My Ugandan Story: 5 hangout places you must visit when in Uganda

My Ugandan Story: 5 hangout places you must visit when in Uganda

By Awat Lynette

You can doubt many things when in this country. In fact, you are warranted to be angry at most things, from the dusty roads of Kampala to the politics of this country. Heck, how did I forget to mention the Ugandan government and most of the decisions it makes, add that too!

 But there is one thing you can trust about this country and its people, hanging out or as many call it “eating money”.  When it comes to hanging out, eating, and spending money that we both have and don’t, the one factual thing about us is, we love ourselves some good time juxtaposed with food and drinks at all kinds of fancy places. I for one, food is always bae, any day, anytime.

It is from this love for food that I birthed a #DineWithMe segment on my Instagram page where I bring you with me to places with great ambiance and delicious food or as the Spanish call it “deliciosa comida”. Take a second and check it out, you won’t regret the few minutes of your life.

 This quote from Virginia Woolf’s A Room of One’s Own, “One cannot think well, love well, sleep well if he hasn’t dined well”, says it all. Food is important and where you dine from matters. One of the other things that I like to look out for while I visit places is the ambiance; there is an aura that a well-designed, clean, themed, space exudes. The serenity and the breeze in such places calms my mind and makes me feel safe. Uganda is truly gifted with beautiful spaces and minds that put them together, so come with me to the best five hangout places that I have visited in Kampala.

The Dancing Cup (71, Luthuli Avenue, Bugolobi)

My friend and I wanted to have breakfast and I googled breakfast places (yeah, google is my friend) in Bugolobi and the Dancing Cup was among the options. I honestly chose it because of its unique name and, boy, I must say, I wasn’t disappointed at all. My heart danced. According to me, the ambiance was European inspired and got me hooked from the moment I stepped in. It had an open-air in-market going on like those things we see in the movies – where Brad Pit goes to the local market and buys groceries with Jennifer Aniston, Hahaha! The waitresses had polished accents which added to the European themed ambiance. The food was so exotic. The bill wasn’t presented your normal way, it was brought in a cup, a mug, how unique? I am definitely visiting this place again.

Wild Coffee Bar (7th Street, Industrial Street)

The name of this place rhymes with its environment.  It is designed with actual thriving plants and a few hanging bushes and flowers. Forget the biblical burning bush, just imagine a wild bush in town with yellow lights. Chairs – stools and tables made of purely wood – which makes them look like off-cuts of huge trees. Literally, when you sit in this place, you feel the history and life of the trees from which this wood was cut. From the sweet sound of birds to howling wolves.  No doubt, the touch to this place surely has a great mind behind it. The coffee and food were amazing but mainly coffee. By the way, when you are going there, carry along a great person with you so you can have good Koffee and Konversations (see what I did there, check out my friend`s podcast.

Café Javas

This has been a buzz on our potholed Kampala roads for quite some time. I love that that I can walk into Café Javas at any time and have a meal at a friendly price. Word on everyone’s mouth is that “ka quantity and quality keko”. I am yet to know any other place that has mastered the art of good customer service like Café Javas. This gives it a cutting edge over all these other local places. Also, many Ugandans like to hang here because of its accessibility, it has quite a number of branches around Kampala.

Serena Kigo

Now let me be a little honest here, this isn’t y(our) usual place, its prices are on the higher side but it’s totally worth it.  I had a brunch meeting here at the peak of the COVID-times – not that it’s gone – and all. We got sanitized about ten times from the entrance to when we sat down at our table. The ambiance of Serena Kigo is simply breathtaking with the view of Lake Victoria. This place screams fresh and calm vibes all the way.

Capital Kitchen (Global Kitchen)

  This place is located in the heart of Kampala making it very accessible to everyone. The place is really affordable if you want to eat out and have some fancy food. They serve a variety of dishes both local and international cuisines. I have had both breakfast and lunch in this place and I have enjoyed all my meals. There’s not much I love about the ambiance apart from the fact that when you sit down, you see greater Kampala and Kampala road itself.

Are you in need of a three course meal at only UGX 25,000? Capital Kitchen is your place. Treat yourself today.

Awat Lynette is a blogger and computer science graduate. She is passionate about photography and journalism. This passion pushed her to start a blog and a YouTube channel that focus on and highlight some real life experiences as well as space and travel reviews.

7 thoughts on “My Ugandan Story: 5 hangout places you must visit when in Uganda

  1. Thanks Lynnette for that s/o, it’s a whole vibe. Am never over Javas breakfast and sandwiches, like ever. Haven’t been to Kigo but I heard that their brunch is delish. Thanks for taking us places😊😊

    1. Javas has a special place in my heart as well. I dream of a day when I will visit Serena Kigo and experience it for myself.

    1. Wild coffee bar is a must visit for me too. And I agree, it would be a good space for content creators to hangout and all.

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