Rating:

There aren’t many dining options near our office. On the days that we don’t bring our own lunch we have our choice of the cafeteria (located in the atmospheric parking garage), overpriced delivery, or two restaurants within walking distance.  Nanjing is one of those two restaurants, a Chinese place located inside of a motel about 2 blocks away.

Our first meal at Nanjing was quite memorable. We ordered ma po tofu, and “chicken with red and green chilies.” The waitress warned us that the chicken was “very spicy”, but we insisted that we like spicy food. She gave us a skeptical look and went ahead with the order. We relaxed on our balcony table, and enjoyed complimentary salted peanuts with our tea.

When the main course arrived, the ma po tofu was somewhat spicy, with a sauce that resembled a thick hot and sour soup. The chicken with chilies looked like a plate of stir fried green chilies. There were no red chilies to be found, and only a handful of green onions and chicken among the mass of spiciness. We were indeed warned, but nothing could quite prepare me for the experience of uninhibited chili-ness. We made a small dent in the chilies over lunch, and proceeded to make spicy omelets and stir-fries with the leftovers for the rest of the week.

Our second trip to Nanjing was a bit of a letdown. We had a forgettable chicken and peppers dish that was chewy and way too salty, and a hot and sour fish that was only ok (and also fairly salty). The staff were still nice, but the combination of high prices and mediocre food put a damper on the experience. Lauren and I decided that if we were to return, we would stick to our original lucky choices, and make sure to bring the camera for the chilies (which we unfortunately forgot during our first trip).

We didn’t actually manage such a return trip until yesterday’s team lunch. we re-ordered the dishes that had made an impression on us during our original visit, and our co-workers added an assortment of favorites from chicken with black bean sauce, to kung pao chicken. This time the chicken with chilies indeed had both red and green chilies (and a higher chicken-to-chili ratio), making it slightly less spicy but also more photogenic. A few of our co-workers enjoyed the ma po tofu, but only one was brave enough to try the chicken and chilies. His assessment: “I’ll let you know when my tongue stops burning”…and that was after a conscious decision to have a chicken-only bite!

Overall Nanjing has decent Chinese food with a few stand-outs, friendly wait-staff, and occasional misfires. While I wouldn’t recommend traveling across Kampala for Nanjing, it’s a relaxing place for a leisurely meal if you are in the neighborhood.

Ma po tofu

Stir-fired chicken with vegetables

Major spiciness: chicken with red and green chilies

Nanjing Restaurant
Plot 15, Impala Avenue
Kololo, Kampala, Uganda
+256 (0)414 340 928