Kitamu House: Intercontinental Cuisine in the heart of Arusha City
Arusha is Tanzania’s tourist hub. Right?
Well, except for one thing, finding a proper place that serves good food while also providing conducive environment without forcing the customers to break their banks can be a challenge
In Arusha, visitors have been complaining that they are usually forced to either rely on the big hotels for properly laid out food or take on a two-hour trip into the streets searching for anything slightly edible, but eventually ending up exhausted with ‘Chips!’
“The best eating joints are usually in the outskirts of the city or embedded in big hotels. Others are sandwiched inside busy and noisy parts of the town,” they would say.
What has always been lacking in the city is a place of tranquility and assorted variety of good food, not just ‘Nyama Choma.’
This is where Kitamu House of Arusha comes in.
This is essentially a top-notch restaurant in town.
The food house is located in a quiet and spacious environment within the city.
Kitamu House is the brainchild of Leah Assenga.
She is the winner of various accolades, including 100 Travel and Tourism Personalities in Africa and the Special Ambassador status in the United States.
Apart from being the founder, Ms Assenga is also the director and chief Executive of Kitamu establishment.
Kitamu, is a name coined from the Kiswahili term which means ‘Yummy,’ or ‘Delicious,’ which happens to be specializing in all types of cuisine.
The menu at the joint covers all range of servings; from hot meals, fast foods, home deliveries and beverages.
“We have specialized chefs that can knock out Indian, Chinese, African and Intercontinental cuisine,” explains Leah.
But there is one thing which stands out with ‘Kitamu,’ which is the joint’s 24 hours operation and around the city delivery service.
Arusha may be a tourist city but the town normally goes to sleep after six … in most parts that is.
For strangers arriving in Arusha at night may mean no food until the next day, but now Kitamu promises night food delivery as well.
Leah says she started it out as an eatery for local residents but as time went by, it seemed more and more foreigners flocked to the airy venue for meals.
Former Professional English footballer, Rio Ferdinand dined there during his visit to Tanzania.
But located along Haile Selassie Road, the main ‘Kitamu’ restaurant and the first to be established is essentially within the district known as ‘Uzunguni,’ the ‘Place of foreigners.’
But that was an old name which was common during colonial days when the area was mostly occupied by people from overseas.
Today the Uzunguni area, while remaining a posh district, is open to all.
Reviews on Tripadvisor are mixed, some praising the joint as a comfortable place with good food, though there were others who claimed the service is slow and minimal.
Of course you cannot satisfy all.
Other than food and drinks, in case you feel like enjoying some entertainment, the Kitamu offers live band performances from different groups.
Kitamu offers Acoustic sessions, African Night Freestyles, for those who want a few tunes as they wait for their orders.
But when did it all start?
The idea was hatched in 2017, which means in a few months’ time the establishment will be celebrating its 10th Anniversary in serving people with delicious meals.
However, after less than three years the global Covid-19 pandemic struck.
From 2020, few people ate out and even less travelled, as the result the customers who used to patronize ‘Kitamu,’ diminished.
But a dark cloud always bears a silver lining, this is when the idea of starting home deliveries was born and now it works 24/7.
Just select and book online and hot meals will be at your doorstep, at least the management says so.
Defying the pandemic, ‘Kitamu’ grew old enough to give birth to other facilities these ‘coming soon,’ entities include:
Kitamu Coffee Lodge
Kitamu Goumert Basket
Kitamu Picasso
Kitamu Africa
In addition, the Kitamu management is planning for expansion beyond Tanzania. Watch this space.