Barefoot garden cafe – its love at first bite

Saturday afternoon in Colombo, all alone at my place. I’m supposed to meet a friend in three hours, time enough, I think for a good meal.

People in SriLanka will tell you that Colombo is now the capital of crappy food because of the number of mediocre restaurants that have mushroomed. After a slightly disastrous experience at other restaurants (why would anybody want to eat there?), I end up at the barefoot café after a lapse of two or three years. I was sick of others so I thought I’d give barefoot a shot.

The garden cafe looks great and staff ratios match so there is a noticeable personalized service, a rare thing in any Colombo restaurant I must admit.

It astonishes me that though this is among Colombo’s trendiest places and that it can be hell to get a table, the staff are uniformly friendly and unaffected and treat every guest like a VIP – so different from Colombo restaurants where it matters who you are.

It’s not that they know me or anything. This is just how a very good restaurant takes responsibility for guests. The meal is terrific. Service is cheerful and the place buzzes with life.

The prices are more reasonable, but I think that it is okay value for good food. It’s not the kind of food you’ll find in Colombo but it works because the chef is such a master of flavors.

It’s the sort of café you want to go back to again and again, and it’s a great experience.

I’m just glad that I ate their food, and the place is a little arty farty. If my facts are right this place is owned by Dominic Sansoni, that chap with a PhD in photography copyrights. (Pun intended)

Now, I’m no “photo me photo me” person, nor do I like Sansoni’s copyright fuss. Its plain stupid for all art is for sharing. I believe Art when shared is beautiful. But anyways….

Just taste the meals, which they make fresh. Most of it spiced with densely knit layers of flavor. You might find yourself chewing carefully and staring up into space, trying to figure out what exactly that flavor is, and what that other flavor is.

Behind this blog is a teetotaler; hence I don’t talk of any alcohol and tobacco products there. And I won’t even tell you what I ate there coz my preferences can be weird and unacceptable to most people. I am vegan if you must know, but I did find my comfortable alternatives there.

Barefoot cafe is not fussy. It's not eager to please. It's not the kind of place where the waitress constantly bugs you. I like it this way coz there's privacy.

For any Colombite interested in fine foods, there's a place to remember. It's Barefoot. While I don’t believe that Barefoot is flat for most people, it’s true that some of us, Colombites can afford this, at least once in a while.

There’s elegance in every bite, there’s love. Indulge!

Disclaimer: Taprobane Uncut blogger has no links, affiliations to Barefoot. This blog post is not commercial publicity, rather sincere appreciation and endorsement of a satisfied customer who paid his own bill and yet to see his credit card statement.