A reader asked me for a Mexican food place and it was shocking to realise we didn’t have a review of a Que Pasa meal on here. So here you go anonymous reader. Let’s dive right in, shall we?
Sound
Sizzling fajitas are not humble. This dish announces itself from paces away. You will hear it, everyone will hear it, and they will turn to look at it.
Then you will see the plate bathed in a cloud of smoke.
Imagine the sound a boiling pressure cooker makes, then lower it by a couple of decibels and you will be close. No, not what it sounds like when water is thrown on a hot pan as some might think. Pressure cooker. Trust me.
Smell
If you ordered it with chilli (which we did) everyone will smell it and some will cough, their eyes will tear, the weak ones will step outside…and all this before it even gets to your table.
Sight
This meal is a production I tell you, a smoke and mirrors show couldn’t compare. The downside to writing about food is, you experience a lot of this stuff from behind the lens. I mean the number of clicks that had to happen to appropriately capture the smoke…
Smoke aside, this meal is all about colour. We should have titled this; The colour express.
Have a look:
And then there’s the plate of Tortillas, sour cream, guacamole, salsa and cheese.
It’s quite the presentation, and yet chef Juliet Namatovu who has been cooking at Que pasa for 4 years says it took her no time to adjust to making Mexican cuisine. That’s because, she says, Mexican food is so close to our own Ugandan; beans, meat, vegetables, bananas.
Taste
One of the most surprising tastes was a slight bitterness at the end of the chicken which might have been lime…combined with the slight charring on the fajita pan? It was a welcome addition.
The mix of the slightly sweet peppers and chicken make for a nice combination. Sweet and chicken don’t often go well together.
Now go ahead and merge the flavours by making a wrap. A little bit of everything, or some things. And this is what you will get. A combination of hot spicy chicken and cool guacamole, slightly tangy cheese and sweetish peppers. Take a minute, savour the first bite…
Touch
Or let’s call it texture. The chicken is tender while the peppers have some bite. This lets you experience different ‘consistencies’. In the same way, the cheese is chewy, the guacamole smooth.
Ahhh, firm soft tortilla. Isn’t that what we all want in a tortilla? To be firm enough to do the job of holding everything together but also to be soft? Maybe we ask too much of tortillas. These ones are more than capable, so go ahead and ask them. And should they get finished before you finish your meal, you can always get an extra one for 1,500shs.
What my company thought of the meal?
“I’d like more cheese!”
“The salsa has a kick to it, I like it”.
I myself am a chilli fanatic so i could hardly taste it. But this is what made the meal great to share because then we could dwell on how to describe it instead of discussing the impending New year. I would have struggled to finish this meal on my own.
There’s something about Que pasa. Your thing might be the vibrant colours, Brenda and David whom we have known since Just kicking, the strong and tall Margaritas, the bu potato skin snacks that they just might give you with your drinks if you are lucky and of course the food filled to the brim with flavours and character. Maybe it’s a combination of all that stuff?
Oh, check your teeth for bits before you go.
Eat here when you want to smile through your meal. Fajitas go for 30k.