Cafe Nuga

A delicious fusion of flavours!

Café Nuga has been around for roughly one and a half years now, dishing up delicious fusion cuisines and healthy dishes that will satisfy any palette. Our first visit to the outlet left us more than satisfied but with their refurbished space and revamped menu, we couldn’t help but drop by for another review and let me tell you, we were blown away by the quality and consistency of the experience they provide.

Drinks

Café Nuga is BYOB so taking a nice bottle of your choice to accompany your meals would be ideal but their drinks menu is also extensive with a wide variety of non-alcoholic beverages to choose from.

Cookie Shake (LKR 530)

Rich and delectable, the cool thing about this drink is that the cookies used for this shake are made from scratch in-house! Not too sweet but decadent nevertheless, the glass is decorated with chocolate sauce and garnished with cookies for that added touch of authenticity, perfectly doubling up as a drink and dessert all in one!

Lemongrass Inspired Iced Tea (LKR 300)

Wanting to test out the quality and consistency from our last review at Café Nuga, we ordered the Lemongrass Inspired Iced Tea once again. What we found a little watery on our last visit was much more flavourful this time around with the lemongrass flavour coming through stronger than before. It was cool and very refreshing for a warm day. With the price tag staying the same yet flavour improving, we can’t help but classify this as a must have at Café Nuga.

Mains

Consisting of everything from rice to risotto to mixed grills, there’s something for everyone when it comes to the food at Café Nuga. Their new menu consists of a delectable range of fusion cuisines from roti sandwiches to string hopper kotthu and we couldn’t wait to dive in.

Spicy Fish Roti Sandwich (LKR 650)

Not expecting much from this dish because of how simple it sounds is a mistake. A delicious combination of spicy fish, cheese and onion sandwiched between two warm rotis and served with lunu miris, the flavour of this dish is lip smacking. The combination of spiced fish and cheese is uncommon but surprisingly delicious, and though the portion sounds small, it’s quite filling and we definitely recommend it!

Nuga Poke Bowl in Teriyaki Chicken (LKR 970)

Originating from Hawaii, there are different renditions of the poke bowl all over the world now and we’re so happy that this fun-to-eat dish has now made its way to our shores as well! Café Nuga’s version of this dish consisted of teriyaki chicken, sticky rice, shredded omelette, carrot, cucumber, red cabbage, corn, seaweed, pickled onion and pickled cucumber garnished with black and white sesame seeds. The elements of the dish was neatly laid out in their separate sections with the chicken topped off with a sauce and you can enjoy it as-is but we found that mixing it all up together made for a much better experience. The textures combined well and the dish was very filling but we found that the flavours were a little too mild for our Lankan palette. If you don’t like spicy food, this dish definitely caters to you.

Boneless Mutton String Hopper Kotthu (LKR 900)

Here’s the star of our lunch experience at Café Nuga! A mixture of chopped up string hoppers, carrots, egg, spring onions and tender fall-off-the-bone pieces of mutton topped with a sunny-side-up fried egg, served on a lotus leaf? Absolutely delicious! The flavours here were incredible with ample pieces of mutton making for a very satisfying meal that we were quite happy with.

Desserts

Apple Crumble Tart (LKR 350)

Nuga’s dessert menu changes from day to day with their sweet treats being showcased at the counter. They have a multitude of cakes and pies to choose from but what appealed to us the most this day was their apple crumble tart. Served with a generous bowl of ice cream on the side, the apple crumble comes warmed up and makes for a cool culinary journey when paired with the ice cream. Flavour-wise, it was good as well but we mostly just had fun eating it because of all the textural elements that come into play.

Ambience

Café Nuga has a whole bunch of seating options to choose from and they even have a private dining area perfect for those family dinners that can sometimes get too noisy. Their service is quite fast and their staff are quite familiar with the intricacies of the menu.

Tip – any of their Lankan fusion dishes are a good bet when you dine here!