Healthy eating at Café Capp & Cinno

Unearthing a place where food served is both healthy and delicious has been on my bucket list for a while now before I gladly crossed it off as I located Café Capp & Cinno. Situated on one of the bustling streets of Uttara, the café has hit it off since its inauguration on 1 October 2016. Founders Asaduzzaman Mohammad Ruman and Ismael Hossain Rashel are close friends who met in Germany and after years of expertise in the culinary industry, they wanted to initiate a unique venture in their hometown, incorporating the concept of healthy eating with style. 

"The idea of starting a restaurant has been in our mind since 2011 and coming home after years, we realised there could not be a better time to contribute something to the country with our culinary skills and expertise," said Ruman.  

Capp & Cinno has an extremely diverse menu, mainly including Japanese and Korean Cuisine.  Their mains include 'Yakisoba' which is essentially a Japanese style wheat noodle served with fresh vegetables and shredded chicken/beef/fish or tofu in home-made teriyaki sauce.  The distinctiveness of this cafe is that it provides healthy food that starts with cooking without oil. "Nearly all dishes in our menu are oil free. Cooking without oil is one of our strengths since we focused on providing a healthy eating experience to our guests. 

"The Japanese Yakisoba is cooked entirely in our home-made teriyaki sauce and the varieties of customised sauce that we make are all oil free," Ruman further explained. On the rare occasion when oil has to be used, they always draw on imported extra virgin oil and sesame oil. 

Since both the founders spent most of their adult lives in Germany, a German fusion came into play when coming up with the décor and menu. 

"One of the most admired dishes we have is the German burger we provide. The burger bun is created in 100 percent German formula and consists of three types of bread and two types of seeds. Undoubtedly the difference in taste of this particular German burger can be felt from the very first bite," added Rashel. 

The Korean side of the menu includes their signature dishes – Bibimbaps with Miso Soup and Bulgogi. 'Bibimbaps' is once again an epitome of healthy food. It consist of any of the add-ons you want from beef/chicken/seafood marinated and partially cooked seasoned vegetables placed on top of rice with add-ons cooked in a sauce of your wish and a sunny side up egg. The sauces available for bibimbaps are chilli, curry, peanut and teriyaki, and are of course oil free. 

The décor of the café has been inspired deeply from their experience in Germany. Red and black is widely used in both Korea and Japan and that explains the choice of the colours they highlighted in the interior. 

The specialty of this restaurant is simply not just in their decor but in the mocktail bar too. 

"One of our specialty drinks include iced tea that has four types of tea flavours infused with fresh mint leaves, lemon and brown sugar. The drinks are also made bearing the health concern in mind so the use of sugar is limited. The tea that we offer is always imported from Germany and our Sicilian coffee is something that you wouldn't want to miss." 

The bar provides a plethora of drinks including Pina Colada, Mojito, and Hugo which is made from peppermint leaves, soda, alcohol-free sparkling wine and, elderflower syrup. "Although the drinks are only just missing the alcohol, the taste of the drinks has hardly changed at all," added Rashel.

Café Capp & Cinno exudes exceptional attributes one of which is the constant presence of both the founders. They consider it their duty to entertain all their guests comfortably and ensure a friendly and blissful time within their café. Although the demography of their target audience is mainly adults with knowledge of the cuisine they offer, they also provide special kids meal for the children accommodating to their palette and grade of spice. 

"Business is not the only thing we had in mind. It's true that the culinary industry is thriving but with unhealthy food available everywhere, we wanted to provide something different and not be just another restaurant in town. We want our guests to be aware of that fact that we make their health our priority, providing food that is both scrumptious and visually appealing," said Ruman.

If you are looking for a place that provides meals to satiate your hunger but not at the cost of your health, then Café Capp & Cinno is the place to go. 

Café Capp & Cinno is located on Garib-E-Newaz Avenue, House #34, Sector #11, Uttara. For more information check their Facebook page: facebook.com/cappandcinno

By Mayesha Raidah

Photo courtesy: Café Capp & Cinno