Mocha Café: For a coffee break beyond borders

When — a few weeks ago — I saw the tasteful “Coming Soon!” placard outside house number 17 on KG 439 Street, I knew something worth waiting for is being cooked behind the green gate. Vision 2020 in Gacuriro is merely a residential area, with everything that makes a suburban neighbourhood truly great: a school, a clinic, green lawns, safety, friendly neighbours, and now — its very own café. Mocha Café is not just a sign of the times that the coffee industry in Kigali is booming; it’s the destiny of its owners, Burhan and Sanaa.

© Mocha Café

The Yemeni couple arrived in Rwanda in April this year and started working on the development of the café on the first of May. “But this is only two months ago,” I exclaimed while spinning around to take in all that has been done in this space: handmade carpentry, interior design, barista equipment, electrics. “It’s been two work-intensive months, but this is also our home, meaning that the anticipation to see the end result is double,” Burhan explains. 

Indeed, for Burhan and Sanaa, Mocha Café isn’t just a business. While sipping my Masala tea and taking bites of the fresh from the oven chocolate cake that Sanaa has just served in a creative and beautifully presented style, I am thinking that they have literally opened their home to me. “It wasn’t intentional to combine the café with our living space, but the moment we saw this house, we knew it was the one,” Burhan says; and continues: “We were dreaming of a place where our customers can feel at home, and we can cater for them as friends.” 

Sanaa’s warm smile and expressive eyes and Burhan’s unhurried manners invite me to ask about their journey to Rwanda. “We got married in 2010, and in 2011 the revolution in Yemen began [which later on escalated to a lengthy war]. And along with it our adventures around the world,” Burhan remarks jokingly. But moving from Malaysia to Jordan to Kenya, back to Jordan, back to Malaysia, to Chad, and Rwanda is most certainly not light reading.   

“We miss home, and we don’t know when it will be possible for us to visit Yemen again. So, we created a home away from home here in Kigali with our love for hospitality, coffee, and cooking,” they say by completing each other’s words. When Burhan is called into the kitchen by Gane, one of the four kind staff members, Sanaa admits: “I am a dentist, and I miss my work, but Mocha Café is our project now, and needs the one hundred per cent from both of us.”

I comfortably sink into my seat and decide to stay a bit longer. “Is it okay if I turn my laptop on to do some work?” I ask, even though I suspect it will be a definite yes. “I am a freelance writer myself,” Burhan says. “Working from home makes me sleepy, so I am always looking for inviting cafés. I am very happy I have created this environment for other people.” 

© Mocha Café

But Mocha Café isn’t just an excellent working space in an area that is isolated from the hustle and bustle of Kigali, amidst lush gardens and chirpy birds. It is also a family spot with a mini playground for children, and your extended living room where you can meet your friends for a meaningful catch-up. If you find yourself alone without company or a laptop, don’t hesitate to grab one of the books from Burhan and Sanaa’s collection.     

Before I slurp the last bit of my banana peanut smoothie (talking about life beyond borders and the future, and looking at the pictures from their travels was so captivating that I didn’t realise I had been served again), I already know that this brand new café in Kigali has effortlessly won my heart. 

© Mocha Café

Where: 17, KG 439 Street, Vision 2020, Gacuriro

Opening hours: 7:30 a.m. to 9:00 p.m.

Menu: The food is home-made and healthy. I have tried the veggie burger and the avocado hummus sandwich, and I can’t recommend them enough. For a lighter option, don’t miss the breakfast fruit and cereal bowl. If you love the aromas of coffee but don’t want the side effects of caffeine, ask for Qishr, a Yemeni traditional hot drink made of coffee shells and spices. 

Attendants: Philamo and Gane in the kitchen and Arek and Zulfa on the floor. 

A day out in Kigali

Friends and family ask me to describe Kigali and life in my new home city. It’s a huge responsibility to be the one who conveys a message and creates an image of a country that’s vastly defined by its tragic history. So, on Thursday, Toff and I took the day off work and decided to seize the day.

