After a rather under whelming meal at the Angler we walked the 10 or so meters to La Rambla(Spanishish/Mediterraneaish restaurant) to grab some dessert; the blackboard advertising crème brulee parcels and tropical fruit pavlova proved irresistible.
I have a soft spot for La Rambla on account of its location- cafe style in the front section of an airy old house down a quiet lane in Mt Lavinia. Outside of the busy school rush hour this is a good spot from which to appreciate Mt Lavinia’s oasis of calm in the city’s southern sprawl. In the evenings it’s particularly pleasant and just wandering up and down the lanes nearby is a lesson in colonial architecture.
While it benefits from a lovely location the food at La Rambla has never struck me as exceptional (its been downright disappointing at times) but on a sweltering afternoon we were desperate for a cold drink and something sweet so we piled in and ordered the dessert platter (Rs 600) and a pavlova (Rs 400).
On the strength of past performances we didn’t have particularly high expectations but the platter – crème brule parcels (basically just fried custard tarts but yummy), tiramisu (Sri Lanka buffet style), brownie (OK), and ice cream (fine) actually hit the spot. The pavlova- mango, papaya, custard on a meringue base wasn’t your classic Australian confection but succeeded as the meringue was good.
In sum the desserts were pretty passable, the prices fine and add to that the very pleasant location and you have a good spot for an evening cup of coffee and spot of dessert.
We didn’t try anything savoury but our dessert experience was sufficiently satisfying that we will definitely return for a proper meal in due course.
