Having opened their doors to customers in early March this year, Simply Strawberries by Jagro has been nothing short of a fantastic strawberry-based dessert café to stop by for those craving something with fresh strawberries.

Being a regular customer at the café, I often find myself having great difficulty in picking between the waffle with fresh cream, strawberries and a chocolate sauce (you can pick the strawberry topping), the cheesecake with fresh strawberries and strawberry topping, the meringue sundae comprising of fresh strawberries, meringue, scoops of chocolate (or vanilla) ice cream, chocolate topping and a honey nut crunch. Of course, those are just three of the 19-item menu at Simply Strawberries, and you always end up making a promise to yourself saying you’ll be back to try out a different item.

Other delicious desserts on the menu include strawberries and a dipping chocolate sauce, a strawberries and ice cream combination, a strawberry sundae (3 scoops of ice cream, strawberries and topping), strawberries and cream, a chocolate/vanilla sandwich (this involves chocolate or vanilla cake with fresh cream, strawberries and a chocolate or strawberry topping), the chocolate/vanilla cake sundae (chocolate or vanilla cake, 2 scoops of ice cream, fresh strawberries, honey nut crunch and a chocolate or strawberry topping), and the breakfast berry which is a cereal, yoghurt, strawberries and strawberry topping combination.

Customers can also choose from strawberry tarts, or strawberry topping and ice cream or a bowl of strawberries au naturale. Beverages include fresh strawberry juice, milkshake or smoothie and a chocolate milkshake, all of which are available in a 300ml or 400ml quantity.

The strawberries are grown at four different farms in the Nuwara Eliya district, and even though strawberries are a seasonal fruit, the Food Factor learns that Jagro manages the seasonality with the four farms owing to varying weather conditions therefore they can be cultivated throughout the year.

The farms grow different varieties, which are suited for a tropical country, and the main variety grown in Sri Lanka is the Tamar fruit, which tends to vary in size depending on how old the plant is.

The café undertakes orders, for which customers can place the order a few hours before pickup. But if it’s a larger order such as a large strawberry cheesecake, chocolate/vanilla sandwich cake or a large strawberry and cream tart, the order will have to be placed a couple days before to avoid disappointment.

The larger desserts are ideal for large events such as birthdays and parties. Simply Strawberries does not do deliveries because the items can get extremely messy so customers will always have to come pick the orders from the outlet itself.

Apart from the desserts and beverages available at the café, packs of strawberries are available for purchase in addition to strawberry jam and topping. The strawberries are stored in the exact same temperature used to transport them to Colombo from Nuwara Eliya, in order to ensure maximum freshness upon consumption.

For longer shelf life, it’s best to store the strawberries between 2-4 degrees and they taste best at room temperature. They should be washed prior to consumption as moisture hastens decay.

Simply Strawberries by Jagro is located at No.131, Vijaya Kumaranatunga Mawatha, Colombo 05 and they can be contacted on 0112199243. They are open everyday from 10AM-10PM. There’s an outlet at Ampepussa located right opposite the rest house. 

By Sarah Kellapatha