Cafe Ivy — Restaurant in Western Province

We heard so much about the place and wanted to try it out , entered the cafe and there was no greeting or welcome , we went outside and seated ourselves .

A waiter emerged 5 minutes later with 1 food menu , a beverage menu and a pizza menu for 3 people .

We later on ordered our drinks along with a bottle of water , there was no attempt whatsoever for an upsell and the small bottle of water came with 1 glass for 3 people .

Ordered the pork chops , noodles and the pork curry with roast paan . Nearly 40 minutes later the food came to the table and to our surprise everything was cold .

The noodles was cold food and dish both , the pork was cold and the roast paan was purely frozen and reheated .

Empty glasses in the table and there was no attempt to upsell another round of drinks , purely lack of man powered one waiter running around like a headless chicken .

Anyway had to go look for the manager and explained to him about the situation , there was no apology at all the food was taken and supposedly reheated and served by another waiter , was expecting the manager to come back with an apology , the noodles had to be taken back again and theater and still did not reach the desired heat expected from a freshly prepared meal .

The garlic bread was appealing thinly sliced bread toasted to a crisp .

Asked for the bill did not see the manager upon leaving the restaurant and never Received an apology .

My message to the owners whoever you are your team is letting you down and you are loosing money unless you train your team on customer service .

Sad what Sri Lanka’s hospitality has come to , won’t be visiting this...

The place has its plus points and lot more to improve.

The Good -

Ambience is top notch. It's the only cafe of it's kind in the Wattala area. You see many such restaurants in Colombo however it's increasingly difficult to find such restaurants in outer Colombo area. Given the space it's a good place to chill with your friends.

We had a bridal shower and it was a good spot to have it.

The presentation of the food is quite good. (Will get into taste a little later)

The Bad -

I frequent Colombo restaurants quite a bit and I've experienced the service level. I must say the staff here thinks they are above their customers. There is so much to improve here. Every request made is a no from the guy near the cashier. They made mistakes in our bill three times !!! Not one not two THREE!! If I had not seen it I would have paid 1500 more. And when I indicated it the staff was quite rude as well as if they did not make a mistake.

The flavour of the food is nothing to write home about. The price is the same as the Colombo cafes but taste profile has to improve a lot.

For functions we cannot bring cake from outside and have to order from the cafe. However the price of the cake is around Rs. 500 more than the standard rate. I requested for a chocolate base pink coloured cake. They had made a vanilla base white colour cake.

I must say the chef applied pink icing and made it presentable however due to the dual layer of icing the cake was too sweet.

The place has so much potential simply because of the ambience and being the only restaurant of it's kind in the area. I hope it improves in it's service and food to...

The café is well-located in a clean environment, exuding the charm of an enchanted garden. I imagine it would look stunning at night with all the lights. Upon arrival, we were greeted promptly and chose to sit in the garden area. However, we soon moved inside due to mosquito bites, though others enjoyed the beautiful weather outside.

The gentleman serving us seemed to be the only server for the entire restaurant. There was a lady who appeared to be another waitress, but she stood idle throughout our visit, possibly because she was new.

Given the limited staffing, our drinks and food took some time to arrive, which might be frustrating for quick eaters expecting faster service. However, this place is ideal for younger patrons and couples who can enjoy the ambiance and conversation while waiting.

When our food finally arrived, the waiter apologized for the delay. The food was well-presented and tasted good overall. We ordered buttered prawns, nasi nasi, Lankan Ayya (fried rice and pork), and faluda.

Unfortunately, the chicken satay with peanut sauce was disappointing, with the sauce containing raw grinded peanuts. Despite this, the rest of the dishes were delicious.

This café has a beautiful setting and great potential, but it needs to improve its staffing. Otherwise, it risks losing loyal customers and becoming a spot for people who only come for a...