Ugandan restaurant makes big business

By Joseph Batte
When I learnt I would be traveling to Burundi, the question that instantly popped up in my mind was: what food do they eat? I knew how my stomach reacts to strange food.

On arrival in Bujumbura I tried a Burundi meal which had been prepared with amamesa (palm oil). But, the sumptuous meal completely disturbed my feeble stomach.

What surprised me was that my colleagues, gobbled everything on their plates and vowed to go back for more. However good the Barundi prepare their meals, I swore I would not touch it, save its delicious fish called Mukeke.

Ugandan ladies working at the restaurant serving another Ugandan customer (right)

Relief came through our weird, bubbly Congolese taxi driver Leopold Stop Baaba. He did not only seem to take pleasure from bullying other road users but also bragged that he knew Bujumbura like the back of his hands. “There is a Ugandan restaurant here. It is in a place called Buyenzi.”

A Ugandan Restaurant in Bujumbura? Are you sure? What would a Ugandan restaurant be doing in a far off place like this where the main language spoken was Kirundi, French, and a crude version of Swahili as is spoken by Congolese?

“Take us there,” we told our Congolese driver. He zoomed to Buyenzi like he was possessed by speed demons. Very soon, a tin-roofed building with big letters that screamed out ‘Baganda Restaurant, Restaurant Ougandais.’

Inside the place was packed with clients. Video clips of Ugandan musicians like Jose Chameleone, his brother Clever J, Mariam Ndagire pumped from the speakers. Beautiful Baganda girls took orders in Luganda, English and Kirundi.

The Restaurant Ougandais is one of the first investments by a Ugandan businessman in Burundi. It was opened in November last year by Adam Kalanzi, a businessman from Kyazanga in Masaka at the prodding of his fellow businessmen.

“We used to have only one meal in a day because all the shops would closed by 3:30 pm (4:30Ugandan time). “We also had problems with local dishes. All the food here is fried with amamesa. My colleagues craved for our food and the way it is prepared. Although Barundi also grow matooke and enjoy it, they don’t prepare it the we do back home. They don’t know how to peel matooke. They are amazed when they see us do so, tie it up and then mush it into a paste.

They don’t know how to prepare chicken stew. They deep fry it. Their best meal is ugali made from cassava flour. Their other favourite delicacy is a vegetable dish made from cassava leaves which is called ekisamu.

“At Restaurant Ougandais we cook all kinds of foods using the Ugandan system which we are teaching to our brothers and sisters in Burundi. The most surprising thing, is our Barundi customers prefer our food to theirs now. We work from Monday to Sunday. We open at 7:00 am and close late in the night. As a result our business has grown and we are now thinking of expanding.

A Ugandan Restaurant in Bujumbura? Are you sure? What would a Ugandan restaurant be doing in a far off place like this where the main language spoken was Kirundi, French, and a crude version of Swahili? “Take us there,” we told our Congolese driver. He zoomed to Buyenzi like he was possessed by speed demons. Very soon, a tin-roofed building with big letters that screamed out ‘Baganda Restaurant, Restaurant Ougandais.’

Inside the place was packed with clients. Video clips of Ugandan musicians like Jose Chameleone, his brother Clever J, Mariam Ndagire pumped from the speakers. Beautiful Baganda girls took orders in Luganda, English and Kirundi.

The Restaurant Ougandais is one of the first investments by a Ugandan businessman in Burundi. It was opened in November last year by Adam Kalanzi, a businessman from Kyazanga in Masaka at the prodding of his fellow businessmen.

“We used to have only one meal in a day because all the shops would closed by 3:30 pm (4:30 Ugandan time). “We also had problems with local dishes. All the food here is fried with amamesa. My colleagues craved for our food and the way it is prepared. Although Barundi also grow matooke and enjoy it, they don’t prepare it the we do back home,” he says.

Their best meal is ugali made from cassava flour. Their other favourite delicacy is a vegetable dish made from cassava leaves which is called ekisamu.

“At Restaurant Ougandais we cook all kinds of foods using the Ugandan system which we are teaching our brothers and sisters in Burundi. The most surprising thing, is our Barundi customers prefer our food to theirs now. We work from Monday to Sunday. We open at 7:00 am and close late in the night. As a result our business has grown and we are now thinking of expanding,” he adds.