| HONESTLY’S VERDICT |
| In a word: Gem |
| Food: Small menu of freshly made snacks, toasted sandwiches, salads, cakes and biccies |
| Service: Laid back with a big friendly smile! |
| Presentation: Casual cool, homely and a dash of quirkiness |
| Ambience: Perfect little oasis to meet up & chat as you escape the heat & crazy streets of Colombo |
| Location: Nestled amongst houses in the wide leafy streets of Colombo 7, close to the National Museum |
| Value for money: Yep, nothings going to break the bank here, it’s Sri Lanka after all…unless you venture into the cafe’s sister furnishing’s shop next door, seriously beautiful stuff, dangerous! |
| Worth a visit?: Of course, why would you want to miss out on this little gem in the hustle and bustle of Colombo? |
Cocoon is a chic little café attached to the furnishings shop of the same name nestled in the super nice Cinnamon Garden in Colombo 7, Sri Lanka. Cocoon Cafe was one of the first places we stumbled upon as we set out to explore Colombo…and we came back every day to refuel before we hit the busy streets of this tropical city.
The shiny frontage of Cocoon Cafe
The little glass fronted café caught my eye as we bezzed along the wide tree-lined streets on the way to the museum in a tuk tuk. My lightening quick reactions stopped the tuk tuk and we headed in to investigate.
Food:
The menu
The menu, like the café, is small but covers coffee, teas, smoothies, sandwiches, salads, other cooked snacks that change regularly, cakes and other baked treats.
California and Very Berry smoothies
The smoothies went down really well – a simple mix of yoghurt and fresh fruit, their Californian rocked my boat; strawberries, orange juice and yoghurt. The Avocado and Mint was refreshing, and the Berry just plain tasty!
To accompany smoothies, I tried the Spicy Mackerel Sandwich. To my amazement I was offered the option of multigrain or white bread, something that very rarely happens in Sri Lanka. I chose the multigrain and happily munched through my chunky toasted sandwich stuffed full of mildly spiced mackerel.
Presentation:
The interiors are simply styled with beautiful furnishings from the sister shop, Cocoon Furnishing Fabrics, giving the place a kind of shabby chic look with a really comfortable homely feel. Cocoon’s size adds to the homely feel, and being tourists, if I hadn’t spotted it, we would never have found this relatively new hidden gem.
Looking out to the garden
Lovely comfy sofas
A couple of super comfy sofas with scatter cushions, two sets of low chairs and tables inside and three outside, make up this wee little café.
Cute little boxes of rope, a Rubik’s cube and candle add a hint of quirkiness
Little wooden pots with nicknacks including Rubik’s cubes, together with a menu and European travel and homes magazines adorn the tables. The food is served from white china, bought to you on little wooden trays.
Ambiance-wise, Cocoon is friendly and relaxed. Our visits during the week were pretty chilled, there were normally at least one other set of customers tucking into the delights Cocoon had to offer or catching up with friends over coffee. The comfy surroundings and delicious food, helped make it very difficult to leave this little oasis of calm and get back onto the hectic streets of Colombo!
Service:
Now that’s service with a smile!
There is one super smiley guy who seems to manage the cafe and kitchen pretty much single handedly, we were always greeted with a huge smile and felt warmly welcomed. The owner popped in on a couple of occasions to meet up with friends and lend a hand in the cafe as needed.
Service at Cocoon isn’t particularly speedy, especially when there are a few tables in. Not that it bothered us, as I had been warned to expect slower service in Sri Lanka, and whilst on holiday I don’t think it really matters; you learn to adopt a more leisurely pace of life, something we should all try and replicate in our daily lives! Besides which, whist you wait you’ve got a mountain of inspirational food, home & travel magazines to flick through and a Rubik’s cube to solve!
Value for money:
Coming from Dubai, it’s a bargain! Price-wise, smoothies were around 300 Rps and the toasted sandwiches between 300 and 400 Rps, around £1.30 and £2 respectively. Pretty good prices, especially when you compare it to Dubai, the UK or Oz.
Contact:
20D, Guilford Crescent, Colombo 07, 00700 Colombo, Sri Lanka
Tel: +94 (0) 11 2 696909
Opening hours
Tuesday to Saturday 10.30 to 20.00
Sunday 12.00 to 20.00
Closed on Monday
Honestly Foodie 
Next time I am in Colombo, I will definitely check this place out 🙂
Thank you very much for your great review…
Thanks for review Helen, we’re pleased you liked us! Hope to see you soon back at Cocoon!
Wish I had seen this when I was in Colombo in August! Next time 😀
Hi. I was very excited that a cool place like cacoon had been opened near my house in charles place. We ordered a mango frappe which was not great. Was sour as well as it lacked the flavour of the fruit. We also had ice mocha. It was not at all iced or even cold. We asked if we could change the mocha and with a bit of confrontation from the service person we had it made again which was also not great. We did not drink both and just kept it in the table. The place was cozy and the decor was impeccable. But the fact that i could not even get through to the manager via phone was dissapointing.