Barnes Garden Cafe (Colombo Beach Hostel)
Barnes House Cafe is a venture by Colombo Beach Hostel in Mount Lavinia, and serves up some of the best grilled chicken dishes in town. Surrounded by turquoise doors, white walls, plenty of cut cement surfaces and a crowd of vines forming a leafy veil, the ambience itself is enough to make you fall in love with it. It's ideal for anything from meeting a friend to grabbing a cup of coffee with a book, for a little "me" time.
Canara Soup Cabin
Canara Soup Cabin is a gem of a restaurant in Piliyandala for anyone who's craving for a steaming bowl of soup. Almost all of their soups are priced under Rs. 400 and one bowl is easily enough for two. Our favourite was the Sweet Corn Soup, which had the perfect balance of being sweet, but not too sweet with plenty of corn swimming about.
1979 Coco Hut
Here's a spot to get a dose of good rice & curry this weekend – 1979 Coco Hut. It's the rice & curry counterpart of 1979 restaurant in Boralesgamuwa and they do an interesting spread of meat curries – varying from chicken, and beef to pork and mutton, as well as a lot of seafood – thalapath fish, prawns and cuttlefish which you can pair with white/red/yellow rice. They tend to run out fast, so make sure you get there as early as possible.
Jeff's Kitchen
Jeff's Kitchen is one of the tiniest food joints you're going to see in Colombo that offers up some superb fusion food. They're quite friendly on the wallet too – one can easily survive under Rs. 1000 here. We absolutely devoured their Deep-Fried Mullet that comes with coleslaw and paratha, and also the Devilled Prawns. Smothered in capsicum, onion, oil and sauce, it was the epitome of a solid devilled prawn that any Lankan would dream of.
Asian Gate Restaurant
The Asian Gate in Boralesgamuwa has good Sri Lankanised Chinese food for an affordable rate, and if you're looking for a quick fix without denting your wallet, this is the spot. Their ambience isn't the best, so we highly suggest you get the food to go.
Cafe 6-8
Cafe 6-8 is a tiny nook that lies on top of The Bera Store and fills the void of one highly anticipated need in Nugegoda – a spot to grab good coffee. They're still pretty new to the scene, but we quite enjoyed our First Look here. Their coffee is made of Riverston coffee beans, the snacks were pretty great and value for money too.
