The Ssese Patisserie, Kampala Serena Hotel

The Ssese Patisserie is the cafe of the Kampala Serena Hotel, the five-star hotel on Kintu Road set in 17 acres of landscaped gardens and water features at the edge of the city centre. It takes its name from the Ssese Islands, the archipelago in Lake Victoria, and offers a quiet, polished alternative to the city's busier coffee shops.

The counter is built around baking and hot drinks. The coffee is locally sourced, and there is a choice of herbal teas. To eat, there are handcrafted pastries, tarts and macarons, and the patisserie also makes custom cakes to order for birthdays and celebrations, including events held in the hotel's gardens. It is the kind of place to sit with a coffee and something sweet in the afternoon, or to pick up a box of pastries.

The long opening hours, 07:00 to 22:30, make it useful at almost any time: an early coffee before a meeting, an afternoon break from sightseeing, or dessert and tea after dinner. Because the patisserie is inside the hotel, it is a calm place to meet someone in the centre of town, away from street noise. The hotel's conference centre seats up to 1,500 people, so the patisserie also serves a steady flow of delegates and business visitors. Prices reflect the five-star setting, so expect to pay more than at a high-street cafe.

The Serena has several other options if you want more than a pastry. The Lakes Restaurant serves breakfast, lunch and dinner from 06:00 to 23:00, Explorer Italian Bistro serves handmade pasta, wood-fired pizza and risotto from noon, and The Pearl Restaurant and Champagne Bar offers fine dining with live piano music in the evening. The hotel can accommodate vegetarian, Jain, Indian and halal diets. For something stronger later, The Mist Bar, styled on Uganda's misty mountains and the film Gorillas in the Mist, serves cocktails made with local botanicals.

Kintu Road runs along the lower slopes of Nakasero, a short walk from the business district and the Parliament area, so the patisserie is easy to reach from central hotels and offices. After coffee, you can walk through the hotel's gardens or continue to the National Theatre and Crafts Village nearby.