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Asian Fusion Restaurant: a range of standard delicacies

Asian Fusion Restaurant: a range of standard delicacies

At the expense of pedantry, before we delve into our wonderful experience at the Asian Fusion Restaurant at the Fairway Boutique Hotel, a treatise on what fusion cooking is would be entirely appropriate.

Many have come across the term ‘fusion’ floating around in culinary circles, or fusion cuisine in marketing terms, and yet you have little idea of ​​its full meaning.

Essentially, the term fusion cuisine is an umbrella term that brings together ingredients from different cultures and merges them into existing recipes. This technique of joining culinary forces can provide truly new and exciting combinations and extraordinary menu offerings that become unique to the establishment.

The disadvantage of this new cooking school is that there is no universal standard. Fusion food has a complex history whose origins are not easy to trace. In all likelihood it has existed since time immemorial and the twain will never meet.

It should come as no surprise that many dishes that we know belong to one culture actually come from a completely different cuisine family.

The best example of this is our own luwombo.

It is a well-known fact that cooking meat in banana leaves was widely practiced in Southeast Asia many centuries ago, while our own luwombo dates back to around 1887. Spaghetti was perfected by Chinese chefs before being discovered by the Italians .

Fairway Boutique Hotel in Nakasero is one of Uganda’s oldest hotels, dating back to February 1971 when it was opened by His Highness the Aga Khan.

One of the biggest challenges of having a diversified menu, such as that available at Asian Fusion, is having a consistent and ready-made market, which in this case is mitigated by the fact that the restaurant is part of the hotel, which has 100 rooms and leaves little space. I doubt that a large percentage of residents dine there.

We recently had the pleasure of dining at this beautiful centrally located alfresco establishment and we can only marvel at the wonderful detail of attention and overall preparation of various items.

For starters, my all-time favorite Chinese soup has to be the remarkable and much-maligned hot and sour soup, which I was first introduced to in New York’s China Town in the 1960s.

Luckily, Fang Fang Chinese Restaurant did a credible rendition, much to my delight, but since I closed the shop a few years ago, it has been missing from my menu. Yet memories can never be exact or replicated. Kudos to the chef for producing a variation of ‘hot pepper soup’ with just the right amount of flavour, body, heat and aroma.

Bok choy is another one of those items that personifies the best of Chinese vegetables and trusts the Asian Fusion restaurant to bring out the best in the form of stir-fried black mushrooms and garlic sauce. Moving on to the not so exotic but seemingly mundane, the local runners like the whole fried fish or the goat muchomo are ever so tender and generous in portions that two can do it justice.

Asian Fusion Restaurant is a veritable tapestry of many standard delicacies fused here and there with a subtle touch of spice, taking into account not to stray too far from the original.

Taking Kung Pao chicken as an example, it is laced with just a hint of sugar, which tempers the hot, spicy peppers it is known for.

The fairest description of Fusion is to divide it into two categories viz. the Asian Fusion Restaurant, as described above, and rather than being more definitive, it embraces subtle nuances of motifs from the culinary arena, which essentially leave the main recipe with its integrity uncompromised.

On the other hand, there is the more popular type of fusion, such as Tex-Mex, which is a mix of traditional Mexican foods such as beans, meat and cheese with Texas-inspired cooking methods, such as deep-frying tacos so they don’t become crispy.

Cajun native to the Bayous of Louisiana is another example of the French-inspired cuisine popular in the American South. Finally, we look at Indo-Chinese, where they use aspects of Indian food such as vegetables and spices, which are combined with a range of Chinese sauces and thrown into a wok achieving amazing results.

Address: Fairway Hotel, Kafu Road, Nakasero

Non-smoking zone: Strictly prohibited in restaurants and public areas

Recommended items: Hot and sour soup

Atmosphere: mainly outdoors

Menu: An assortment of share plates such as chili paneer or chili chicken, guacamole and naan chips, crispy corn, masala chips/garlic. Small snacks including samosas, spring rolls, omelette and bread, soup such as hot and sour. Chicken wings, chicken lollipop. Continental i.e. grilled chicken, goat-velemo, fried whole fish et al. From the tandoori oven including the beloved traditional tandoori, tandoori broccoli. Burgers. Indian curries: paneer tikka masala, aloo gobi. The Great American Burger etc.

The Bar: Coffee tea Beer, freshly squeezed juice, smoothies and milkshakes, cocktails and mocktails, spirits, wine by the glass and by the bottle, as well as premium wines. These include Bordeaux Chateauneuf des Papes Chemin and a limited selection of champagne.

The damage: Expect to pay at least Shs150,000 per pair or more

Rating: Not to be missed

Parking: available and very safe

REVIEWS: Not to be missed, worth a visit, okay, don’t waste your time.