Cafe Noir Petit is the cafe adjoining Dankotuwa Porcelain down Independence Avenue. Hidden amidst a very orderly jungle of ceramic bowls, teacups and plates lie a dedicated area to serving coffee, cakes and a couple of jumbo-sized buns and pastries that are usually found in their other counterparts, Cafe Noir and Cafe Noir Blanc.
Ambience
Note: Prepare yourself for a rant.
The ambience at Cafe Noir Petit is the absolute best part of the entire experience. No, we're not saying that the rest of the experience was anything close to bad, but, just look!
This is where you place your order. A neatly placed group of buns, pastries, cakes and cookies, it doesn't get much more cafe than this. It looks like a picture cut out of some magazine resembling a picture-perfect cafe. With comfy cushioned seats and marble tables, the downstairs sitting area is perfect for when you want to escape the Colombo heat, get a cup of coffee and read. However, this wasn't the best part of the ambience.
The key to finding Eden is to follow the trail of potted plants on a curved staircase.
Okay, so maybe we were exaggerating a bit when we called it Eden. But, it's still very pretty. Surrounded by flowers, comfy chairs and the warm glow of the ceramic showroom, the upstairs sitting area was an instant favourite of ours. Sure, it can get a tad warm because there aren't any fans or anything. That aside, it's the perfect spot to grab some iced tea and gossip.
The Food
The selection of food at Cafe Noir Petit stays true to its name, by being small. In terms of things savoury, they may have had around 5 options; nothing more, but as for cake and beverages, they're loaded.
*Pictured above – Polos and Cheese Bun, Polos and Cheese Puff and Chicken Bagel
The Polos and Cheese Bun (Rs. 220) you see on the left-hand corner was a giant jam bunnis shaped bun that was packed to the absolute brim with bits of curried up polos. With a wonderfully crunchy shell and a super soft bun on the inside, the blend of polos and cheese was actually quite nice. There wasn't much cheese going on, but the polos had been cooked to perfection with a heap of spices so there was enough flavour to savour. Nonetheless, we did think that it lacked a tad bit of salt.
So, funny story. We actually wanted the Chicken Pastry but wound up with the Polos and Cheese Puff instead (Rs. 250). While it is a bit of a shame that we couldn't get another filling, the polos and cheese pastry was, in itself, wonderful.
Crispy, buttery and just the ideal pastry, the shell of the delicacy was one of the nicest pastries we've had in a while. And this is coming from someone who positively hates pastries. Nevertheless, the filling was pretty much the same thing as the one in the bun. But, given how the pastry already had a few sharp salty kicks, the lack of it was in no way an issue.
The Chicken Bagel (Rs. 360) was probably our favourite of the 3. Packed with cubed up chicken, veggies and smothered in a creamy sauce, it ended up being brilliant. Creamy, with a deliciously soft bun, the veggies were super fresh and tasted quite light whilst being large enough to fill you right up.
The only thing we weren't all that crazy about was the Biscuit Pudding (rs. 400). Altogether too creamy, the pudding was not smooth, it had too much sugar involved and very little biscuits that varied between being too soggy and crunchy.
Out of the giant beverage menu, we decided to opt for the French Press (Rs. 450) and a Watermelon Juice (Rs. 300).
The French Press was essentially 2 teacups worth of well-ground coffee brewed to perfection served with 2 sachets of sugar and a small jug of warm milk. There was a thick layer of ground-up coffee at the coffee itself was a mix of a concoction that albeit rich was not very bitter. When asked what kind of coffee they used, the server informed us that they use a Dutch Blend.
I'm not a coffee connoisseur, but what I do know is Watermelon Juice and this particular glass was utterly beautiful. Not too sweet and icy cold, the juice was just blended up watermelon and was just perfect to get over the heat.
Service
The staff at Cafe Noir Petit was wonderful! Super friendly without being obtrusive in any way, she was one of the nicest servers we've encountered. Plus, not only did she seem positively ecstatic to see us, but she managed to bring our food within 10 minutes of us placing our order.
Conclusion
We like it. The staff was lovely, the space was great and the food didn't dissapoint as well. All in all, we can say with some confidence that Cafe NoirPetit is worth keeping a lookout for when you're looking for a place to chill.
