Juicilicious

This new juice bar is tucked away sort of out of sight, between the Belvedere bus depot and Shake & Sip. If you didn’t know it was there, you’d probably never see it. Lucky for me I discovered it recently while waiting for the bus and I think I can see myself becoming a regular here.

Juicilicious is brightly painted and inviting with five tables inside, some couches and a table outside (although being next to a bus company’s parking lot means that it’s not all that appealing). It’s a small place but when I was there I was the only person so finding a seat wasn’t really an issue. I’m kind of hesitant to write this review because it’s nice to have these secret places all to yourself… but it’s also nice for them not to go out of business because nobody knows about them.

The menu is a refreshing change from the usual drinks you get at most Kigali cafes. In fact, this place doesn’t even have coffee! They’ve got a great selection of fresh fruit juice (apple, mango, orange, pineapple, watermelon, sugar cane, passion fruit, tree tomato, avacado and papaya), veggie juice (cucumber, carrot, tomato, sweet potato, and beet) and a variety of combo cocktails. My Pina Coco Nana smoothie was really tasty and had coconut shavings on top which is always a nice bonus for us coconut lovers. Yes, I am a coconut lover, ok?

You can get traditional Pakistani drinks here as well and if you’re feeling like going all out you can even buy some Pakistani clothes which are positioned next to the cash register for those impulse buys. Get dressed up and order a shisha pipe (mint, double apple or grape for Rwf 3,500) to complete the experience. The clothes are kind of a strange addition but, hey, I guess you never know who wants clothes with their smoothies.

While the drinks menu is huge (as expected in a juice bar) the food section is small and similar to what’s on offer in other cafes. You can get non-veg pasta and sandwiches (which means chicken) or the vegetarian equivalent. There are samosas, chips, spring rolls, onion rings and other fried goodies as well as salads.

The food took about 30 minutes which is pretty good for Kigali. The toasted non-veg (chicken) sandwich (Rwf 2,000) was tasty. Sort of spicy and piping hot. The chips that came with it were a bit soggy, though and the salad was plain cabbage, carrots, tomato and cucumbers which never really does it for me.

Juicilicious is pretty cheap compared to other Kigali cafes. Milkshakes are Rwf 2,500 which is a lot cheaper than Bourbon’s Rwf 4,000 offerings. A good indication of how affordable a place is is the soft drinks prices and at Rwf 400 for a Coke, this has to be one of the cheaper places.

Service is pretty fast and attentive. Of course when you’re the only person in a place, it’s a lot more likely you’ll get good service and not have to wait forever for your food. I’d be curious to see what it’s like when it’s full. but my server was a nice guy who made sure I was happy and even double checked that the wifi was working ok (which it was the whole time I was there).

I like it here! I’ll be back to work my way through the juice and smoothie list. I’m not so crazy about the food menu but I can see this being a great place to chill out on the couches with some friends, a shisha pipe, some fresh juice and possibly a Pakistani outfit.