Where to eat a what in Kigali city

(This story was commissioned by the East African (Travel Supplement). The premier regional  paper finally published published it as Eating Out in the Land of a Thousand Brochettes but they were short of space so they cut out all the good bits. This is the raw version.)

Like in any other city the cost a cup of tea or a snack depends entirely on where one takes it.  A cup of tea at Chez John in downtown Kigali wont cost the same as a cup of tea at the Kigali Serena, One of the best ways to judge the cost of food is by following the cost of a traditional Rwandan Buffet and the cost of Rwanda’s favourite delicacy, inherited from the Belgians, no doubt, the brochette.

“Every meal has beans in it” – a new Kenyan in Kigali

Almost every eatery in Kigali offers buffet style dining. The offerings, always in covered, shiny silver warmers, vary with establishments but include white rice, coloured rice, pilau, fried and boiled bananas, peas, beans, boiled cassava, chicken, beef (fried with oil or fried without), ugali, salads, cassava leaves, cassava ugali (aka kaunga), groundnut soup, and fruit – usually a ripe banana or a tree tomato.

The cost of the buffet per person ranges from as little as little as 900 Rwf at the Rwasco Staff canteen, stabilising at 1200 to 1500 in most downtown eateries and the many “restos” of the cities. At classier establishments like the food court outside Nakumatt, the buffet comes at around 2,000 Rwf. Jus a stone’s throw up the hill, it is 2,500 Rwf at the Blues Café (powered by wifi). There are other establishment however where the buffet costs 3000 Rwf (5USD) or even 4000 Rwf (6.8 USD) at the spectacularly appointed City Valley restaurant tacked a little off the baten path, in Nyabugo, not far from the Nyabugogo cross-border bus terminus..

The hotels have their own buffets too and the cost of a plate ranges from 1500 Rwf at the Isimbi Hotel to 4,500 Rwf  (7 USD) at the Impala They also offer the luxury of a la carte, especially for the foreign guests who are not as fond of the buffet as Rwandans are.

A restaurant called Happy Rwanda offers the best Italian buffet in the city centre for as little as 3500 rwf (6 USD), just like the African buffet at most upper class establishments in the suburbs..

“Welcome to Heaven” – An usher at the entrance of Heaven, a posh restaurant in Kyovu

Few places in town offer a la carte menus. Besides serving the best coffee in Kigali (powered by wifi) Bourbon Coffee also serves juicy burgers, and cakes and sandwitches accompanied by chips. They are situated in the same building as Nakumatt (UTC), MTN Centre in Nyarutarama, and the airport. The food court at UTC building also serves chips and chicken, tea, coffee and sodas besides their Rwandan buffet; so does The Blues Café next door and Simba Restaurant just up the hill in the CogeBanque Building.

An excellent a la carte menu is to be had at Heaven Restaurant in Kyovu, just a few hundred yards from the Central Bank buildings. But the business you take there had rather be worth the price of the meal. Heaven is reassuringly expensive. Down the same road is Republika, an enchantingly pan African setting with a Rwandan slant. The food is great, the prices accommodating.

“If I see another brochette am going to commit ritual suicide on a stake,” anonymous tourist

There are no fast food places in Kigali to speak of. It is possible though, after a long walk, to find an obscure all-yellow kiosk-like food place near BCK Supermarket that makes a decent special omelette. Consisting of eggs fried with onions and tomatoes and chips, it comes in 5 minutes flat and costs 700 Rwf (1.2USD). A few bar and restaurant establishments such as Chez Venant in the city centre also serve this (not quite uniquely) Kigalian delicacy – but not in five minutes, and not at that price.

            Kigali’s and Rwanda’s official snack however, is most decidedly the ubiquitous brochette – bits of goat meat, or chicken or liver or fish alternated with fried onion and tomato and roasted on a stick. They can be eaten with roasted potatoes or chips or or baked bananas or just enjoyed on there own, and cost anywhere between 300 Rwf to 200 Rwf per stick, depending on the vendor. Every establishment with a Kitchen or just a charcoal burner will whip up these delicacies in the fastest time any food can be served in a Kigali establishment – except of course the aforementioned special omelette.

“This goat does not taste like ours” – a Kenyan customer at Car Wash

There are goat roasting places in Kigali but most are not near the city centre and certainly not as advanced as Kenya’s Carnivore or, on the other end of the scale, Kwa Njuguna or Kia Michael in Nairobi.

But there are two places that a Kenyan who can’t wait another day for the usual Nyamchom and mukimo or Ugali or even chips. One is the place called Little Kenya or Car Wash, and the other, a relatively new establishment in Kichukiro called La Place Kagarama, Both places serve –beside the regular brochette and Kinyarwanda buffet, a regular helping of goat ribs or leg for anything between 4000 Rwf (almost 7USD) and 10,000 Rwf (17 USD) depending on the size of the helping. Accompaniments cost extra. These Kenyan joints even serve Kenyan beer and occasionally include chapatti and real ugali in their buffet lunches.

Alimentations and supermarkets

Huge shopping malls and supermarkets are just now making their slow and sure  way into the Kigalian’s shopping conscience. Every neighbourhood has a little shop that sells all sorts of household needs and has a few stools that people can sit on and drink Prinus, Miitzig and Amstel beer at recommended retail prices. At the busier shopping centres like Remera, Nyamirambo, Gikondo and Kimironko, one can find mini supermarkets. The big new entrants, the Kenyan Nakumatt and the Rwandan Simba Supermarkets are the main supermarkets in the city centre. They can not be said to be in real competition because whereas Simba is famous for value, Nakumatt is known for variety and convenience – it is still the only 24 hour supermarket, in this aspect, equal only to the alimentations of a 24/7 section of Nyamirambo called Mirongo Ine.

The Chinese Supermarket T De Mille (T 2000) offers both variety and value, but not as high quality as the bigger two.

“That is expensive, it comes from Kenya,” – a Kigali clothes vendor

Most Kenyans in Kigali kick themselves when they want to buy something they forgot to buy in Kenya ornly to be told it costs more in Kigali. These include things like apparel, accessories, shoes, etc.

Generally, life is more expensive in Kigali than in Nairobi. We couldn’t understand what Kenyas were complaining about when the price of unga hit 120 Kenya shillings. Around the same time, the Kenya shilling equivalent of the same packet of Unga at Nakumatt, was about 185/-!

      

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