Believe it or not, there are tonnes of stuff that you can do in Negombo, and trying out different restaurants is a MUST! From fancy dining spots to petti kadeys, Negombo's streets are made of restaurants, serving up various cuisines – Sri Lankan, Italian, Western, Chinese and whatnot.
We spent a weekend down here and while looking for a place to grab an early breakfast, we came across this charming little restaurant called Pancake House. As the name implies, they do a range of Sri Lankan styled pancakes paired with some great fillings.
Food
Aside from the pancakes, they have an extensive menu which includes soups, salads, noodles, sandwiches, rice centered specialities, curries and even pizza. The pancakes include both sweet and savory fillings, and we tried four of them – Mixed Meat, Mixed Seafood, Cheese, and Apple.
The Mixed Meat Pancake (Rs. 480) came as a brilliant meat concoction of chicken, beef, and mutton wrapped in a tumeric infused crepe. It was a generous filling, that oozed out with a nice peppery flavor along with plenty of juicy bits of slightly caramelized tomatoes, capsicum and onions to go around.
The crepe itself was freshly made, not oily with a few crispy edges here and there.
The Mixed Seafood Pancake (Rs. 480) was almost similar to the mixed meat one, except they’ve replaced the meat with seafood. It's still good, with chewy bits of prawns, cuttlefish and fish cooked well and seasoned adequately.
If you're a turophile like me, the Cheese Pancake (Rs. 410) is the safest bet. Not only does it have a tonne of grated cheese embedded on the pancake, it was well stuffed with cream cheese too. It would be a crime not to indulge in this delicacy if you're ever in Negombo.
We were quite surprised by the flavor of Apple Pancake (Rs. 390), which was simply the best out of the lot. It had a good deal of bits of apple, soaked in kithul treacle and drizzled with some more kithul treacle on top. The fresh, sweet taste of the apple elvated the flavor even more, and each bite was better than the previous one. So, so good!
Drinks
Pancake House does a good glass of Orange Juice (Rs. 230) – very orangey, thick and with perfect consistency. Although, it was kinda too sweet for our taste because of the added sugar.
Aside from juices, they also have pots of Coffee (Rs. 250) and Tea (Rs. 180) which can be easily shared between three people.
Ambience & Service
Pancake House is not a fancy restaurant, but it's maintained well, and the owner's place is literally behind the restaurant itself. It's run by a sweet family, and they're quite friendly, prompt and helpful with the order.
Overall
For us Sri Lankans, pancakes are more of a evening snack, but having tried these made us realize how good they are as a breakfast as well. They were delicious, and filling, which left us full for hours. Unlike the other restaurants around, Pancake House is open from 9am every day – which makes it the perfect place to gobble down some yummy pancakes whenever you're in Negombo.
