Café Nuba (Downtown)

It was V who introduced me to Nuba at Hasting. Since then, I was really fond of their food and approach. As Greeny and I were deciding where to go for dinner with Mazda, I thought it would be a good chance to introduce them to something we don't normally eat.

Café Nuba is a lot smaller than the one on Hasting. And as the name suggests, it's more of a café style where you order and pay first rather than the full-on restaurant. The interior was very earthy and cozy. There weren't many tables for dine-in as most people ordered to-go. As for the menu items, they still have most of the items the other locations have. With a bit of deciding and recommendation from the front desk lady, we made a few healthy selections.

Chicken Tawook Pita ($9.50) - 5.5/6

The chicken was well marinated and with a bit of charcoal grille flavour. As for the texture itself, certainly very tender and every bite was flavourful. There were tons of veggies in there and the pita was thin and soft. It felt like eating a donair without the heavy flavour.

Lamb Kibbeh Plate ($12) - 5.5/6

The server recommended this one and we ordered this with roasted potato. Otherwise you can choose brown rice as well. We thought the lamb patty would more be like a burger patty. Instead, it was more like a meatball that was full of lamby flavour. I love the roasted potato - it was soft on the inside and the aroma from herb was very accepting. To me, I felt the plate was a pretty good portion - loaded with pita, hummus, salad, olives, and pickled cabbage. I really like the pickled cabbage but thought the one I had at Bandidas was better.

Fattoush Salad ($9) - 5/6

The salad was fairly light in flavour even though it came with garlic-lemon-herb dressing; it wasn't very garlicky at all. Loaded with organic green, tomatoes, and pickled cabbage, it certainly added more fibre in this meal. =)

I love a healthy meal where you finished without feeling the heaviness inside your stomach. The items that we have here definitely fit that category. Plus, there were quite a bit of raw veggie with them. It was a healthy yet delish meal that people can have from time to time. Next time when you're up for something healthy, it's not a bad idea to drop by here.