Finally a dream come true! A shisha-free classy cafe on the Antelias restaurants strip? Am I seeing right...? And the best part is that it's not just any cafe, but a decent one that's unique and handled by a professional management, where customers can enjoy good tasty food and coffee, served by a well trained staff. A breath of fresh air for me!
Going out for a coffee or a quick bite around the Metn region has become impossible. Only one decent place welcomes guests in an shisha-free ambiance and that is Mandaloun Cafe and now I can add Cappuccino Cafe to the short list. Finally!
And I hope it stays this way.
After trying the Cappuccino Cafe of Zaitunay Bay, it was time to check out the new branch in Antelias. Towards the very end of the Anetlias strip is, Cappuccino Grand Cafe, a fine dining place, perfectly decorated with its stone flooring, marble tables, bamboo pergola and those special fire units that add a unique warmth, which I have never seen before in the country. The setting makes you feel like you're sitting on a cliff in one of the Greek islands. A relaxing feeling just transports you away from the capital's chaos. Some customers are chatting, some are puffing on their cigars and others are happily devouring their sandwiches in a certain serenity that I've been searching for a long time.
Shant, the smiling and professional waiter approached us for the order. After explaining the concept behind Cappuccino, we were ready to go further.
The place:
- Stone flooring
- Light balls decorate the dark corners
- Stone fire units heat the space and add a unique warmth to the ambiance
- Changing lighting colors on the restaurants walls
- Bamboo shoots pergola
- Stone limits the space like in mountainous individual houses
- Stone tree pots are planted here and there
- A Roman stone clock installed in the middle of the terrace welcomes you
- An inner space divided into two seating areas with a long bar in the middle
- A chimney on the right and a library on the left with relaxing sofas
- A Greek island style relaxing setup
- Round marble tables
- Garden chairs
- A cappuccino signboard decorates the roof
The Menu sections:
- Starters
- Sushi
- Salads
- Main course
- Soup calendar
- Burgers and Sandwiches
- Crunchy rolls
- Wines, Champagnes and Sangrias
- Coffees, Cappuccinos, Teas
- Cakes, Pastries
- Ice Cream and Shakes
- Natural fruit juices
- Beverages
We Ordered:
- California Roll Sushi
- Spicy Tuna Sushi
- Nicoise Salad (Lettuce, olives, green beans, quail eggs, cherry tomatoes, mini potatoes, anchovies, tuna, spring onion garnish, vinegar-mustard dressing)
- California Club Sandwich (Chicken, cheese, tomato, crispy bacon, lettuce and mayonnaise)
Dinner started with a couple of French bread balls accompanying a butter capsule. Followed by delicious food. Yes, very tasty food.
The Food:
- Yumm. A tasty salad. Perfectly seasoned and amazingly mixed. You can't expect better. I would come back just to try another of their salads.
- The club sandwich is one of the best you can have. A thin non chewy bread with a light sweet background taste that adds this unique magical spell to the preparation. A light sweet taste with tender chicken and some bacon that just melts under your teeth. The mayonnaise is not heavy and the vegetables are fresh. The most important thing is that the portion is very generous.
- The Sushi rolls are just perfect. Up to the standard of a fine Japanese restaurant. I devoured them all with no soya sauce. Juicy rice adequately cooked with the appropriate amount of rice vinegar. Soft and tasty avocado and a generous piece of fish stuffed in the middle. It's not just rice, but a taste of fresh fish.
The Things I loved:
- Nice soothing music
- Musical sounds of the water fountain enchants your senses
- A nice warm ambiance
- Professional waiters nicely dressed
- Professional cutlery service that comes with every plate served
- They use Galler 70% intense, dark chocolate served with the coffee
The desserts are awesome:
- Banoffi (banana, caramel, whipped cream, digestive cookie). A gentle caramel taste, cooked melting bananas, whipped cream you don't feel much. A light crunch followed by a mix of flavors that takes your taste buds on a beautiful trip.
- The baked cheese cake is mouthwatering. It's an orgasmic piece of art. As simple as it can be, it tastes heavenly good.
I would change:
- The heating process used for the bread is not good. It makes the bread chewy on the sides. Try the oven and not the microwave
- Cappuccino proposes three menus. One for the drinks, another for coffee and bites and a third for food. Two menus for food! You just don't know what to order and where to order it from. Different sandwiches are available in both. One has crunchy rolls while the other doesn't. Between the magazine and the three menus you feel like you're sitting behind an office desk full of papers. Combine them into one, less complication is what our advanced world is all about.
- The Japanese orders are Maki, not Sushi as mentioned on the menu.
Everything was really great. A fully positive experience with not a single negative minus. Keep up the good work guys and please don't cave into the shisha trend, stay unique in the area. Just know that the day you think of offering shisha to your guests, will be the day the closing down countdown!
