Grilled sea food platter at Yujo

It has been a busy couple of months for 4foodssakeeat, from attending and presenting at the AGRF in Tanzania, to hosting a food communication workshop with Artlink and Global Landscapes forum. There has been little time to write about the meals I eat, but also, i haven’t really been eating so many things that i felt excited enough to write about. It took a special meal to push me to do this and it makes sense that it would be from Yujo. One of the first reviews I ever wrote 4 years ago was on Yujo’s then Yatai lab. I had noodles and learned to use chop sticks. I have since forgotten.

This time, I opted for the sea food platter.

I don’t know if it is being born in a land locked country or if it is something else but sea food has always been foreign to me. Something that I see in media but don’t really consider ordering. On this day I was feeling adventurous so I went for the grilled sea food platter. I arrived famished so I was happy to receive the vegetable starter.

All raw, with a mix of different vegetables and a shaving of something gingery and sweet, the starter was not too heavy, not too light, it was just right. It was also refreshing on a hot day. Most importantly, it prevented me from wolfing down my food when it arrived.

Sight

Beauty! I mean look at that.

Can I just say that I love the colour palette here? Yellows, browns, oranges, amber. This platter has prawns, calamari and for a truly Ugandan touch, Nile perch.

It is served on a bed (yes I said that) on a bed of green and orange vegetables and garnished with some spring onion. I could imagine the chef sprinkling some sim sim seeds with the flourish of salt bae. The deep red flower was a beautiful touch too.

I also got a bowl of rice and butter sauce which I did not eat because it was just too rich for me. Later, the server told me I was supposed to pour the sauce over the dish. Who knew? Nevertheless, my meal was great without it.

Taste

Like I said in the beginning, it has been a while since a meal made me feel this good. I mean, I was smiling, I was imagining what I would write, to the point that I took no notes.

Texture

I think this is what made this meal so interesting. The Nile perch had one texture, firm on both the inside and outside, the prawns another, crackly on the outside and soft on the inside. The calamari, I had never had it before, I found to have the texture of non-overly ripe fene. You know, firm. Some would say rubbery, I loved it.

The vegetables were al dente, firm and crunchy but not raw. In the midst of all this, the rice, which itself was well done and moist was almost forgotten.

Now about the portions. This meal was big. I ordered the small size at 65k but i ate, I was satisfied and packed some of everything to take home. I think you might be able to share this but I can only speak for my own appetite.

Eat this meal when you want to surprise yourself.

PS: Despite all this sea food and fish, i did not walk away smelling fishy…