Hansa Coffee is a wonderful little cafe for coffee, tea, brownies, sandwiches, and original Hansa chocolate. We love their cosy interior and all the chocolatey options they’ve got on the menu.
Food & Coffee
They’ve got a few sandwiches here and we got the seeni sambol toast. It’s tasty (how can seeni sambol not be?) and not bad for Rs. 300.
They’ve also got a mean brownie here that has got the distinct taste of Hansa’s own chocolate, and comes in a decent size for just Rs. 150, so you can’t go wrong getting one of these. We also got the Brownie Shake (Rs. 350) to go with it and it’s one of my favourite drinks ever – it’s a very big chilled glass of super chocolatey milkshake with wonderful little bits of brownie in it.
They have plenty of interesting things on the menu, like Hot Chilli Chocolate, Ice Cream Soda, Chocolate Tea and Chocolate Protein Shake with Peanuts, though not everything is available all the time. We got a steaming cup of Espresso Chocolate Truffle. This was for Rs. 320 and it’s very thick and super chocolatey, so on a rainy day this is a perfect choice.
Ambience
Hansa Coffee is a cosy little room with a few cushy seats on wooden frames, about enough for 10 or 12 people – we included it in our list of Colombo Book Nooks. We usually see the same loyal customers that return for Hansa’s brand of chocolate and coffee. It’s also known for Colombo’s ‘Annasi & Kadalagotu’ poetry meetings. It’s small though, so it’s nice if there’s just two or three other customers but if there’s more it feels crowded.
The decor is pretty random and quirky, with these patterns painted on the kitchen door, and random things on the walls like a novelty Sri Lankan map, a tiny frame of Mona Lisa and a giant colourful lizard. Service is simple, you just make your order at the coffee counter and it arrives a few minutes later.
Conclusion
Hansa Coffee is a great place for your chocolate related needs and for a nice chill session with a friend or by yourself. And considering it’s a coffee lounge, the prices are good (Rs. 1000 for two of us).