All Roads Lead To … Xwama

Windhoek has got a pretty diverse culinary culture.From our five star restaurants and our sit-down eateries to our 24/7 fast food chains that feed our cravings during odd hours of the night.

On any given occasion, one could chose between Thai and Indian food.Or trade your fork from a French restaurant to chopsticks at a Chinese or sushi restaurant. When it comes to tastes of the global kitchens, Windhoek is not lacking. But if one is craving a sit-down traditional Owambo meal, there is only one place to go. Xwama.

Based in Wanaheda, Xwama offers an authentic Owambo experience, or as much as one would expect in this bustling capital city. Unlike a lot of ‘out of Africa’ experiences that a lot of lodges and restaurants try to give their clients with a ‘luxury’ version of the Namibian experience, Xwama offers a traditional and authentic experience of Owamboland.

With sticks and logs emulating a traditional homestead, and white sand covering the floor, one could easily be transported to Ovamboland.

Our waitress walked us upstairs to the second dining room, which was filled with businessmen discussing facts and figures over dinner, and a large party of work colleagues who were giddy with excitement and applause over what one assumes must have been a good week at the office.

Skimming over the leather menu, my eyes are immediately drawn to the affectionately known Marathon Chicken or onjudhwa yoshiwambo, which if you’ve ever spent time in the North and had to chase your own chicken for dinner, you would understand why it is called the Marathon Chicken.

We also ordered oshifima as our staple, which arrived in two neat lumps, and side of spinach and kapenta fish.

Looking over the drinks menu, we couldn’t decide if we wanted to drink omalodu, oshikundu or ombike so we opted for all three.

Lucky for us, they had just run out of omalodu, so we only had to juggle the refreshing oshikundu and highly potent ombike.

Arriving in a clear glass, the ombike doesn’t look threatening, but one quick whiff lets you know otherwise.

Keeping with Owambo tradition, the waitress brings over a container of warm water for us to wash our hands, since Owambo food is traditionally only eaten with hands, and by the time she lays the food on our tables, we are already ravenous and practically salivating in anticipation of our mini-Owambo feast.

Coming in wooden bowls, our table fell silent as we dipped our oshifima in the sauce of the chicken, spinach and kapenta, reminiscing about the meals of our childhood and cuisines that we don’t often enjoy since we’ve adopted ‘city food’.

Going to Xwama is a wonderful experience for both those who have never tried Owambo food, and for those who need a little taste of home.

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