The Gallery Café — Restaurant in Colombo

WOW, that was a big moment for me, to sit in the famous architect Bawa's former office. It is an absolutely outstanding charming little building. A fantastic oasis with a great atmosphere where you get a break from the busy and noisy town of Colombo. On top they can also make great food, actually the best we got in Sri Lanka. If Michelin ever comes to Sri Lanka, Gallery Café will certainly be a obvious candidate. Saturday Lunch 4/1-2025: I got a prawn and lobster salad, and both prawn and lobster were perfect. I was ready to order an extra dish. My wife ordered two dishes, and she declared it was the best food so far in Sri Lanka. Also the service was in top. I decided to change table, as I found the chairs in the yard a bit uncomfortable, and they arranged it right away to some more comfortable chairs in Mr. Bawa's main architectural drawing room. So we decided to make a reservation for the Sunday evening. Sunday dinner 5/1-2025 We were so happy to be back to this peaceful place with the great service. We chose two cocktails with the local spirit Arrack, named Passion in Paradise and Passion fruit Daiquiri. They were both the best cocktails we got in Sri Lanka, so we reordered after dinner., For starter my wife chose the gazpacho, and claimed it was super. I am sorry to admit that I again chose the prawn and lobster salad. It is so delicious. For main dish my wife chose the pan fried seer (King Mackerel) it came with an outstanind coconut milk rizotto, she declared it one of the best fish dishes she ever got. I took the classical Sri Lankan Prawn Curry dish, to make a comparison. The curry and prawns were perfect. What made the dish stand out from the standard was the very nice accompaniments of a little cucumber salad and some pickled red onion. My wife got a very good classical straight forward Sauvignon Blanc. I went with the local Lion lager. We finished with the homemade absolutely yummy coconut ice cream. This certainly convinced us about the high quality. But it was also the highest bill we had in Sri Lanka, for Europeans still rather moederately priced for the quality we got. If we ever come back to Sri Lanke, we will secure more than one...

Visited last night (17/11) for a lovely dinner with my partner for her birthday. The restaurant is very easy to find, residing on a very peaceful road. The location is ideal for anyone exploring Colombo as the inner city is in easy reach and the coastline is only a moment away.

The atmosphere here feels elegant. It doesn't feel like the restaurant is trying too hard. The lighting is soft, there is a calm ambience that not many restaurants can achieve. The décor is perfectly thought of. There isn't too much going on, no sensory overload with clutter or too many tables and chairs. The perfect amount of "stuff".

There were many waiters working on our visit. Service was pretty good. You didn't feel ignored and also you didn't feel like eyes were constantly upon you.

The food was good. I would like to return and try more from the menu. Their menu, although not exactly overbearing and large, seem to have a lot to choose from. I'm unsure what identity the restaurant has when it comes to the food. This point slightly disappoints me.

For starters we had the Chicken soup and Quail egg salad. Both were delicious. I was very surprised how well both dishes tasted. We both decided to go for the Coq au vin for our mains. On hindsight this was a mistake. Altho the main course had good flavour and the chicken was cooked well, it felt slightly stodgy and quite heavy. However, this is not a fault of the restaurant and if anything this gives us reason to return to try something else.

There is a large drinks selection on offer, unfortunately my choice of wine wasn't available. It would have been nice to be given this information beforehand.

The gallery cafe lived up to its name with a few very interesting art works on display, but all done by one artist. I think it would be great if there were other types of art from different artists to look at.

All in all I really liked my visit here. The vibes were unique, elegant and calm. The service was really good and the...

Walking in to see a rat I thought was a squirrel near the beautiful tree wasn't the best introduction. On to the restaurant itself... it doesn't matter if the food is good. Should the service be poor, which it was then there's no reason to return. Was first introduced to this restaurant by Mr. Fernando when I stayed at his beautiful hotel in Colombo. Always remembered it fondly. On this next visit to the capitol decided to go again. Which I did twice for dinner during my three nights. On my last night it was the absolute worst experience. Was the first to arrive and first to have order taken. After others arrived and their food started to drop at their tables I had nothing. So I asked about the delay and the waiter asked me to tell him what I ordered again. This is after sitting for an hour. The waiter did not notice my table with no food while serving others their food. This should have made him think to check on my order with the kitchen. He did not. Complete untrained and unaware. Was told he forgot about my starter. Which led me to ask, understand that, then why didn't he bring my main course? What a complete disaster. I had to start all over again after all this time sitting there with no food. The cafe is a lovely environment but sadly the service and attention is quite bad for a restaurant on this level. Mc Donalds's has a better trained staff than The Gallery Cafe. To be further insulted they send me the bill with a service charge! As if they provided a service that I should pay for. Asked them to remove it cnsidering there was no service at all. One doesn't go to a restaurant to leave angry. Was expecting a good time on my last night in the city Instead The Gallery Cafe has me never ever wanting to return to this tragic...