PUPPETS RESTAURANT & CAFE — Restaurant in Galle

I have travelled the world extensively over 40 years. I ate at all restaurants ranging from pop & mom’s to Michelin three stars. This is my honest review of the restaurant Puppets.

I had the pleasure of enjoying breakfast at this delightful restaurant/café in the Old Town of Galle in Sri Lanka, and it was an exceptional experience from start to finish.

The indoor section is refreshingly cool with rotating fans, offering a calm and cozy atmosphere. The decor is charming and eclectic, featuring a library, art pieces, books, statues, and even the famous puppets of the region—adding a cultural and artistic touch to the ambiance.

As for the food, everything I tried was excellent. I started with a French Crepe topped with cinnamon, lime, and honey. The flavors were perfectly balanced—subtly sweet with a fantastic dough texture. The carrot-ginger booster drink was not only vibrant in color but also delicious, and the lime-coconut lime juice had that distinct and refreshing coconut flavor.

For dessert, I had a ginger cake, which was well-made with a noticeable ginger flavor—though slightly on the sweet side for my taste. The small fruit platter featured an excellent selection of fresh and perfectly ripe fruits. I rounded off the meal with a cup of green tea and an espresso, both served with care in elegant tea and coffee serviceware.

The staff were another highlight: friendly, welcoming, and efficient, making the experience even more enjoyable.

The only downside is that the toilets could use some improvement: the semi-open door doesn’t provide full privacy, the entrance is quite narrow, the cleanliness could be better, and there was no towel to dry hands. While this doesn’t overshadow the overall experience, it’s an area that could be enhanced to align with the otherwise high standards of the café.

A highly recommended spot for breakfast or any meal in the Galle Old Town area. It’s a wonderful blend of great food, inviting ambiance, and warm hospitality.

They also...

Il bar è anche carino, ma mi è stato servito un sandwich con del pane così duro e raffermo che non sono riuscita nemmeno a tagliarlo con il coltello, ho potuto mangiare solo il ripieno. Quando l'ho fatto presente non ho ricevuto risposta, in compenso mi è stato fatto pagare il conto pieno. Per favore, evitate di servire i sandwich se non avete il pane fresco, è stato il peggior pasto di tutto lo Sri Lanka :(

In response to the owner (or whoever): it's very sad to see how, to a review based on facts and moderate in tone, the response received consists of a series of assumptions and personal prejudices. What is the point of doing tourist hospitality if you can't even suspect - I don’t even say accept - differences?

I apologize if I did not fully understand the meaning of the dish, but in practice, the bread was truly impossible to chew. In this case, as a humble customer, I suggest updating the menu description to avoid misunderstandings. I politely called your waiter to my table and simply said that the bread was very hard, demonstrating with the knife and hands that its consistency made it inedible, without speaking English quickly (it is not my language, I wouldn't be able to) or with anger. Having received no feedback and finding no other staff, when I finished the edible part (the filling), I paid and left. Since, besides being an infallible restaurateur, it seems that you are also an expert life coach, I really thank you for this lesson on how to travel and eat...

In summary: Nice location, but the food was mediocre and the service uncomfortable.

The restaurant looks nice, right in the center of Galle Fort, and it is tastefully decorated. Unfortunately, that is about the most positive part. I ordered the chef’s special black pepper beef potato curry (no prices listed on the menu for that one, foolish of me), a chocolate coconut mousse, a beer, and an espresso. The curry portion was one of the smallest I have had in Sri Lanka, and the meat was, to be honest, tough. The curry itself was almost nonexistent, which made the whole dish rather sad. The chocolate mousse was nice enough but lacked creaminess. While the other curries were around 2,000 rupees, I had to pay 3,300 rupees for this tiny chef’s special. Quite something, really.

At first, I found the waiter friendly and personable, but then he kept coming back every five minutes to ask if everything was okay and whether I would leave a positive review. In return, I was even offered an extra cookie with my coffee for the positive review, and no, I am not joking. I was sitting on the terrace, trying to focus on my food most of the time, but somehow the waiter always managed to appear in my line of sight, no matter which way I looked, to ask if I would write a good review. Sometimes even calling out from the street side. Eventually, I felt so uncomfortable that after paying the bill, I slipped out the moment he was not looking. Somehow it reminded me all of a...