Discovering A Cozy Space At Delish! 

Dush Ratnayake’s passion lies purely in food, and creating delicious fare for customers at his café Delish, situated down Havelock Road. From comfortingly warm raspberry hot chocolate to waffles slathered with cheese and topped with sliced sausage and drizzled with a garlicy homemade aioli sauce to even mains such as the peanut butter chicken and Middle Eastern mutton burgers, he’s created each and every dish with a bit of twist.

Delish opened its doors to customers last year in a small space and they have since expanded to include a larger dining area in addition to a small, private and cozy space equipped with a PS3 for customers who’d like to play some games with friends whilst snacking on comfort food. A movie library is also in the works, and should be in the café within the next month or so. The menu too has expanded and features an all day list which includes toasted chillie cheese sandwiches (similar to what you’d whip up at home for lunch on a lazy Saturday and includes two triangles of melted and gooey cheese with flecks of chillie for extra flavour), toasted cheese and BBQ meatball sandwiches (this had to be my favourite – cheese and meatballs are a stellar combination, and you can never go wrong with BBQ sauce), creamy roasted chicken / mushroom pasta, hot dogs with a homemade tomato, onion and pineapple sauce or homemade aioli. Kiribath with seeni sambol is also on the all day menu.

If you love your waffles, Delish serves up sweet and savoury variants such as the roasted chicken and sausage waffle, meatball waffle, chillie cheese waffle, and the chocolate waffle, Nutella and seared banana waffle and another with fresh strawberries and cream. If you’d like to drop in for rice or pasta dishes, or even a burger, Delish does those too. Pick from the Middle Eastern garlic mutton burger, the chicken satay burger, Thai prawn burger, a Sri Lankan chick pea veggie burger or even the peanut butter chicken, the Coca Cola chicken, mutton stuffed eggplant, satay pasta and mac n cheese.

Iced tea sodas have really taken off at the café, and the peach and blackberry variants are cooling, refreshing and a nicer option than regular iced tea. Milkshakes (chocolate, vanilla, hazelnut, mint and chocolate, and a chocolate and banana), fresh fruit juices and hot and cold coffee based beverages are also on the beverage menu. The hot chocolate easily steals the spotlight with its warm chocolatey goodness served in a bowl, and is essentially a rainy day staple. In house desserts include the decadent dark chocolate cake, Nutella chocolate chip cookie cake and the buckeye chocolates (peanut butter fudge dipped in dark chocolate).

From canapés to plated dinners, Delish also does catering for private events and sit-down lunches and dinners, and the menus are entirely customizable to suit the preferences and budget of the customer. The latest notice would have to be two weeks to allow Dush ample time to work on the menu and do a tasting prior to the event. Credit and debit card facilities will be introduced soon, in addition to a delivery service.

They are open everyday (except for major public holidays) from 11am – 11pm (Sunday – Thursday), and stay open until 2am on Friday and Saturday. Delish is located at 292/B, Havelock Road, Colombo 05 and parking is available on Amarasekera Mawatha and Skelton Garden. Check out their page on Facebook for regular updates.

By Sarah Kellapatha
Photographs courtesy Delish