The first thing that strikes you about Aura Café when you drive in, apart from the neat surroundings is that it is made out of containers, walking in, the wooden floors and rustic tables greet you creating a relaxed vibe. If you would like to veer away from the air conditioned environment, you can opt to have your meals in their outdoor dining area.
Taste and value for money – 4.5 stars
The menu is based on European, Western inspired dishes, Malisha Kumaratunge the owner of the café explains adding that come this week, there will be new additions in the menu which include Paninis ranging between Rs. 650 and Rs. 800 and Burgers ranging between Rs. 600 and Rs. 800).
The new menu also includes a few new dessert options like Passionfruit, Raspberry and Lime sorbets (Rs. 250 each). They will also be serving up desserts with ice creams like Choco Love and Mango Tropical. The former is a Chocolate Brownie served with Vanilla Ice Cream and the latter is Mango and Vanilla Ice Cream topped with fresh mango. The dessert options will also include the Black Forest Dream, which is a slice of Black Forest Cake with Chocolate ice cream (each of these are Rs. 550).
Crispy on the outside and just about perfectly juicy on the inside were the Chicken Wings (Rs. 650) which we started off with. While their Peri Peri Chicken Salad (Rs. 750) which is served on a bed of assorted salad leaves and topped with tender grilled chicken and accompanied with semi dried tomatoes, feta, avocado and a side of peri peri dressing is just delightful. It is light but still packs a flavoursome punch.
The café has a small menu but they seem to have got everything covered in terms of variety and meats while they have also catered to vegetarians. The Vegetarian Risotto (Rs. 700) using Arborio rice and cooked with roasted tomato, pumpkin, baby spinach, mascarpone and parmesan cheese is a creamy, delicious treat. Simple though the ingredients may be, there is so much flavour while the parmesan crisps adorning the dish gave it a lovely finish and of course that perfect taste.
My favourite however, was the Pork Schnitzel (Rs. 1,100). The star of this dish is of course the tender, boneless pork breaded and fried to near perfection, accompanied with button mushrooms cooked in a creamy sauce along with a side of lightly steamed broccoli. The creamy mushrooms and the crispy and juicy pork were a stunning match.
Instead of desserts, which they do have, we tried two of their best selling milkshakes that of Nutella and Cookies & Cream (Rs. 550 each). Served in a rustic jar-like mug, they were delicious. The latter had the perfect amount of Oreos in it to give it that crunch while there was no shortage of Nutella in the former.
Friendly staff – 5 stars
The staff are extremely friendly.
Parking – 5 stars
There is plenty of parking.
Hours of operation: 9.00am to 5.00pm (Tuesday to Thursday), 9am to 10.30pm (Friday), 8.00am to 10.30pm (Saturday), - 8.00am to 5.00pm (Sunday) and closed on Monday.
Address : 4, Buller’s Lane, Colombo 7
Tel : 076-638-8788
By Natasha Fernandopulle
Photographs by Kanishke Ganewatte
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