Update: The cafe has closed for the time-being as they are in the process of relocating.
The Cricket Club Cafe is a favourite among both food lovers and cricket lovers alike. The food is good, the service is fast and they've got the theme down to a tee.
The Food
The Cricket Club Cafe is a tribute to all things cricket and nothing conveys this better than their menu. Each dish is named after current and retired cricketers like Murali's Mulligatawny, Pollock's Paella and Mahela's Matriciana. The menu is very extensive with a number of salads, pastas, and whole bunch of meat dishes to choose from. The prices are also not as high as you would expect for a restaurant of this standard, with the total coming to around Rs. 3500 for two. [Editor's Note: it still ain't cheap].
We had the Dilhara's Drover pie (Rs. 995), which is a lamb pie with a puff pastry served with fries. This one is really all about the lamb filling which tasted good with a well cooked strips of lamb, a thick gravy and good balance of spices. The puff pastry was baked golden brown with a nice crunch. Note that you can get mash on top as well.
The Miller's mixed grill (Rs. 975) was also quite good for the most part but there were a few things we weren't crazy about. It comes with a beef fillet, chicken sausage, chicken breast, beef liver, mashed potatoes, sauteed mushrooms and chicken bacon. We were happy with the beef fillet and the chicken breast which were cooked and seasoned well. The beef liver was interesting, I personally liked it but I can see it not being to the preference of some. It tastes somewhat like chicken liver but the meat is denser, kind of like a pate. What we didn't like was the chicken bacon, which was leathery and hardly had any flavour to it. If it isn't pork it isn't bacon. All in all it's still definitely worth the money.
We'd heard good things about the pavlova (Rs. 295) so we gave it a try and we were very impressed with it. You can choose from a combination of pineapple, mango, papaya along with passion fruit. We really couldn't find any fault in this one with just the right sweetness, a generous dollop of whipped cream and fresh fruits. It's very refreshing, and a great way to end a meal.
The Bradman special (Rs. 295) was the other dessert we tried. It comes with two buttermilk pancakes, bananas, peanuts, ice cream and a drizzle of sweet syrup. The pancakes were soft and fluffy with the contrast of the warm syrup and ice cream working brilliantly together along with the crunch of the peanuts. The bananas while fresh, were not fried as well as we would have liked and had a slightly soggy texture.
Ambience & Service
The Cricket Club Cafe is a cricket lover's paradise with cricket memorabilia adorning every wall and corner of the club. You'll find everything from signed bats, to photos, to framed newspaper cut outs and even the holy grail of local cricket history which is a '96 World Cup jersey. The club actually has way more seating than you would expect and the wooden furniture was surprisingly comfortable. The soft lighting is easy on the eyes and works brilliantly with the wooden interior, which gives a very premium club feel to it.
The service isn't the fastest we've come across but even on a pretty busy day the food came to the table in about 20 minutes, which we were fine with. The waiters while young, were very professional, well spoken and attentive.
Conclusion
The Cricket Club Cafe is a solid choice for a hearty meal, with good service and a unique setting. If you're looking to have good meal and watch a cricket match, we can't think of a better place.
