We arrived back in Kigali after an amazing 3 day/2 night trek to the northwest to visit the Mountain Gorillas in Volcanoes National Park that was a truly event of a lifetime. We were both finally feeling much better after various ailments (tummy and minor sprain) so headed to HEAVEN here in the capital for a truly delicious meal on our last night.
Everyone here in Rwanda is kind and MORE than friendly and we felt at home within seconds as soon as our server Chanceline introduced herself and was so attentive to everything we asked. I must add that while I was miffed about the wine price 3 nights earlier, the wine list here started at 45$(45000 francs) so the $55 we paid Monday was not crazy. We ordered another $55 bottle of Vonderling Shiraz 2018 "Baldric" from Voor Paardeberg in South Africa. Our beyond brilliant guide here, Ezra, explained there is a huge import tax on wine, so the prices tend to be high. I joked with Chanceline that I wish there was Rwandan wine and she said, "there is banana wine," and proceeded to bring a taste of the after-dinner-liqueur like drink with a super-high alcohol content, smooth, but strong.
We were quite surprised when an amuse of Carrot-Ginger Soup arrived which was superb, although we had a lot of this up north and I had had a superb Spicy Carrot & Tomato Soup for lunch; it is a local staple worth repeating often. Will ordered a starter of Slow Cooked Soup with Chicken, Lemongrass, Ginger and Coconut Cream, that had a nice kick and was super tasty.
For main courses Will chose the Grilled Chick Brochette with Peanut & Turmeric Sauce and a side of French Fried (he passed on the accompanying salad) which he loved. My Rwandan Beef Filet with a Rustic Tara(yam) mash, Sauteed Green Beans all in a Virunga(Rwandan)Beer Brown Butter Sauce and an awesome Cassava Leaf Chimichurri which was easily the best main course we had in the entire trip; even the meat was as tender as could be and cooked to a heavenly medium rare.
We didn't want anymore and were shocked when the whole staff and our guide showed up to sing Happy Birthday to Will(28 hours before his b'day on the 8th) with a chocolate fudge cake and huge sparkler(which did not get onto FB fotos as it burned out so fast!!). What a great treat and a perfect end to our amazing stay here in what could be one of the friendliest countries on earth!!
