plants and flower pots which would have given the place a more appealing outlook. Similarly, the menu appeared to be somewhat threadbare with a more attractive, artistic and inviting menu greatly wanting. These are not the kind of things that cost an arm a leg (besides being a one off capital expenditure) and yet, in one fell swoop they would enhance the image of the place immeasurably.

While on the subject, and not to beat a dead horse, do away with those awful glaring typos such as ‘grevy’ ‘gnuts’ and rather than stating ‘and banana’ I stand corrected if I am wrong, but who in their right mind  would eat a banana (yikes) with roasted chicken or goat muchomo, mention roasted or grilled whole matooke. On the plus side, the serving staff appear to be attentive, polite and well informed.

Moving on, a cursory look at the menu and one is immediately struck at the reasonableness of their prices leaving one to wonder whether or not they would live up to what they promised! To our absolute delight the food arrived within no time and the matooke was indescribably superb and mabobezze ddala.  Fellow trencherman was bowled over with the ground nut sauce in luwombo and my chicken luwombo was very good.

The sausages for our little niece Amani were not pan fried which was not surprising while the fries were no doubt already fried and then dipped into oil when the order was made. Again, this could easily be averted by using the twice fried method. Anyway, the little girl was none the wiser and was as happy as a lark. Papaz Spot has great prices, offers good local food with first class service but they need to create a better ambiance and print a new menu and customers are bound to be even more impressed.

Place: Papaz Spot & Restaurant

Address: Lukuli Road, Makindye 

Smoke-Free Zone: Applicable 

Recommended items: Their matooke is absolutely tops

Service: Good 

Ambience: Room for improvement 

Open: Open 24 hours

Menu: Snacks: Plain chips Shs7,000, chips and liver Shs17,000, chips and chicken shs Shs17,000, chips and whole fish Shs 37,000, 2 sausages and chips Shs12,000, roasted chicken served with salads (sic) and banana (sic), baked whole fish served with chips Shs30,000, goat muchomo served with banana (sic). All local food: Fresh fish Shs20,000, dry fish Shs20,000, whole fish with fries Shs40,000, pasted (sic) fish shs 20’000, goat’s meat grevy (sic) Shs20,000, goat’s meat box Shs20,000, chicken  luwombo Shs16,000, goat meat stew Shs20,000, gnuts (sic) plain shs Shs10,000

The Crowd: Middle class locals from the area along with others who are prepared to drive to Makindye and get good food that offers good value for money.         

The Bar: Soda, beer and wine

The damage: A couple can get by within the range of shs Shs40,000 to shs Shs50,000 or less depending on what you choose to eat and that should include a drinks

Sound level: Good

Rating: Worth a visit 

Parking: Available and very secure

If you go: They are open every day and there is also a car washing bay

RATINGS: Not to be missed, worth a visit, OK/so so, don’t waste your time.