The Hangover Cafe in Mirissa is adjoining the vibrant Hangover Hostel, and has proved popular with both tourists and locals. They've got a prime location just across the road from the beach, because we all know that the only thing better than a post-food nap is a post-food nap on the beach.
Food
The Suicide Burger (Rs. 1400), is a less synthetic Big Mac, and comes with two massive beef patties (separated by a third slice of burger bun), plus the usual lettuce, tomatoes, cheese, and a fried egg. It's served up on a cute little wooden mini-surfboard, and both the surfboard and the toothpick flag on the burger tell you to 'eat … live … love', which sounds like a tattoo Guy Fieri would have. The burger patties were a little too rare for our liking, and the burger has to be separated into two for you to be able to bite into it. The sauce on the side was great, as were the fat chips, which are far superior to skinny fries.
The Veggie Burger (Rs. 600) was pretty yet problematic, as the patty was very noticeably undercooked. The bun was toasted, which was nice, and the combination of sauces tasted good. The undercooked patty really killed the whole thing though, as you couldn't really taste anything in the patty itself, and you also run the risk of having a side of food poisoning alongside the burger.
The Beef Burger (Rs. 850) is a classic, and Hangover Cafe really stuck to the basics with this one: toasted bun, beef patty, cheese, lettuce, tomatoes. The burger, again, was rarer than I'd have liked, but this one is quite a good bet if you're craving a classic cheeseburger. The only thing I could suggest is a little special sauce to jazz it up and really set it apart, apart from the standard mayo and ketchup.
The Mushroom Pasta (Rs. 550) was truly the best of the lot, ironically for a place that places more focus on their burgers. The spaghetti wasn't overcooked, the mushrooms were generous and the sauce was perfect. A lot of white sauces tend to taste more creamy than cheesy, but this one had the creamy consistency while retaining the cheese taste. It's also not sickening, like a lot of creamy pastas are, and I could legitimately eat this every day if it wouldn't give me heart disease.
Drinks
The Lime Iced Tea (Rs. 350) came in these cute little jars with handles, and also with lime slices floating around inside the jars for aesthetic appeal. The tea was quite strong, and contained zero sugar (as far as I could taste). This one's a nice change from usual iced teas, most of which overdo the sugar. The taste of the tea really comes through, and it's a nice refresher.
Service
The service was quite good, and our waiter was both accommodating and friendly. The food did take a fair amount of time to come, even though there were maybe 10 people at the cafe at the time. The wait would have been fine, however, if not for the fact that all our burger patties were undercooked.
Ambience
The cafe is open air, which means you get to take full advantage of the sea breeze coming in from across the road. If it's a particularly hot day and that's not enough, they've also got a bunch of stand-fans facing each table. It's colourful and cheery, with various murals and drawings on pretty much all its walls. Everything is a primary colour, and the natural light complements all the colour. They also have free Wi-Fi!
Overall
The Hangover Cafe serves up exactly what you'd want to shove your face into after a long day at the beach. Although they've gained popularity for their burgers, their pasta was the real winner here. On our visit the burgers were average, but hopefully that's just a one-off as we've heard good things about them!
