The Coffee Bean & Tea Leaf are expanding, what with their initial outlet at Maitland Crescent, another outlet at Liberty Plaza, and their third now at Galle Road. It's a fast evolving franchise, and seems set to become Colombo's next Barista except with higher prices. This outlet is situated right next to Fifth Lane, and has a spacious, nice interior with your staple Coffee Bean meals, including breakfasts, fancy frappes, and regular cuppas.
Food and Service
The food is on the pricier end of the spectrum, with salads and wraps being around Rs. 700 and above. I've heard that their breakfast deals are worth it though. We'll check out their breakfasts soon, but until we wake up early enough for that, we settled with the plain croissants (Rs. 420) and the Mini Tuna Puff (Rs. 170).
The croissant comes with a small tub of jam and anchor butter. They used to use Jagro jam, but now it's a bright red sugary substance which didn't look too appealing so I skipped that (sorry). The pastry in itself was nice and warm, a bit dry compared to the ones we get at Whight, but not too bad. Swathe it in butter and it's quite nice with your cup of single shot macchiato (Rs. 520).
Coffee next, the macchiato was slighly bitter but had a good flavour going, so the after taste wasn't unpleasant. There was also a generous spotting of cream in it, and the caffeine in it works well enough to wake you up instantly, even if you have a high tolerance for coffee.
We also tried their Mini Tuna Puff with a Cafe Latte (Rs. 670). The Latte comes in an enourmous glass, quite tall, and large enough for two people unless you really want it all for your own. I found it a little too milky and light for my liking, but Dinesh said it was perfect.
The tuna puff meanwhile, was spicy but not overpoweringly so. The pastry was softer than that of the croissant, which was nice, and the stuffing had a rather curry-like tinge to it which caters to the local palate.
Service is fast, efficient and friendly. The staff greets you as soon as you enter, and bids adieu with a smile when you're ready to leave. It's nice to have caring staff at places, and great to see this grow among Colombo's eateries now.
Ambience
We're seeing more and more of glass-walled spaces, and we love it.
There's natural light aplenty, and the furniture is well spaced out and minimalistic. There's music playing in the background which makes for white noise, and it's overall very clean and well-maintained (tbh it is a new space though).
Conclusion
If you want to splurge on generic food (think: croissants, pastries, salads), head over here. They also (obviously) have coffees and their signature ice-blended, which is like crushed ice, practically. Service is commendable and quick, but there's not much value for money if you think about it.
