White Pearl Resort 

While many of us are great fans of whole deep fried fish, the average household is ill equipped to cook this kind of fish.  The reason mainly being the requirements of a large deep fryer which is not the kind of cooking gadget one would readily find in most Ugandan homes. Deep-fat frying, like a number of other accomplishments in cooking, is an art in itself ----an art in which experience is the best teacher. A serving of French fried potatoes properly cooked may have lower calorie count than a baked potato served with butter! Also, do bear in mind that fat absorption increases with the length of cooking time as well as the amount of surface exposed to the fat.

Equipment need not be elaborate for equally good French fries can come out of an improvised large cooking pot or karai, as from the latest model electric deep fryer. This is by no means to underestimate the value of the electric deep fryer, which offers the convenience of a built in thermometer; rest assured that these substitutes do a very satisfactory job for small amounts of potatoes for fries, cut pieces of fish fillet, meat or different cuts of chicken, certain vegetables et al. Where things get tricky is when one is doing whole fish which is an entirely different kettle of fish, if you will pardon the pun! If this is the case, then my preferred and sensible option is to visit a specialist in this case Mulungu Landing site that offers an ideal solution though with one caveat; avoid the busy and crowded, raucous and rowdy joints.

Our last experience at Mulungu Fish Fry was in November of last year when we had some visitors from abroad and we spent a horrible afternoon that shall remain indelibly etched in our minds for the foreseeable future. Mulungu Landing Site is synonymous with fresh fish and many people go there in droves for this famed much loved delicacy where they must sell them in tonnes on a daily basis. As good luck would have it we were informed of White Pearl Resort by a good friend who had discovered this off the beaten track place that is entirely bereft of revellers, very quiet and serves whole deep fried fish that is on a par, price and quality wise with those other place in the area. 

Easy to locate, we ended out there on a recent Sunday and were met by a couple of enthusiastic waiters and were amazed at the serenity that greeted us; totally unexpected! What immediately struck us was the total lack of patrons. It must have been approaching 3 pm and ours was the only vehicle in the parking lot. We then proceeded to sit on the lawn and confessedly the plastic chairs had seen better days and the tables were equally dilapidated of which they were no more than a couple of dozen spread out over a wide area.

Despite these unpleasant setbacks, the view of the lake and the islands across from where we sat were a welcome respite and greatly mitigated against the shoddy set up. Of course, I have to give kudos to the DJ who played music from his laptop with just one speaker which allowed us to take in the scene and eat in relative peace and solitude.

There never are menus at these types of joints and the fishmonger cum cook in situ was a chap by the name of Joachim, who dutifully came to our table and informed us of the prices. These ranged between Shs25,000 to around Shs40,000 mark inclusive of fries and a half-hearted salad.

Fellow trencherman and our little five-year -old niece meandered over to kitchen area and selected the top of the range and came back for the long wait. In the meantime, the drinks person came over and explained that for Shs3,000 one gets a whole one litter bottle of mineral water while a soda was a couple of thousand. The fish took what seemed to be an eternity but arrived a good half an hour later and was nothing to write home about, well fried with fries that were mediocre but to be expected.

While the whole seating arrangement is shambolic and a letdown, at least there is tranquility and on the plus side they are putting up a new bar which should be a game changer.   

Place: White Pearl Resort

Rating: OK/so so

Address: Mulungu Fish Landing Site 

Smoke-Free Zone: Not applicable

Recommended items: Whole deep fried fish

Service: Good 

Ambience: Wanting 

Open: Daily from noon till late

Menu: Whole deep fried fish

The Crowd: Hardly any to speak of though we understand that people wend their way their during the afternoon

The Bar: Soda and beer  

The damage: Whole deep fried fish starts at Shs20,000 to around the Shs40,000 mark

Sound level: Good. There is a DJ on the weekend who plays music at a very reasonable sound level

Rating: OK/so so

Parking: Available and very secure

If you go: Every day from midday until late. They do strictly takeaway 

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