Movenpick joined the list of hotels in CMB a while back. The Lobby Lounge is their coffee stop/cafe, that resides in the lobby.
Upon finding that they had an express panini lunch, we knew that we had to visit them. Thus, come one fine afternoon, we dropped in for a look.
The Ambience
The space here is quite limited. However, the accompanied high ceilings, and great placement of furniture, has been able to stray the space from seeming to be cramped. Instead, it seemed to scream a sort of intimacy that makes you feel really comfortable. Plus, the warm colour palette makes it extra wonderful.
Dining here gives slight impressions of dining in a tea room out of an Enid Blyton storybook, which we liked.
Food
Given the fact that it's a cafe, the food aspect of things rotated themselves around cakes, pastries, desserts and of course, paninis, as we mentioned earlier.
Packed to the brim with a mix of cheese, tomatoes, chicken and thinly sliced spinach, we loved their Roast Chicken Panini (Rs. 450). Toasted to the point of being almost biscuitlike on the outside but moist on the in, the panini was served in a portion more that's than enough to fill anyone up.
The filling, was a cheesy bitter concoction – the bitter aspect coming from the spinach. While I'm not a very big fan of spinach, I didn't mind this one because apart from that slight bitter tinge that hit, the rest in the mix was able to balance it out very well. Our only issue with this was the fact that the cheesy sauce was a tad too watery which kept making it ooze out, with the chicken.
Next up, we decided to go for a slice of their Black Forest Cake (Rs. 222). Coming in a giant slice fit for two, this was probably my favourite part of coming here. The cake was deliciously moist and beautifully dense, wasn't overly sweet, with most of the sweetness seeping in from the whipped cream, and the little bits of cherry embedded gave it a fruity kick, which made the whole thing so so much better.
We were told that it used to be hella boozy back then, but they decided to tone it down a notch after getting multiple complaints from customers, complaining particularly about the amount of booze in the cake. Oh well.
Another item they have available is Ice cream. Coming at Rs. 445, the Swiss Chocolate Ice Cream was heavenly! Creamy and rich to the point of seeming like it was just chocolate, this one wowed us. Plus, it has loads of solid flakes of chocolate embedded everywhere which makes this, quite literally, every chocoholic's dream come true.
Last, of all, we have the Cinnamon Frappe. Coming at Rs. 422. Icy with lots and lots of dusted cinnamon everywhere, we loved it! I mean, what's not to love? It's like the posh version of a slushie!
With chipped ice taking the place of the majority of the glass while the milk and coffee blended in so well, it was light, not too sweet and perfect for getting you out of the heat. The delicious amount of cinnamon dusted whipped cream was a delight too.
Service
Like in most hotels in and around Colombo, the staff at Movenpick, too, was wonderful in making us feel super welcome. Honestly, the staff treat you like you come here every day. They were that nice.
After recommending certain dishes, they managed to bring our panini within 20-30 minutes of ordering, with the cakes and such coming out immediately after ordering.
Conclusion
In conclusion, we absolutely loved this one. The food was fantastic, the staff, exceptionally kind and the ambience great as well. Plus, our bill came to a total of around, Rs. 1,800, which is brilliant. Would definitely recommend it.
