Latitude 0 is high Degrees

For James Lightfoot, the co-founder and owner of The Latitude Hotels Group that operates in Malawi, Zambia and Uganda it was sheer bad luck that the Latitude Hotel in Uganda happened to have opened their doors just when Covid-19 began to rear its ugly head.    

Amongst the most affected areas, by the recent Covid-19 pandemic, was the hospitality industry. Not to mention the attendant curfew that meant fewer hours of operations. Naturally, when you have a curfew, it means that one has less time to spend quality time with friends away from home as well as dining out and taking in recreational activities. 

Notwithstanding, every cloud has a silver lining and as it turned out the curfew that was put in place by the Covid-19 pandemic was the curfew; well to do revelers, party animals and tipplers decided to converge there frequently until early morning. 

Recently in the company of some friends from abroad we decided to check out the Latitude O Degrees restaurant that is situate in the Latitude Hotel which is to be found in Makindye on 12 acres of land and offers a panoramic and breath-taking view. and all in all we were favorably impressed with food, service and the whole set up and layout of the hotel. There is no doubt that a lot of thought went into the design and planning of the menu.

For starters, there is the soup of the day which in this case was a sublime pumpkin soup and paprika niblets with a subtle hint of sweet potatoes which much to my delight out worked rather well. Over to the hors d’oeuvres, and one is more than spoilt for choice.

The Latitude Garden salad is a case in point. Brimming with a blend of lettuce coupled with a bounty of fresh garden veggies including carrots, onions, cucumber, tomatoes, mangoes in season etc. Or how about those wonderful honey pepper chicken wings with just the right taste of pepper? We noticed the recommended chef’s add-ons and were bowled over with the streaky bacon which was far from being over salted as is often times the norm.

The desserts are equally enterprising and inviting. Fancy a fabulous tiramisu or a chocolate mousse. How about a rare to find chocolate Guinness cake? Of course, there is also a potpourri of mini cakes such as black forest, carrot cake, chocolate fudge and naturally a medley of seasonal fresh fruits. 

An interesting observation we found at the Latitude Restaurant is the ‘Heritage menu’ which offers rarely found at such high-end hotels as this one allowing one to sample some interesting and tasty runners. These included ‘Enkoko ya suppu’ as well as ‘enkoko entokosse’ which are favorites among the Baganda. They both share a common denominator in that they use range chickens as opposed to the more common broilers and by any stretch of the imagination are far tastier than the norm. They also feature whole deep-fried tilapia as well as the whole baked version. Slow roasted pork is another one of those much-loved items that you will find.

We ordered The Latitude BBQ Platter which offers a bounty of succulent pork ribs, grilled beef fillet and a half barbeque chicken and what a tour de force! Our request for the meat to be seasoned with little salt was adhered to and we thoroughly enjoyed the meat. 

The menu offering at the Latitude Hotel is an extraordinary well thought out affair with a huge variety from which to choose. Whoever is in situ in the kitchen seems to be very talented and in the know and ensures that the results are a dazzling and scintillating culinary offering. As for the service, the waiting staff are tops and make you feel like a million bucks! 

Our Rating: Not to be missed 
The Place: Latitude O Degrees 
Address: 64 & 66 Kyadondo, Mobutu Road, Kampala
The Space: Latitude O Degrees restaurant 
The Crowd: The middle-class Ugandans and expats 
The menu: Salads: The Latitude Garden salad, grilled vegetable salad, Thai beef salad, grilled harissa chicken salad, shrimp and avocado salad ranging from shs 40’000 to shs 49’000. Hot appetizer; Soup of the day, Nile fish cakes, honey pepper chicken wings: Chef’s recommended add-ons: seared chicken breast, seared beef filet, streaky bacon, avocado, extra cheese. Crafted Latitude sandwiches: Oyster mushroom & avocado, the Latitude beef burger, chicken burger, chicken and avocado sandwich, grilled halloumi burger 
The Bar: A variety of wines and spirits, beer, juice and soda 
The damage: shs 300’000 plus including some wine by the glass which is very dear plus shs 20’000 for the waiter.
Sound level: Peter and the Band are a jazz trio who play discreetly in the background.
Parking: Abundant  
Smoke free zone: Strictly disallowed. 
What we liked: The incredible variety and the consistent quality of the food.
If you go: Daily.

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

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.