Food & Drinks

The usual Colombo-cafe fare can be spotted here - from soups, salads, sandwiches, pasta, to coffee, tea, and shakes etc. Some of their dishes come with a very Lankan zing to it, which is not something that you come across in every cafe in the city. Pol Roti Kottu, Kochchi Chicken Waffle, Pol Roti Sandwich with Jaffna Prawns, Kalupol Chicken Roast Paan - to name a few. 

In a world that "cheese" counterpart of a kottu gets substituted by milk, The Cauldron's Three Cheese Kottu (Rs. 800) is an absolute treat! Smothered with three kinds of cheese - mozzarella, cheddar and parmesan, its base contains pol roti, and not godamba. The coconutty factor in the pol roti here is sort of low, so it doesn't add any weird flavours into the mix, which we liked. 

Presenting pieces of spring onion, and a sprinkle of pepper and chilli flakes giving the spicy kicks, it's a good portion - sharable between two if you're not very hungry. 

However, it might not be for everyone, given that it's not like your regular roti kottu. So better keep that in mind and decide. Sweet bubble waffles are easy to locate, but not the savoury kind, which is why we grabbed this Cheesy Chicken Waffle (Rs. 600) from The Cauldron.

Fluffly, light, not sweet, eggy nor doughy in any way, they had nailed the flavour of this waffle to match with the elements it comes with. The entire waffle was covered with warm cheese sauce, had some chilli flakes slipped in, while the diced chicken on top was wrapped in a thin batter coating.

To make things even more interesting, they had included a bit of chopped kochchi. However, we can certainly use some more of that because it takes a bit more than a pinch of kochchi to appease our Lankan palates. 

Almost every bite of this was packed with cheesy, and chickeny goodness, while a few of them had a spicy punch from kochchi. This is definitely one of the best savoury waffles I've had in a while. 

*Pictured above - Butterbeer and The Cauldron Blend (Rs. 600)

A refreshing glass of milkshake concocted with vanilla ice cream, coffee, and kithul treacle, The Cauldron Blend (Rs. 600) arrived with a blob of whipped cream on top. It's sweet, but not annoyingly so, as the coffee nicely balances it out. We'd have liked it more if the kithul treacle flavour was a bit stronger than this. 

The showstopper was the Butterbeer (Rs. 600). We were told that based on the feedback they've received so far, it's a love-it-or-hate-it kinda drink, and we happen to belong to the former. 

Essentially tasting like a float made with soda, butter and caramel extracts, with a very subtle swirl of lemon flavour running through, it had just the right amount of sweetness and was quite delicious. Mind you, there's no escaping the inevitable foam moustache! 

 

 

 

 

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A post shared by THE CAULDRON (@the_cauldron_sl) on Aug 30, 2019 at 1:01am PDT

Ambience & Service

If you haven't been to Cauldron yet, you should know that the interior of this cafe has nothing to do with cauldrons. It's a normal cafe with visible brick walls here and there and has plenty of space.

Nothing in the interior has changed over the years, probably because the current one seems to work out quite fine for them. The walls covered with Che Guevera memorabilia are still there, while the seating options vary from wooden table and chairs to cosy, comfy sofas.  

It's a place popular for many encounters - from coffee dates, friends lunch/dinner out, to open mics and as a space to get some work done. 

In terms of service, we didn't run into any problems. Our order was taken by a very friendly staff member behind the counter, and the food and drinks landed on our table within around 15 minutes. Given that they had a lot of customers at the time, their efficiency is pretty impressive. 

Conclusion

Much like our previous visits, we enjoyed our experience at The Cauldron this time as well. They're not unfairly priced, consistent on the quality, and do a good job putting local spins on Western delicacies while providing a good hangout spot.