Arches Cafe and Bar is the bar and restaurant arm of Arches Holdings, the hospitality group behind the Arches Building, Arches Gardens and Kedbag Apartments. It cooks across the whole day, starting with breakfasts of eggs, sausage, toast and tea or coffee, then moving into a menu that spans Ugandan street-food favourites and international comfort classics.
The Choma Zone is the centrepiece: marinated grilled chicken, pork and goat skewers, slow-cooked ribs and charcoal-roasted chicken, served the traditional way with the salad of the day and cassava or roasted matoke. Around it sit traditional boiled dishes, wet-fried pan classics, prime steaks, Lake Victoria tilapia, burgers, pizzas, pastas, curries and sharing platters built for two or four.
The bar holds its own, with whiskies, cognacs, gins and cream liqueurs, red, white and sparkling wines, classic cocktails and house originals like the Arches Nitro and a Signature Pitcher for the table.
Arches Cafe and Bar wears two hats and wears them well. It is the restaurant arm of Arches Holdings — the hospitality group behind the Arches Building, Arches Gardens and Kedbag Apartments — and it is a proper bar, with a backbar of whiskies, cognacs and gins and a cocktail list that mixes worldwide classics with house originals. The kitchen, meanwhile, cooks across the whole day: breakfast with eggs and sausage in the morning, charcoal smoke off the grill by afternoon, and platters big enough for a full table at night.
Start with the rolex, Uganda's beloved street-food roll. The classic Ugandan Rolex wraps a fluffy egg omelette and coleslaw inside Arches' signature homemade flavoured chapati; the Chicken or Beef Rolex adds marinated chicken or seasoned beef with fresh tomatoes, onions and coleslaw, and the Rolex Combo piles it all into one generous parcel.
The Choma Zone is where the grill does the talking. Grilled chicken comes marinated in the kitchen's signature spice blend; pork choma arrives as two skewers of succulent meat; goat choma is dry rubbed, smoked and glazed with barbecue sauce. There are pork ribs slow cooked with a sweet-and-sour rub, double-cut pork chops — including a Hawaii style grilled over charcoal with pineapple and Sauce Robert — and half or whole chicken roasted slowly over the coals to the chef's perfection. Choma plates come the traditional way, with the salad of the day and cassava or roasted/boiled matoke.
The menu reaches well beyond the coals. The Traditional Cuisines section is the heart of the house: whole jumbo fish boiled in Grandma's clear broth with a light, dietician-inspired relish, and Ugandan local chicken or goat boiled in a gentle, refreshing soup.
For meat lovers there are wet-fried hot pan dishes — sauteed pork or goat by the half kilo or full kilo, liver simmered with onions and tomatoes, and beef stir-fried with seasonal vegetables — all served with matoke or posho, Irish potato or French fries, salad or greens and a slice of avocado. Elsewhere you will find prime steaks (a 220g pepper sauce fillet, a 250g T-bone with garlic butter), Lake Victoria tilapia fried or grilled, crispy chicken and buffalo-style BBQ wings, Indian-style curries and tikka masala, sizzling plates, a Pasta Glories section from spaghetti bolognese to carbonara, and a full pizza list topped with everything from mozzarella and basil to minced beef and oregano.
Arches thinks in platters. The Arches Mixed Grill Platter for two loads the table with chicken, sausage skewers, a pork skewer, a goat skewer and meat samosas alongside homemade fries and salad; the Mighty Hungry Four scales it up with half a chicken, four beef samosas, four sausages and double skewers. Every entree comes with a choice of mashed or parsley potatoes, French fries, rice and seasonal vegetables.
Daytimes are looked after too. The Continental Breakfast pairs eggs of your choice and a sausage with toast and tea or coffee, while the Arches Special Breakfast adds juice, beef sausages, saute potatoes and a fruit. Salads run from a fresh garden bowl to the avocado-topped Arches King's Avocado Flank and Swahili kachumbari, and dessert is a fruit platter, a fruity melba, or ice cream and milkshakes for the table.
The drinks list is as considered as the kitchen. Whisky drinkers can choose Jack Daniel's, Johnnie Walker Black Label or Chivas; there is Martell VSOP and Hennessy for cognac lovers; Gilbeys and Gordons alongside the local UG gins; Smirnoff Red, Absolut and Ciroc on the vodka shelf; and Baileys, Amarula and Jagermeister for slower nights. Wine comes from KWV, Nederburg and Robertson, with JP Chenet, Freixenet Prosecco and Belaire Rose for toasts.
The cocktail list covers the classics — Cosmopolitan, Espresso Martini, White Russian, Daiquiri, Caipirinha, Margarita, Long Island Iced Tea, Mojito and Whisky Sour — before arriving at the House Specials: the passion-fruit-laced Arches Nitro, the Scotch-and-pineapple Arches @ 4, the proudly local So UG with a splash of beer, the Day by Day Margarita and the Ginger Giggle Sour. There is even a Signature Pitcher made for sharing.
Vegetarians have genuine options here, from vegetable samosas and spring rolls to the vegetable curry, Pomodoro pasta and a fully loaded Vegetarian Pizza. Opening hours are not published on the website, so it is worth checking with the venue or enquiring through Arches Holdings before setting out. Come hungry, bring company, and let the chapati, the coals and the cocktail shaker do the rest.