What to eat Uganda? culinary specialties and gastronomy

Restaurant opening times can be adapted to suit all tastes... Establishments serving breakfast generally open between 5:30 and 9 a.m., while their counterparts, devoted exclusively to the preparation of lunches and dinners, welcome their first customers around 11. In the evening, most curtains are down between 10 and 11 pm. However, some restaurateurs play for longer. You'll sometimes find the door closed on Mondays or, more rarely, on Sundays. Finally, a handful of restaurants close between lunch and dinner.

The price range for sustenance starts at around 2,000 Ush (US$ 0.5) and ends at around 130,000 Ush (US$ 35). Eating local dishes in markets, pork joints and small restaurants, you should expect to pay between 2,000 and 25,000 Ush for a full meal... For fine dining in upscale establishments, expect to pay between 25,000 and 50,000 Ush for a main course. Takeaway sales and home delivery, mainly provided by Jumia Food (www.jumia.ug), are offered by a significant number of Kampala restaurants. In the provinces, to a much lesser degree, only the towns of Jinja and Entebbe have followed the capital's lead in these services.

An extra charge? Yes, in some restaurants, side dishes such as rice are not included in the price of the dishes on the menu.

Eat a posho the way it should be eaten, i.e. with your fingers, in a boui-boui. Enjoy a skewer of grilled meat(muchomo) in a pork joint. Sipobushera, the traditional beer, in the company of locals. Gulp down a hearty katogo at bedtime. Nibbling a rolex on the side of the road. Ask a local for advice on buying grasshoppers to fry up and gobble down. Attack a hearty matooke... If you complete these culinary missions, you'll soon be the Ugandan bazungu! The icing on the cake: the above-mentioned treats are cheap!

As in cafés and discotheques, smoking is strictly prohibited in restaurants. Offenders are liable to up to two months' imprisonment or a fine of US$80.

This section is particularly difficult to write, as pubs and cafés have very different opening and closing times. Zincs open either in the morning, at midday or in the early evening (5pm). In the middle of the day, especially on weekdays, they are often deserted. On the other hand, they come alive at the end of the day, especially at weekends (some are closed on Sundays and/or Mondays). Happy hours are sometimes organized (the 5-7pm slot is the most commonly used for this purpose). Cafés, where non-alcoholic drinks (tea, coffee, fruit juices, etc.) and pastries are popular, are generally open from 8am until late afternoon, or even until 10pm. Unlike bars, these establishments are mostly open during the day. Several establishments close on Sundays.

The sale of alcohol to minors (under 18) is forbidden in all drinking establishments. Most bars accept accompanied children and teenagers.

Smoking is officially prohibited in cafés and pubs. Offenders face up to two months' imprisonment or a US$80 fine. Notwithstanding this prohibition, some bar owners and managers offer their customers hookahs...