Before we concluded on the spots we wanted to check out in Kigali, we asked ourselves what do we want from our everyday lives here. Wherever we go, the answer is more or less the same: a living room outside our home, engagement with the arts scene, and a bond with the community.

Kigali Public Library

With Toff’s (kind of) flexible hours and my freelance job, we have the option to work from different spaces to break the routine and get the benefits from a change of scenery. The Kigali Public Library in Kacyiru is between home and Kigali Heights, where ALU is. This is the first public library in Rwanda, and its opening in 2012 was about the promotion of reading culture among the population and a reminder that lack of access to accurate information can lead to tragic events such as the 1994 genocide against the Tutsi.

The outdoor space is a park in the city; an excellent spot for setting up a picnic and marvelling at the hilly views of Kigali. Kids were running around with brushes and canvases, taking part in an art class. The dark furniture colours inside the library and the organisation of desks and chairs reminded me a lot of dull Greek classrooms, but the selection of books is an excellent introduction to African literature for someone as clueless as I am. For a start, I borrowed three books: Letter to My Daughter by Maya Angelou, We Are the Ones We Have Been Waiting For by Alice Walker, and Breath on the Mirror by Dennis Tedlock.

Conference space at Shokola Café

We were slightly disappointed that the library wouldn’t become the space we were looking for — until we reached at the rooftop. Shokola Café is an open multipurpose space, with cosy corners for reading and working, meeting rooms, gallery walls, and some delicious Mediterranean flavours that made me smile.

Bonus: The service was out of this world — a balanced approach of professionalism and friendliness.

Inema Arts Center

Toff and I are mini art collectors with original works in our collection coming from South Korean, Ghanaian, Canadian, Brazilian, and Japanese artists. Iotoff‘s art is travelling with us at all times and is always the first item to be unpacked in our new home. We believe that art isn’t about making spaces prettier; is about creating spaces that encourage forward thinking and motion outside our comfort zone.

To get this feeling of brain tickles, we walked (up and down the hilly roads) for about half an hour from the library to Inema Arts Center. We entered into a garden with art installations and graffiti on the walls, and we knew the heart of Kigali’s art scene is beating here. The docent welcomed us explaining the arrangement of the artwork, and we even had a quick chat with one of the two founders, painter Innocent Nkurunziza.

Several artworks, which we cannot afford at this stage, attracted us. It’s difficult to think about art when we haven’t got our bed, fridge, and Mars’ arrival sorted out yet. But we can keep coming back to Inema Arts Center to admire the work of the resident painters and sculptures, the artisan women, the dancers, and the musicians. Here, your presence encourages creative people to use their creativity for a productive livelihood.

Bonus: On Thursdays, they have get-togethers from 6 to 9 pm with music performances, beers, and lively chats at the bar.

Kimironko Market

Markets don’t need much explanation. From Port Louis to Istanbul and from Athens to Haenam, markets share some common elements: colourful products, hand gestures, convincing language, and creative presentation of products. I knew that in the market the notion of personal space is non-existent and that there would be a lot of staring at the umuzungu (the light-skin foreigner).

You don’t put yourself in this environment unless you are patient, like haggling, and have an eye for detail. You must be ready to squeeze through narrow alleys, crammed with houseware, handicrafts, and fabrics while being stopped by every single vendor who is keen on selling you something good; something you didn’t know you needed.

Young ladies followed me around for several metres with the web browser on their phone open to fashion designs. “I can make you a beautiful dress for RWF 15,000 (about 15 euros), including fabric”, one lady said. When she saw that I wasn’t impressed by the offer, she added: “In less than an hour.”

Downside: I couldn’t keep calm when passing by the butcher. The smell and sight of blood and the sound of butchering half-dead or half-alive animals is turning my stomach.