Plate Cafe’s Underestimated Glory

Do I like good food? Yes, of course I do. Do I like my food well served, fresh and free from reeking fat and oil? Yes, and there is no need to ask any more questions. Plate Café, situated on Bukoto Street, is embodied in convenience, nourishment and affordability for many. It is located at a convenient corner on the infamous NGO Street. Many employees from the IT offices, women’s NGOs and other civil society organizations found on that street just walk down for the daily buffets at only seven thousand shillings.

The food varies from matooke, kalo, vegetable salad, beans, peas, fish, rice, chicken, pumpkin, yam, sweet potato, Irish potato, spinach, beef, and fruit salad. There is always fresh juice and my all time favourite, African tea with entangawuzi. You see, many confuse African tea to mean hot water, tea leaves, powdered milk and powdered spice. Plate Café never makes that mistake. On an average weekday, you will find workers from the nearby offices, parents who have picked up their children from school, small meetings of women and men huddled over their laptops and some students who have come to use the internet café which is also a part of the premises.

Fridays are great days for relaxing, especially if you are more of a quiet type of person and just want to chomp on barbeque delicacies all evening. The chef garnishes the barbeque just sufficient enough for your mouth to water as you make your order and for you to avow to return as soon as is possible. Plate Café also engages in outdoor catering for events and parties. Some of the offices often hire their services during workshops. On Saturdays, it is common for wedding meetings to be held or a wedding entourage to stop by at Plate Café for a quick lunch before the main reception. There are also times when I have found an entourage of a kwanjula, adorned in sequins and silk; taking a bite before their main event.

Plate Café was originally located on Kampala Road, on the same building as former Kampala Pentecostal Church (KPC). Many of the visitors at KPC order breakfast of katogo, a mixture of matooke and offals or matooke and beef. This hearty breakfast is one of the many reasons that make Plate Café so popular. The branch on Kampala Road is always busy with students who like to hang out at church especially during the holidays, with church staff, guests at weddings and general street people. It can take a while to get your order. In general, I prefer the branch on Bukoto Street not only because of their service but because I can arguably say that the food is much better as well.

If a catering can comfortably serve guests at a wedding, then a lot of credit goes to them. We were almost tempted to use their services at our wedding and now I wished that we had. Often in Uganda, the big catering names disappoint at big functions and the word “sorry” seems to elude their vocabulary.

Plate Café  serves both traditional Ugandan food and others like chips and liver, chaps and kebab. There are also the lighter snacks like samosas and chapatti and by the way the samosas are nothing short of heavenly.

Whenever you can, do pass by at Plate Café; my treat.