Kat's Coffee is an inconspicuous little coffee shop on Unawatuna's Galle Road. With it's glass-walled exterior and bright blue hoarding, it looks minimalistic. The interior is similar: unpretentious, comfortable, and unique.
Ambience and Service
With two ends of the spacious dining area being clear glass walls, there's more than enough natural lighting. It's got your typical comfortable coffee-shop decor, with little artsy touches here and there akin to Black Cat, Cafe Kumbuk et all. What I found most interesting was the seating: where basic dining tables and chairs didn't play a part, they've customized their lounging areas.
The couches are a cross between a bed and a large couch, with a basic frame, rope-knitted base, and a mattress/ large wadded seat. There's low music thrumming in the background, pretty decent Wifi, and a few books and games on the shelves.
The bright-eyed lady behind the counter seems to run the place single-handedly, and does a great job. She bakes killer bread, and was friendly and attentive without smothering us by hovering around all the time.
Food and Drink
They offer up a cheese and tomato sandwich for Rs. 500. While this is undoubtedly expensive for merely cheese and tomato, it's made with some absolutely delicious home-made bread — which justifies the price. We considered asking for extra slices of bread, because it was that good. It was thick, somewhat dense and cakey in texture, with a hint of sweetness that wasn't artificial as the sweetness you get from mass-sold bread.
They use Soul Coffee, and make a pretty decent cuppa. We tried their Espresso Macchiato (Rs. 320). It was good: not burnt, not unbearably bitter, and perfectly spotted with a bit of foamed milk.
The two sodas we tried were super refreshing.
There was a bit of unexpected sugar syrup at the bottom of the Lime and Mint which we really disliked because it hit us suddenly like a ton of saccharine bricks, but until then the drink was sprightly and not-too-sweet. The Lemongrass Soda was my favourite because of how well the flavour came through. Both sodas were Rs. 250 each.
We had a slice of cheesecake (Rs. 350). It was ungarnished, smooth, and creamy. The base was very light, and I personally think it could have had a firmer biscuit base — but that's my own preference. Overall, they've nailed their cheesecake as well.
Conclusion
Kat's Coffee is a welcome surprise on an unexpected stretch of road mostly filled with turtle hatcheries, palm trees, and a railway track. It's a very chilled out spot where you can spend a few hours without being hassled or hurried. The food is great, as are the drinks we tried. We'd give them an all out Five Star review, if they had a few more options for food. The only thing available when we went, was the sandwich (and cake). Give it a try when you're in the area!
