Bourbon Coffee, our favorite hang out. It's the one place that really felt like home as it's sort of like Starbucks. We went there three different times. On one occasion, we sat on the balcony, pictured here. The food was good, and the atmosphere is very relaxing. Their chai tea is excellent- I'm not a coffee drinker. The pasteries looked amazing, but I was too hot to be tempted by sweets. They also serve meals for breakfast and lunch, and maybe dinner. I was impressed by their extensive menu. The view from the balcony was beautiful. I've included a picture below. 
Another lovely place to eat is Afrika Bite. You will truly appreciate this place because it's the only "fast food" we had our entire visit, excluding the breakfast buffet at the hotel. The food is traditional Rwandan food kept hot in large urns. Some of the foods they served were potatoes, rice and beans, stews, and cooked bananas. I can't remember everything but it was all delicious. You grab a plate and dish up, then amble out to their enclosed garden area to eat. It was a lovely little spot with lots of plants and flowers all around you. For dessert, they brought us fresh fruit. (Pictured here is my dear friend Mandy and her son Henry.)
Not far from Afrika Bite is the restaurant Papyrus. Like most of the places, the decor is rather humble and unassuming. They serve many things at Papyrus, but most of us ordered pizza. You chose all your own toppings and they cook it up in what looked like a large wood-burning oven. It took a long time for our food to come, as is the norm for most of the restaurants there, but the pizza was good. We had Fanta to drink with our meal. It comes in glass bottles like we used to drink our sodas out of in the "old days" before pop came in cans. Fanta is served just about everywhere. I kept getting the silly advertisment jingle, "Wanna Fanta, don't you wanna Fanta?" stuck in my head.
Our hotel, Chez Lando, had a fairly nice breakfast buffet. It was so relaxing to be able to wander in at our own pace and sit down to eat. Most of the staff were quite friendly. Many of them came by our table just to say hello to Kieran. (He tends to draw a fan club wherever he goes!) The breakfast buffet included fresh fruits like pineapple, papaya, bananas, and some fruits we'd never seen before. They were similar to a kiwi in taste but looked like a roma tomato from the outside. The buffet also included rolls and croissants, cornflakes, eggs, potatoes, and some mysterious gray veggie sauted with the potatoes. I was brave and tried the mystery veggie- it was actually not bad. We did try their version of pizza for a take out lunch one day. Unfortunately, we didn't like it. I think it was due to the goat cheese they used instead of the mozzarella we're used to. Although this is a food post, I must mention that the grounds at Chez Lando were beautiful. It was like and oasis of calm.
On Sunday, our group took a trip to the countryside. We traveled about 45 minutes away from Kigali to a beautiful lake. The road to get there was incredibly rough, but we'd been in country long enough that the dirt roads were becoming common place. I don't know the name of the lake, and I've forgotten the name of the place we ate at! Sorry. It was a simple set up with plastic chairs and bamboo huts. However, the views there were beautiful. We saw many plants there that are common to us, like nasturtiums, but they grew much larger there. It was lovely and peaceful. The food was very slow in coming. We joked that they had to actually butcher the animal before preparing the meal. It didn't seem that far from the truth considering the remote location. We all had bruchettes, which is cooked meat on a wooden skewer. The meat was tough but tasty. The meal came with french fries like all the other bruchettes that I'd eaten during our stay. There was also a small salad on the side which we all judiciously avoided. To drink, lemon-lime or orange Fanta of course! (The drinks were 400 francs which is less than a dollar, cheap cheap!) It really wasn't about the food with that visit, it was all about the setting and getting out of the city for a bit of touring. I'm so glad we had the opportunity to see more of Rwanda that day.We also ate at several other places. A memorable one is New Cactus but I don't have any photos of it. The setting was great. It's on a hill with great views of the city lights, as we were there at night. The name of the restaurant made me think Mexican food. But we actually had Italian food there. I ordered spaghetti. It was good but not great. However, Mike had lasagna and he said it was the best lasagna he'd ever eaten. He loves lasagna so that's a huge compliment.
Finally, we had Chinese take out one night. Our guide, Nyanja, was so kind to go get it and bring it back to the hotel for us. We all gathered in James and Mandy's room and had a feast! The food was great, very similar to Chinese food in the states. The Chinese restaurant, once again I don't know the name, is located near Africa Bite. Just remember even take out is not speedy so plan ahead.
