Top 10 Coffee Shops in Kandy: Sri Lanka
Are you looking for a coffee shop in Kandy?
Do you love good quality coffee?
I spent a month in Kandy and sampled all the coffee shops I could find!
I don’t know about you, but I love good coffee and wherever I am in the world I try to seek out a decent coffee shop where I can relax, maybe do a spot of work but most importantly drink a coffee with a beautiful rich flavour.
I am most definitely a coffee snob!
Coffee shops in Kandy are not easy to find. Many are hidden away and there’s not that many of them. When you Google, there are many Cafés, but few offer real full bodied coffee (only Nescafe which personally I wouldn’t regard as coffee!)
This post will point you in the direction of the best coffee in Kandy, so you needn’t waste your time and money drinking mediocre coffee!
My Kandy Coffee Shop Grading Criteria:
- Quality of coffee – I wanted a full bodied, rich coffee. I sampled an espresso to get the full flavour sensation.
- Range of coffee options – does it offer espresso, macchiato, cappuccino, lattes etc…
- Coffee shop vibe – I wanted that chilled out coffee shop vibe that we all know and love
- Menu options – the range of food available
- location – ease of locating the coffee shop (not always easy in Kandy!)
- WiFi – all of the coffee shops had a decent WiFi signal.
My Top 10 Kandy Coffee Shops!
I struggled to decide between the first two, I loved them both, so it’s more of joint 1st place!
1. Buono
Bouno has nailed the cool urban interior and chilled coffee shop vibe we all know and love.
Buono ticks all the boxes for me!
* rich full bodied coffee
* full range of coffee styles
* excellent European style menu choices – try the avocado on toast, it’s to die for!
* slightly out of the town centre, but it my opinion it’s worth the slight trek or tuk tuk ride (about 15 minutes walk from the Temple of the Tooth)
* it became my local 🙂
2. Café Secret Alley
Centrally located in Kandy, vibrant cafe serving great coffee!
Super chilled out coffee shop.
* vibrant sunny décor
* rich coffee with depth of flavour – own brand (Soul Coffee)
* full range of coffee styles
* super healthy menu – poke bowls, chia seed puddings, fruit pots….
* centrally located, don’t be put off by the alley, the café is great!
3. Café Kandyana
A tastefully decorated Italian style coffee shop, next to Kandy lake.
The perfect coffee stop for when you’re walking around the lake.
Positives
* lovely refreshing interior (think Italy meets Sri Lanka)
* well made illy coffee
* all styles of coffee available
* situated by the lake at at the far side of Kandy town
Negatives
* menu limited to snacks and cakes
4. Café Walk KCC
Centrally located just inside the KCC Shopping Mall, so you can stop for a coffee before shopping…
Positives
* well made rich coffee
* full range of coffee styles
* European & Sri Lankan food menu e.g., bangers and mash
* situated in the heart of Kandy city.
Negatives
* lacked that chilled coffee atmosphere – definitely a shopping mall coffee chop!
5. Atelier
A delightfully seductive art and antique gallery, coffee shop, hotel on the outskirts of Kandy.
Drink coffee whilst perusing arts and antiques at Atelier.
Positives
* this was the one place I had a latte (normally I drink espresso) so I can’t compare with my other coffee experiences, but my latte was nice.
* eclectic range of art (I bought a lovely book of poems by N Apsara)
* 10 minutes from the Peradeniya Botanical Gardens
Negatives
* quite far out from Kandy City Centre (20 mins in tuk tuk)
* very limited food menu
6. The Garage
A popular Café with a garage theme serving a wide range of food.
Positives
* good coffee
* diverse menu (Sri Lankan and Western)
* very busy, popular with the young crowd
* friendly staff
Negatives
* the garage theme didn’t work for me (car parts on the tables and walls), but if you love cars it’s the place for you!
* very busy – took a long time to be served
* located slightly out of the town centre on the very busy Peradeniya road, which has poor paving, so be careful!
7. Natural Coffee
A Japanese coffee shop offering Free Trade Japanese Coffee.
Positives
* good free trade in house coffee (Wano Mori)
* diverse menu including sushi and noodle dishes
* central location
* supports women’s empowerment – the ethos is to employ women at each stage of the process from the farm, factory to Café.
Negatives
* lacked atmosphere
* the waitresses were polite, but they were wearing suits and I felt that I was being served by air cabin crew
8. The Radh Hotel
Decent coffee and a wide range of food.
Positives
* good coffee
* wide range of food including Bento boxes
* central location
Negatives
* lacked atmosphere
* the staff were abrupt and took a long time to serve me
* more expensive than others
9. Cafe Koi Coffee
A coffee and cake shop with a love of bikes in the heart of Kandy.
Positives
* Centrally located (be careful not to miss it, it’s tucked inside Pushpadana Shopping Complex)
* nice chilled environment
* homemade cakes and pastries (looked great, but I wasn’t there for cake!)
Negatives
* unfortunately I didn’t like the coffee, it was quite bitter and left an acrid aftertaste (such a shame, but just my opinion)
* they only offer cakes (no snacks)
10. Cafe Aroma Inn
Positives
* A nice cup of coffee
* central location
Negatives
* stale environment
* nothing else available on the menu during my visit
10.5 A bonus – Royal Bar & Hotel
A beautiful colonial style bar, restaurant and hotel
Not strictly a coffee shop, but I am including it because I loved the interior (and that’s the only reason)!
Positives
* Gorgeous colonial style interior with an open courtyard, perfect for a lazy afternoon sitting on the veranda with a G&T
* central location
Negatives
* weak coffee – my espresso was tasteless
* cold food which took nearly an hour to arrive.
This is not a definitive list, there must be others, if you find one let me know!
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