We were first tempted by an Instagram post of an impressive breakfast, but we decided to try them for lunch instead. Unfortunately some of it was rather disappointing...but not all.
Address: 441 Nawala Road, Sri Jayawardenepura Kotte 11222
Phone: 011 2 886 333
Website: https://www.cocoveranda.co/
Email: hellococoveranda@gmail.com
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/cocoveranda/
It was a photo of a full breakfast that first caught our eye; then a couple of days later a burger and then something else. We recalled that, a couple of years ago when there was an outlet at Crescat Mall we had snacked there and it had been good, so we decided to give it a try and order a delivery from them.
Menu
We found the menu on Instagram, and also on their main website.
If you wanted to get a good breakfast, Coco Veranda have 8 or 9 options. For other meals they have a selection of burgers, sandwiches, pastas, some soups and salads. For something more substantial they have some snacks than can double up as starters, such as chicken wings or nachos, or as sides such as fries and onion rings. For main courses they offer a range of lasagnas, stir fries, chops and pies as well as some seafood, choices such as chili prawns or grilled salmon and a few vegetarian choices. They also have a selection of teas and coffees, shakes, juices and smoothies.
We decided to try a couple of the burgers, along with a portion of chicken wings, onion rings and quesadillas, and we agreed to share a slice of cheesecake.
The Food
When the food arrived, the first thing we noticed was the large grease spots on the bags.
The wings, quesadillas and cake were packed in trays, but the burgers were wrapped in paper and put in the bags with the fries. Grease from the onion rings, burgers and fries was coming through the bags, quite clear to see.
We were quite taken aback by this. In fact the paper that wrapped the burgers was glistening wet all over and most of it had turned transparent. Two or three of the paper bags had large grease spots. It seemed to be from a mix of the burgers, fries and onion rings.
However we went ahead and unwrapped the food, put it on plates and sat down to eat.
Clockwise from top left: Buffalo Chicken Wings; Chicken Quesadilla; Strawberry Cheesecake; Crispy Chicken Burger.
The onion rings were coated in quite a thick batter and had been a bit overcooked, ending up rather dark and unfortunately any taste from the batter was lost. The portion size was mediocre, not particularly generous, so overall these were not memorable.
The chicken wings were perhaps slightly overcooked as well but came out somewhat better. The crispy coating was non-descript, giving a little crunch but not really adding much flavour, but under the batter coating the chicken was reasonable and had some taste. These could have been better but were certainly an improvement on the onion rings.
We were disappointed by the burger. It looked promising, loaded with a large piece of coated chicken and plenty of salad and garnish. However, the saying goes, "don't judge a book by its cover" and in this case, despite appearances, the "crispy chicken burger" was not at all crispy and not particularly tasty. The chicken was bland and any flavour that should have been added by the coating had disappeared. In fact the strongest flavour that came through was the taste of the tomato, which at least means that the salad garnish was good and fresh. Overall, not good.
The quesadilla, happily, was much better, actually quite good. The chicken filling was nicely done and tasted quite good; the accompanying sauces added to the flavour. Interestingly, the wrap itself tasted less like a typical quesadilla and much more like a paratha, which gave it a nice "fusion" touch. This was a winner, and by far the best of the dishes.
Finishing off was the cheesecake, and unfortunately we found this, too, was somewhat bland. The texture was fine, though there was not much crunch. The main body of the cake was moist and soft but lacked flavour. While the cake itself rather melted in the mouth quite nicely, the fruit topping remained like a rubbery strip of jelly, which was not so nice.
Overall, we found the wings and rings to be average but we thought the burger was quite disappointing, mainly for the lack of flavour. This was partly redeemed by the quesadilla which we did enjoy. The cheesecake was nothing special either.
Delivery
The delivery driver found us without any trouble, and was pleasant enough.
The wings and quesadilla were packed in foil containers while the burger was wrapped and placed together with the fries in a bag.
Prices
For our two burgers, onion rings, chicken wings, quesadilla and cheesecake we paid just under Rs5000.
Summary
We found this meal a bit of a letdown but perhaps because we had expected something quite a lot better. The winner definitely was the quesadillas, which we did enjoy, and the chicken wings too were fairly good. Perhaps dining-in, and eating it all freshly cooked, might be a much better experience and we certainly will try once we are able to go the restaurant. We'll be sure to write an update when we do.