{"id":39519,"date":"2019-06-17T14:39:16","date_gmt":"2019-06-17T14:39:16","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/new.igihe.com\/camellia-exclusively-culture-coffee-charm\/"},"modified":"2019-06-17T14:42:03","modified_gmt":"2019-06-17T14:42:03","slug":"camellia-exclusively-culture-coffee-charm","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/new.igihe.com\/english\/camellia-exclusively-culture-coffee-charm\/","title":{"rendered":"Camellia: Exclusively Culture. Coffee. Charm"},"content":{"rendered":"

It was a late afternoon involving several men in slate-blue suits, students wearing casual, elegant businesswomen absorbed in their work, as concerned waiters were delicately pouring drinks into glasses. It was all very convivial, I thought, chuckling. <\/p>\n

Opposite my seat, was a business lady having an executive breakfast. Quite appetizing, should I say. A beef sausage, fried eggs on toast, spinach, and some mushroom. Nearby, an absorbed student was having coffee, in a paper cup, like me. An Expresso, I think. Ah, the joy of these. The coffee here is hot, not scalding hot, just at the right temperature. <\/p>\n

\u201cCan you taste the cocoa nibs?\u201d asked the barista, Alex in evangelical tones. \u201cYes, I can,\u201d I said, startled. I had almost forgotten the barista across me from the bar. \u201cHow about the cr\u00e8me?\u201d Alex asked. \u201cHeavenly,\u201d I said because, at that moment, I truly could be in heaven.<\/p>\n

The cr\u00eapes I had ordered along helped things along, plus the tiny square of banana cake, offered to accentuate the beverage\u2019s flavors.<\/p>\n

\u201cAre you still hurrying up?\u201d he asked concerned. \u201cUnfortunately, yeah,\u201d I answered. I had a meeting with my boss in the next ten minutes. <\/p>\n

Suddenly drinking my double mochaccino when on deadline felt like self-sabotage. \u201cMaybe you can pass by later,\u201d Alex said sympathetically. \u201cWe can argue again on what\u2019s best, your Mochaccino or my classic Caf\u00e9 Latte.\u201d He laughingly added. I laughed back. Alex and I always have this everlasting debate on which is better, his preferred drink or mine. Each day, we both come up with new arguments and I seriously doubt if we\u2019ll ever win it. <\/p>\n

Upstairs, inside MIC shopping mall, on the top floor which overlooks King\u2019s College Chapel, has to be one of the best spots in all Camellia branches. <\/p>\n

If you\u2019ve had a busy week, there\u2019s nothing quite like a large mug of their Breakfast tea or coffee while you enjoy the stunning view, perhaps watching the students, cyclists or simply passers-by.
\nThose feeling peckish can try the giant marinated quarter chicken or the traditional beef goulash, which never seems to decrease in size. If you\u2019ve got a sweet tooth, there\u2019s a selection of tempting crepes and pancakes (the maple syrup pancake stack is divine). For those who want a well-earned treat, Camellia also offers a selection of pastries, such as Black Forest Cakes, delicate Carrot Muffins and Vanilla cakes, perfect for any day in Kigali. <\/p>\n

And then there\u2019s the Coffee. Absolutely spellbinding. A lifesaver for some of us. Worth trying sometimes \u2013 especially if Alex is your Barista. <\/p>\n

\"Caf\u00e9<\/figure>\n
\"Camellia's<\/figure>\n
\"\"<\/figure>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

As I drank my coffee, at a leisurely pace, observing foodies in their element, it struck me that Kigali is not short of epicures\u2014delighting in food that is properly prepared. <\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":65,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[17],"tags":[75],"byline":[223],"hashtag":[],"class_list":["post-39519","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-lifestyle","tag-homenews","byline-ivan-kimenyi"],"bylines":[{"id":223,"name":"Ivan Kimenyi","slug":"ivan-kimenyi","description":"","image":{"id":0,"url":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/?s=96&d=mm&f=y&r=g","alt":"Default avatar","title":"Default avatar","caption":"","mime_type":"image\/jpeg","sizes":[]},"user_id":65}],"contributors":[{"id":223,"name":"Ivan Kimenyi","slug":"ivan-kimenyi","description":"","image":{"id":0,"url":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/?s=96&d=mm&f=y&r=g","alt":"Default avatar","title":"Default avatar","caption":"","mime_type":"image\/jpeg","sizes":[]},"user_id":65}],"featured_image":null,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/new.igihe.com\/english\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/39519","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/new.igihe.com\/english\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/new.igihe.com\/english\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/new.igihe.com\/english\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/65"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/new.igihe.com\/english\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=39519"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/new.igihe.com\/english\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/39519\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/new.igihe.com\/english\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=39519"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/new.igihe.com\/english\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=39519"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/new.igihe.com\/english\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=39519"},{"taxonomy":"byline","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/new.igihe.com\/english\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/byline?post=39519"},{"taxonomy":"hashtag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/new.igihe.com\/english\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/hashtag?post=39519"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}