De Vos Café

Cozy, Chic, and Casual – De Vos Café is definitely doing it right!

The café scene is exploding here in Colombo and if you’ve still not found the café for you – De Vos Café is one place you should try out! De Vos Café blew up all over social media a few days ago with their stellar marketing skills, so we decided to drop by and check it out ourselves.

Being a quiet escape from the ever bustling streets of Colombo I’d be lying if I said I didn’t fall in love with the space almost instantly upon entering it. Though the café opened nearly a month ago, its cute exterior and quirky interior received many inquisitive visits! We were super excited to try out the food mainly because of its new twist on all-time local favorites.

While the front of the café seems quite small through the entrance which has roughly around 4 tables ideal for customers coming in for a quick bite – it extends to a cozy sitting area at the back which is followed by an outdoor lounge as well! The staff was nice, helpful, and were quite aware of all the dishes and the ingredients which went into it.

Drinks

Colombo’s Blackest Coffee – LKR 550
Since this coffee is one of the café’s signature beverages, we went ahead with it but had mixed feelings. On the good side, I had no clue how the coffee would taste because of the Ceylon Coconut Charcoal and spices used to make the beverage, however I was pleasantly surprised with the taste of Colombo’s blackest coffee – being served cold (perfect for a humid afternoon), the initial taste gives out a sweet touch to the strong coffee which is almost instantly followed by a light essence of spices : in short it brings out the contrasting flavors on your pallet – which is definitely worth the experience. However, I personally preferred and recommended a smaller glass as too much of it ends up being a tad bit bland after a certain point.

Rice and Shine – LKR 540

No – that wasn’t a typo. You read it correctly! Rice and Shine was a chilled beverage made using fresh pineapple, frozen raspberries, and rice water mixed with spices! I personally preferred this drink over the black coffee as it was quite refreshing. The spice and taste of the rice water was quite strong but I was able to get an essence of the other fruits included in the drink as well.

De Vos Café has many ‘House Specialties’ included in their menu which seems to have many natural, and healthy ingredient options. Shout out to the cute names they’ve given these beverages as well – Pickled Tink and Liquid Sunshine were among my favorites!

Mains

Naked Chicken Penne Alfredo Taco – LKR 990

This was recommended to us by the staff at Café De Vos, and the dish included a seasoned fried chicken taco shell with creamy penne in the center, served with a portion of salad or French fries. We were not asked which side portion we’d prefer so I recommend requesting it when you order. While this dish was pretty decent there is still room for improvement, the chicken taco was nice and crispy – however I’d have preferred more seasoning, that being said I simply loved the creamy penne which was warm and cheesy! The portion of salad was refreshing and light and it complemented the heavy meal.

English Pub Breakfast – LKR 990

Serving up an interesting All Day breakfast menu, we decided to try out the English Pub Breakfast, the dish looked quite filling and had what you would usually find in a breakfast meal. It came with a side of baked beans, a crispy hashbrown which was fried to perfection, mushrooms, two sunny side up eggs, cheesy sausages, and my personal favorite – bacon! We were also given toasted slices of bread with small servings of jam and butter as well. While this dish is more or less a traditional English breakfast – Its nothing too fancy, but serves the purpose. I’d recommend this dish if you’re heading over to finish up some work and you’re not in a mood to experiment with different dishes!

Dessert

Choc Croc – LKR 290

I also tried out their twist on a local favorite – imagine our popular ‘Kibula Bunnis’ stuffed with Nutella? Yup – that’s exactly what I had! Being a massive sweet tooth, I actually liked the product but then again, it really depends on the person as it tends to get a tad too sweet towards the end.

That being said, I give a thumbs up to De Vos Cafe for their innovative twist on its beverages and new takes on local dishes. A special mention should go out to their variety of in-house mousses which I was personally too full to try (but do feel free to let us know how it was in the comments section).

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Disclaimer: Pulse’s restaurant reviews are 100% unbiased. On no account do we claim to be qualified food critics; our aim is to simply share our personal experiences and  opinions with our readers.