Durban - At the Musgrave Centre, where there are many fast food joints, takes willpower to know which to avoid.
Fit Stop Café is halaal and has been in business for three months. It is perfectly located next door to the Muscle and Fitness Gym on the first floor of the shopping centre, an advantage for those who work out, because after your workout, you can take a relaxing and nutritious break at the café.
I’m the kind of person who does not enjoy having healthy food but at the same time want to lose some weight and keep healthy.
I have always told myself that healthy food is boring and not appetising, but after visiting Fit Stop Café my mind has slowly started to change.
I really enjoyed their food. The day I finally decide to commit to going to the gym and to keeping healthy, this is probably going to be my food spot.
It’s said “what you put in your body affects your performance all day”, and Fit Stop Café serves food that tastes as great as it makes you feel. All their meals are made with the freshest ingredients.
The café serves all things healthy, from nutritious sandwiches and smoothies to wraps and other meals.
It may be a tiny café that can accommodate a small number of people for sit-ins, but their menu is huge. There is so much to choose from, from oats, pancakes, wraps, smoothies, coffee to stir fry.
I had their smoked salmon with fat-free cream cheese, rocket, tuna with avo-ball, sweet corn with Melted cheese and air-fried chips.
The smoked salmon with fat-free cream cheese and rocket was a great starter meal which is low fat and we know smoked salmon is known to be rich in healthy essential fatty acids, I would recommend this dish any day.
The chips were made to perfection, the presentation was great and most importantly, the food was delicious. I also enjoyed their strawberry blaze smoothie.
Speaking to the café founder, Mahdiya (Michelle) Naik Rashid, she said the concept came about when she used to do restaurant reviews and all the fusion of food and flavour got to her that she started cooking food with no butter and oil. In 2014 she enrolled for a cooking course at the Fusion Cooking School and is the head-chef at the café. Rashid said the aim of the café is to help others who want to live healthily and happily. “I am very passionate about keeping fit and eating healthy. That’s also where the concept of opening my little café came from.
I am a personal trainer, nutritionist and also a head chef at my café. I also do lunch bags for kids offering them a balanced wholesome meal. We deliver to schools but orders need to be placed a week in advance for the week ahead,” she said.
* Fit Stop Café is open from Monday to Friday from 6am to
6pm and Saturday from 7am to 3pm and orders can be made via WhatsApp on 084 259 9275.
Orders can only be placed a day in advance and delivery is all around Durban.