Right at the entrance of Marine City in Dehiwala sits Coffeero – a spacious, not so small eatery of a coffee shop. We dropped in for a lunch.
The Food
Although Coffeero is essentially a cafe, their display section says otherwise. One side of the place is dedicated to pastry, cakes, and short eats, and the other saves itself for rice, curries, rotis and such.
We started off with the Stuffed Chilli. A capsicum wrapped in a crispy pastry coating awaited us on this one. For Rs. 80, it was quite good. The pastry was puffy and flaky, while the filling was not too spicy and very fishy. All in all, we have absolutely nothing to complain about on this one.
The Devilled Fish Bun (120) was extremely saucy. With fresh bread and generously chunky pieces of onion, fish and tomato, everything worked out well in this one.
Moving on to the Scotch Egg ( Rs. 70) – well, this is no scotch egg by any means. Instead of the half boiled egg, covered in sausage and breadcrumbs, we got an egg cutlet. Anyway, as an egg cutlet, it was alright. A bit soggy, not much crust but a nice-ish fish filling – we can't really write an ode to a cutlet so we're gonna move on.
The Vege Pastry (Rs. 60) however, was quite bland. With bits of potato and carrot in the filling, it didn't have any spices to save grace.
Rice
Priced at Rs. 280, their Savoury Rice was superb! The rice was packed with spices. So much so that you could eat it without the curries and be utterly satisfied. Nevertheless, one cannot easily forget about the curries. Fresh, perfectly cooked and boasting a rich curry flavour, this place seems to know their way around the Lankan palate.
Coffeero had a whole 5-8 feet of the display dedicated to cakes alone, and we were quite happy with this slice of Triple Layer Mousse Cake (Rs.180). It's a construction of cake, mousse and ganache and trust me – it's worth every cent you pay for it.
The chocolate cake part was moist and incredibly chocolatey, while the mousse was deliciously thick and absolutely creamy. The ganache on top was a velvety layer of gorgeousness which we gulped down within minutes. Plus, it's a massive slice, so take a friend with you if you're planning to get this.
The Drinks
Coffeero as the name so subtly suggests is a coffee shop. Sadly, it's not their forte. They have a few caffeinated options, but nothing to write home about.
We ordered an Espresso (Rs. 330), but what we got was this. It looked, and tasted a lot like a Cappuccino, and not a very good one at that.
The milk was a tad overdone so it tasted kinda sweet. It's your average cappuccino, nothing stood out.
Apart from coffee, they also have a range of fresh fruit juices and soft drinks. We managed to snag a Watermelon Juice (Rs. 200) and an Orange Juice (Rs. 250) which were surprisingly good. Freshly squeezed, the Orange Juice had the perfect amount of tanginess and sweetness to go with it and the Watermelon was super sweet and perfect for a hot day. The sweetness seemed to come more from the fruit than added sugar. So, Rejoice!
Service & Ambience
Here's where things go downhill a bit. The uncle who served us the Espresso was a ray of sunshine, but the guy who took our order and waited for us wasn't all that friendly. He looked quite annoyed by us being there for some reason.
They have a whole bunch of goodies written on the 'specials' boards outside, the staff isn't particularly thorough with it. When we asked them if they had anything else other than what's on their display, they just shrugged and showed us the rice section. Confusing.
With wooden tables, chairs and air conditioning, it's like the everyday fancy-ish family restaurant you get around the country. It's clean and well maintained, but nothing to brag about.
Conclusion
Coffeero is a pretty decent spot if you're around Dehiwala and in need of a snack. Their rice and curry is brilliant, and the short-eats aren't bad either. Pricewise, it's quite affordable, so it won't leave a dent in your wallet.