Review by: Charlie Case

Situated in the quiet suburb of Nakasero, hidden behind Kampala Ballet & Modern Dance School, is Café Ballet which specialises in Caribbean cuisine, fused with African and European cooking styles to make a menu with a difference.

The restaurant is behind the ballet school with well manicured gardens and open walls so one can enjoy the fresh air while listing to the piano in the background drifting across from the ballet school (We were there for lunch and there must have been dances classes taking place). Unfortunately this was later drowned out by Celine Dion – I would have much preferred to have some nice classical music.

The menu is concise with a page for breakfast with all the dishes named after famous ballets with a brief description of where the name came from. The breakfasts are not what you would call typically English – you can have steak, egg and chips, but there is the more authentic Royal Ballet Breakfast, fruit salad, sausages and tomatoes and sautéed potatoes with their signature juice “Ballet Blend” – a mixture of passion, orange, with a hint of ginger and cinnamon. All breakfasts are served with Arabica coffee or tea.

Main course are divided into salads and hot dishes. Salads include “Sweet Charity Island Salad” – a mix of tropical fruits, tomatoes, onions, flakes of tuna all tossed in the chef’s special dressing. I tried the Caesar Chicken salad which came well presented with a tomato rose decorating the top and consisted of a bed of salad topped with hard boiled eggs, olives, pineapple sticks and chicken cooked in Caribbean spices that had quite a kick as the chilli crept out! The crockery and cutlery is also stylish and each table is decorated with a cello shaped flower vase with fresh flowers.

We also tried the “Poulet Bacchanal” – chunks of boneless chicken marinated and cooked in Dijon mustard, cocoanut milk, a mix of special herbs and species and semi ripe papaya. This came with a selection of vegetables and a choice of rice, or boiled Irish potatoes or chips. The chicken was nice and tender and the sauce not as spicy as the chicken on the salad but the vegetables were served a little cold.

The service was very good with our waitress being very prompt in offering us more drinks and checking to see if we were enjoying our meal. Likewise our meal did not take long to arrive, about 20 minutes, and we were served hot home made bread rolls while we waited which is always a bonus in Kampala where you can wait up to an hour for your meal.

Desserts were tempting – the “Sugar Plum Fairy – Pineapple and Guava pie with vanilla ice cream or Mango Fool Frappe’, but we were too full to sample them.

The only criticism I had was that my guest who was wearing high heels found the path to the bathrooms a little hard to navigate with the gaps between the paving stones – although she was very impressed by the cleanliness of the bathrooms.

The menu does have some Caribbean classics such as the “Mildly Jerked Chicken” – chicken marinated in Caribbean spices, roasted slowly in the oven served with plantains and a side salad as well as some rarities in Kampala such as Red Snapper but I will have to go back and try those another day.

As the owner Anthony says “Tubanirizza!” You’re welcome!

Café Ballet is open every day for breakfast, lunch and dinner.

For more Information, please contact:
Café Ballet, 34 Kyadondo Road, Nakasero.
Tel: (041) 4234190
Mobile: +256 752 511661
Email: cafeballet@one2netmail.co.ug