Il Palato and Simba

Dad was in town several times in May, and that meant that we explored a couple of new restaurants.

First up was Il Palato, which opened where my much-beloved Remy's used to be.  The interior did not undergo a total gut renovation, but it certainly got a massive face lift.  The bar portion of Remy's was always bright compliments of the enormous front windows.  The renovation brightened up both the bar and the remainder of the interior space, and brought in some simple, modern design elements.

The food is southern Italian and Mediterranean -- lots of seafood and veggies; nary a trough of pasta to be found.  If you don't like food that's a bit fussy, this place probably isn't for you.  But if you don't mind spending a little time deconstructing your food before you eat it, it's surely worth a try.

Our other new restaurant adventure was Simba.  I had never had Ugandan food before.  I didn't have a clue what Ugandan food would even consist of.  My many-years-ago trip to Africa took me south of Uganda by a country or two, and in any case, the food we had really catered to the Americans and the Brits staying at the camps, so wasn't a good reference point anyway.

Ugandan food, it turns out, uses many of the same spices as Indian food, only in smaller quantities and different combinations, with lots of Middle Eastern influence as well.  All three of us loved our dishes, and I easily could have made three meals out of the chicken curry I got (though I only made two).

A warning: do not go here if you are in a rush.  Though service is extremely warm and friendly, it is slow.  Luckily we knew that going in, so we went early and had nowhere to be afterwards.  As long as you can deal with the slo-mo meal delivery, it is 100% worth a visit.