In essence, the term fusion cuisine is a catch-all phrase that brings together ingredients from different cultures and combines them into existing recipes. This technique of combining culinary forces can deliver truly new and exciting combinations and outstanding menu offerings unique to the establishment.

The disadvantage of this new culinary school is that there is no universal standard. Fusion foods have a complex history whose origins are not easy to trace. Most likely, this has been around since time immemorial and the two will never meet.

Therefore, it should not be surprising that many dishes that we know to belong to a certain culture actually come from a completely different culinary family.

The best example of this is our Luwombo.

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

Located in Nakasero, Fairway Boutique Hotel 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 in having a diversified menu like that at Asian Fusion is having a consistent and ready market; In this case, this is mitigated by the fact that the restaurant is part of the hotel and has 100 rooms, which leaves little space. I have a suspicion in my mind that most of the residents eat there.

We recently had the pleasure of dining at this beautiful centrally located al fresco and can only marvel at the wonderful detail, attention to detail and overall preparation of the different items.

To start, my favorite Chinese soup of all time has to be the remarkable and much-maligned hot and sour soup, which I was first introduced to in New York’s Chinatown in the 1960s.

Luckily, Fang Fang Chinese Restaurant had a reliable offering, which I was delighted about, but it’s been a missing item on my menu since I closed up shop a few years ago. Memories can never be exact or duplicated, however kudos to the chef for producing a version of ‘chili hot soup’ with just the right amount of flavour, texture, temperature and aroma.

Bok choy is another one of those items that represents the best of Chinese vegetables, and the Asian Fusion restaurant is trusted to bring out the best in the form of stir-fried black mushrooms and garlic sauce. As for the not so exotic but seemingly ordinary, local runners like whole fried fish or goat choomosu, very tender and generous in two portions, can do justice to this.

Asian Fusion Restaurant is a veritable tapestry of many standard flavors fused with a slight touch of spice here and there, keeping in mind not to deviate too much from the original.

If we take Kung Pao chicken as an example, it is laced with a slight sugar that manages to mellow out the famous hot spicy peppers.

The fairest definition of Fusion is to divide it into two categories; Asian Fusion Restaurant, as described above, embraces the subtle nuances of motifs from the culinary field rather than being more precise, which in essence leaves the main recipe without compromising its integrity.

On the other spectrum is the more popular fusion genre like Tex-Mex, where traditional Mexican dishes like beans, meat and cheese are blended with Texas-inspired cooking, such as frying the tacos so they don’t get crunchy.

Hailing from the Gulf of Louisiana, Cajun is another example of the French-inspired cuisine popular in the American South. Finally, we look at Indo-Chinese dishes, where Indian ingredients such as vegetables and spices are combined with various Chinese sauces and thrown into the wok to achieve amazing results.

Address: Fairway Hotel, Kafu Road, Nakasero

Smoke-Free Zone: Strictly prohibited in restaurants and public areas

Recommended items: Hot and Sour soup

Environment: Mostly outdoors

Menu: Various sharing platters like spicy paneer or chilli chicken, guacamole and naan chips, crispy corn, masala chips/garlic. Small snacks like samosas, spring rolls, omelettes and bread, soups like hot and sour. Chicken wings, chicken lollipop. Continent viz. grilled chicken, goat choomo, fried whole fish etc. Including the much-loved traditional tandoori oven, tandoori broccoli. Burgers. Indian curries: paneer tikka masala, aloo gobi. Great American Burger etc.

The Bar: Coffee tea Beer, freshly squeezed juices, smoothies and milkshakes, cocktails and mocktails, spirits, wine and fine wines by the glass and bottle. These include Bordeaux Chateauneuf des Papes Chemin and limited edition champagne.

Damage: Expect to pay at least shs150,000 or more per couple

Rating: Not to be missed

Parking: Available and very safe

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