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Turambe offers finger licking healthy food

Friday June 14 2019
Food pic

Turambe Shoppe's owner Molly Parker happy to serve her clients. PHOTO | FILE | NATION MEDIA GROUP

By JEFFERSON RUMANYIKA

For those who are looking for healthy eating in Kigali, Turambe Shoppe —opened three years ago by Molly Parker, a US-registered dietitian – is the to go-to restaurant, offering organic, fresh and healthy food, mostly vegetarian.

Located next to the Kigali Public Library in Kacyiru near the US embassy, it is a small and cosy restaurant with limited seating and designed for quick takeaway service.

The interior décor of the restaurant is minimalistic with grey, black and white colours only. An ''Eat Well'' sign on the wall is a reassuring symbol of what Turambe Shoppe stands for.

The restaurant’s name, incidentally, sounds Swahili, which would then appropriately mean ''let's lick,'' but in fact is a Kinyarwanda word that loosely translates as ''long life,'' a good choice too.

What Turambe Shoppe might lack in terms of ambiance, it makes up with its fast and friendly staff.

I recommend the Turambe Chicken Salad sandwich made of shredded chicken in a yogurt-based mixture of apples, grapes, celery and avocado, and served on your choice of bread, brown bread in my case. For Rwf3,000 ($3.3) it is quite a treat. The chicken is tender with a lot of flavours from the yogurt-based mixture, sweet apples and grapes, the spicy celery and lettuce and the creamy avocado.

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Other must-try options are the Strawberry Balsamic Salad for Rwf6,500 ($7.2), which is probably the only salad with strawberries I have had. It comes with a house-made creamy balsamic dressing to boot, with macadamia nuts. Other healthier options include the Kale Chicken Caesar Salad served with buttery croutons and real Parmesan cheese and extra kale. The Asian Chopped Salad is worth a try too.

Turambe Shoppe also takes pride in serving organic food. The restaurant holds cooking classes and open days to teach nutrition and healthy lifestyle ideas. The classes cost Rwf15,000 ($16.5) per person and are conducted by qualified nutrition consultants, who also advise on gluten intolerance and vegan options.

The prices range from Rwf1,000 ($1.2) for toast to Rwf6,500 ($7.2) for the special salads. Also on the menu are healthy smoothies, hot and cold beverages and baked goods such as muffins made from real vegan beet.

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