Dilmi Roti Shop is one of the many little roti kades in Mirissa. It’s also identifiable as ‘Beach Corner’, near the Udupila junction. If you’re new to down-South roti shops (in which case, get out from under that rock), these places serve rotis filled with anything – not just ordinary savouries (egg, fish, chicken) but fun stuff like banana, avocado, pineapple, cheese and chocolate.
The Rotis
The rotis are usually for about Rs. 100 – 140, while egg and plain rotis are for about half that price. At Dilmi, we went for the classic pani-pol roti (coconut and honey), and it was pretty great, with a nice thick layer of pol. There’s a guy who walks by and offers to pour kithul over your rotis (tip: pour kithul over everythang). The rotis itself were thin and soft and freshly made.
Chocolate rotis – you get them in a lot of aappa kades in Colombo also – basically full of real, melted chocolate. Impossible to go wrong with this one, if you ask me. This was tasty, but we’ve had better in terms of the quantity of chocolate.
We liked the pineapple the best, the flavour was pretty memorable – the roti was stuffed with freshly chopped cubes of pineapple. Go for the fruits and roti combo if you’re here, it works well with the kithul.
A lot of kades make the mistake of making their drinks too watery – so we were impressed by how good our avocado milkshakes were. At Rs. 140 each, these weren’t too thick but just the right amount of milky.
Service & Ambience
We’d already visited Dewmini roti shop (which is supposed to be great for rotis), but they were closed because it was Independence Day, and Samagi Cream House was all out of roti because it was the late afternoon – so we arrived at an empty looking Dilmi, exhausted and skeptical. But the roti-making guy at the counter smilingly told us he’d make us a fresh batch. You can watch him at his work station making the rotis and folding them into little roti-envelopes.
This is basically a small, clean roadside kade, plastic chairs and all. They also do some typical Western dishes, and you’ll mostly see foreigners from the nearby hotels frequenting the area. A skip across the road will you take you to the lovely Mirissa beach stretch. We were told the shop doesn’t have a closing time – they close when there are no more customers.
Conclusion
Dilmi Roti Shop is an easily accessible place to sample some simple down South sweet (and savoury) rotis. It’s by no means the best place for rotis – the rotis here could use more stuffing – but it still works, if you’re in the mood for a quick dessert or refreshing milkshake before heading to the beach.
