Time is 7: 00 O’clock in the evening; the place, Carnival Restaurant, located on Katalima Crescent, North of Kampala in the uptown Naguru Suburb.
This is a spot unlike any other for food lovers, especially the carnivorous of my kind. Their steak game is precisely what is advertised.
Ambling through the dimly lit corridors in the somewhat chilly evening, one cannot help admire the beautiful designs, complete with an African touch.
Reddish-orange lights as darkness invades, give the hanging animal portraits a mesmerizing transformation.
At the entrance, I am warmly welcomed by a smartly dressed waiter with a passion juice glass as I make way to the dinning.
The writer tackles sticks of buffalo meat
In the dining area, different tables have different themes of different Ugandan cultures and animals. At the center, stands a large podium where a dance group takes us though nonstop folk performances.
The Carnival was the venue of a media party hosted by phone company Huawei.
Dinner started with waiters taking us through their exclusive menu. The restaurant serves different kinds of meat, but also fish for the lacto-ovos.
With the night themed “The Great King Gorilla,” every guest was handed a tiny guerilla figurine, which they had to keep upright for as long they needed more meat. If they had enough, they would simply flip the tiny ape upside down.
Performers entertaining the guests
For the most of the night the meat served was largely the conventional beef, chicken, goat’s meat, pork, sausages and then…. crocodile and buffalo meat.
The mention of the last two immediately aroused both my appetite and fretful inquisition.
First I wanted to know where Carnival was getting crocs and buffalo to slaughter for their customers.
It must not be our endangered national parks and game reserves, I hoped; and a waiter was at hand with reassurance that this kind of meat is imported.
So, after downing piece by piece, our usual goat and beef, an announcement came in that the next rounds would include crocodile.
Most of my colleagues of the journalist fraternity immediately fretted and chickened out. But not me; I was not about to let this rare opportunity pass.
Crocodile meat has an aroma of fish and in fact tastes like fish only that it has a bigger muscle and…yes, tastes much better.
Next, buffalo came passing by and I waved. Unlike the croc, it tasted exquisitely salty and crunchy at the same time.
The waiters made endless rounds until we couldn’t have no more. My gorilla figurine eventually flipped.
By and large, this was truly a night of amazing experience.