When you are no longer wet behind the ears and you are in that phase of your life when stability and cementing relationships are the goals, you start shunning the regular local pubs, where twerking never goes out of fashion.
You have seen it all, you have pulled all-nighters in some dingy Ntinda pub with workmates, you have woken up on the opposite side of town, parked by the roadside with your car side mirrors stolen. You have even woken up in a house full of strangers you happen to have met in the pub the previous night. But you are done with that.
At that point, when you go out, you want to sit in a warm couch, opposite your buddy and have a sensible chat like an adult and get back home at a reasonable hour. Music is barely even a necessity for you to have fun anymore because you are no longer a superficial 20-year-old. Hanging out is more about business, oiling old relationships and general adulting.
A glass of a Long Island or a Scotch or a Martini will be placed in front of you by a charming, well-mannered waiter and a large goblet of expensive ice cream will be handed to your teetotaler date. Gone are the days when it was okay to be served by some shoe-pulling waitress, who thinks her only job is to be a beer-delivery robot.
Regular local pubs are very loud and often rowdy. You can only keep chugging beer endlessly or dance like a maniac because it is impossible to have a conversation in a pub. Screaming in your mate’s ear won’t change anything because they won’t hear you anyway.
You like it chill and quiet. The music, some enchanting tunes from some exotic musicians like Martin Denny will pipe through tiny speakers in the ceiling, barely audibly because true classy hangouts don't need music to sell alcohol.
They have confidence in their top-notch services, their staff are treated like royalty so they can treat you like royalty back and then there is the great food that gets them all the rev reviews online.
That is how it feels like to hang out at Asian Fusion Restaurant at Fairway Hotel.
I first bumped into this restaurant two years ago when a gentleman I was in business with suggested we meet there. Prior to this meeting, I had read about Asian Fusion on Trip Advisor, a hospitality review app popular with tourists. It was listed as one of the most popular restaurants in the country but I did not know or care where it was located.
The gentleman had just come back into the country after many years in the diaspora and he had followed Trip Advisor recommendations to choose it. We chose a place upstairs where we could see Kololo from across the golf course in the valley, shrouded in the orange light of the electric lamps at dusk. It was an enchanting view of Kampala's cityscape.
All around us had been couples looking into each other's eyes lovingly, young tourists taking selfies and tequila shots, and families (large and small) having fancy dinners on fancy tables punctuated by laughter.
The patrons, seating in sofas and cushy swing chairs had been dimly outlined by yellow electric lights hanging from giant bird cage chandeliers suspended from the ultra-high ceilings. I was here for a business meeting but this scene left a mark on me as a place to come for a truly romantic date.
It must be the way the builders merged old trees and architecture to create the exotic ambience. This type of environment just makes you feel at home, because, after all, we all gravitate towards nature.
Sitting in Asian Fusion feels like you are deep in the wild, sitting in a cozy treehouse where reptiles and monkeys can't reach you. And we all know nothing spells romance like a tree house. I was impressed and never forgot how it made me feel. I told myself I’d be back.
The second time I visited Asian Fusion was recently when I went back there with my babe for a date. It was at dusk because I wanted to recreate that first impression, this time without a dude.
We chose a swing sofa on the ground floor, facing the golf course, just like many other couples in the house. If you know any couple that is perpetually in love, they probably have their date nights here. I saw several happy couples here.
Uncharacteristically, I ordered a cocktail, because this is the kind of place where drinking a beer just feels uncultured. Plus, I wanted to taste an original creation from the masters in the house and a beer would not cut it. But secondly, drinking beer at place like Asian Fusion is akin to having posho while dining at a fancy hotel. It makes zero sense, because, you know, you left posho at home. Needless to say, the cocktail (Long Island) was as potent as hell.
So what impression did I come out with? Romantic. There is a way the great ambience merges with the great boutique hotel service to bring a smile to your significant other. This is the place to go with your babe to rekindle your romance.
And one of the things that stands out here is that while it's on a very busy intersection on Yusuf Lule, the area is completely devoid of noise somehow. She’s still smiling by the way. True story.
