Kigali - Post Report Question and Answers
What typical restaurants, food delivery services, and/or takeout options are popular among expatriates?
Kigali is a heaven for indian food. Lots of very good indian restaurants in town. There are other very good restaurants all over the city. Food delivery is great, and you can pay in mobile money or card. vuba vuba, rushfoods are two main food delivery ups, similiar to uber eats. Coffee is becoming more and more popular with very nice cafes that serve great coffee. - Oct 2023
There are some nice restaurants in Kigali, and a good food delivery service through Vuba Vuba and Rush Foods. Recently, several really good pizza places have opened up, and things seem to be recovering from many closures during the pandemic. - Aug 2023
There’s an app called Vuba Vuba similar to Uber Eats which makes it easy to order out. Be prepared though to wait at least an hour for your food or for it to never show up at all. Always pay cash just in case that happens. I learned the hard way several times. There’s some good restaurants such as Indian, American, Salad, Greek, and Japanese. - Jan 2022
There are actually a lot of decent/good restaurants in Kigali, a lot of Indian especially, but you can also get good Korean and Chinese food, burgers and pizza galore, and a variety of other cuisine. Vuba Vuba is the latest delivery service, and it's easy to use and has a lot of restaurants on it. - Jul 2020
For a poor landlocked country, the variety of restaurants available is quite impressive. Good Indian, good Chinese, some Korean, a burrito restaurant in addition to way too many pizza and burger joints. Fish is hard to find, I didn't like the only Thai food, but honestly, that would be expecting a lot for a place like Kigali. Jumia is popular for delivery, but many of the best restaurants don't participate (often you can call those directly for delivery). - Sep 2019
Repub, L'Epicurien, Kiseki, Poivre Noire, Pili Pili, RZ Mana, Zen, The Great Wall, The Hut, Sol Le Luna, and Habesha. Most food options are available for delivery on Jumia Food. - Jun 2018
No chain restaurants. There are a good number of decent restaurants though; Korean, Indian, Japanese, Chinese, Italian, salads. Jumia foods is a delivery service and they will delivery for most of the restaurants in the city for a nominal fee. - Dec 2017
There are a bunch of good restaurants, and almost all of them participate in Jumia Food, a food delivery app service. Your food won't arrive quickly and usually isn't hot, but it is super convenient, and there's plenty of time for having the oven ready for reheating. - Jan 2017
Fast food can be found at Mr. Chips where you can get a burger and fries for about US$6. - Apr 2016
There is a Chipotle like restaurant called Meze Fresh that is fantastic and Mr. Chips for fast food. Decent prices there being less than US$10 for a full meal. Other restaurants are available too and have great food! Indian, Italian, Asian, and a weekly Mongolian BBQ special at the Serena Hotel...all are there. It's less than DC pricing but not by much. - Oct 2014
There are fast food and restaurants in Kigali with a wide range of food. Food is decent and relatively cheap. But there isn't a lot of truly excellent food options. - Jul 2014
Fast food does not exist here. Even if there were a McDonald's, it would still take you an hour to get your food. - Sep 2013
The only fast food restaurant in Rwanda is Mr. Chips, which serves good burgers. Other than that, service is slow even by African standards and costs are on par with Washington, DC. If you can accept poor service, then you can get great food in many restaurants. Genuinely good Italian, Indian, Korean, Ethiopian, and French are easy to find. Rwandan food consists mostly of meat brochettes, starches, and beans. - May 2012
There are quite a few restaurants here - Italian, BBQ, Chinese, Indian, Japanese. The cost is comparable to a mid-priced restaurant in the U.S. - Apr 2012
No fast food restaurants. If you get your meal within 30 minutes, that is considered fast. - Jul 2011
Zero. This country is austere. Don't let the green canopy fool you. The restaurants pride themselves in taking forever to bring your food out. They think that it's a sign of good quality if it takes them an hour and a half to bring you some meat on a stick. - Oct 2010
There is no fast food restaurants or restaurants that serve food fast. However decent restaurants are availble. There are multiple pizza parlours, Chinese, Indian, African, a nice coffee shop (Bourbon), also Heaven which is a restaurant with a nice atmosphere and serves "international fusion cuisine". They are also strongly involved with community projects. Meals range in cost from 3 bucks (african and the like) to 20 dollars. Most meals tend to be at the more expensive end. - Jan 2010
No fast food, cheap Rwandan resturants and quite a few over priced expat resturants. The pizza at Sole Luna was the best and they also had a very reasonably priced lunch buffet. Bourbon coffee offers excellent coffee in a Starbucks style atmosphere. - Sep 2008
Rwandan, Indian, Chinese, Italian, and a smorgassborg of the above is available. With the exception of Rwandan food, do not expect equivalent quality and/or service. The average price for single entry items range from 5000 RWF and above (US$10 minimum). - Aug 2008
