The Commons Coffee House

The Commons Coffee House has been a fixture of Colombo's café scene since it opened on Kynsey Road in 2005. It was founded by the entrepreneur Harpo Gooneratne, whose other ventures have included The Bay Leaf restaurant, Harpo's Pizza, Park Street Mews, Colombo Fort Café and Curve Tapas Bar, and it marked its 20th anniversary in 2025 with a refurbishment. The new look brought cane fittings, custom-designed furniture and a fresh colour palette, along with art by emerging artists and decorative mobiles designed by art students.

The coffee list is broad and playful. Hot drinks include a crème brûlée cappuccino, a chocolate mint cappuccino, a spiced latte, a piccolo latte, café mocha and an affogato, while the iced range runs from an iced Milo latte to iced mocha, spiced and caramel lattes. A bread and sandwich counter sells baguettes, ciabatta, focaccia and brown bread, either to take away or made up into sandwiches.

The food menu goes well beyond café snacks. The Commons is known for its rotti cart and rotti platter, and the all-day menu includes string hoppers alongside grilled tenderloin steak with mushroom or black peppercorn sauce, a cheesy chicken burger, chilli prawn pasta, lemony garlic prawns, Caesar salad and fish and chips. There is a kids' menu too, which makes it a practical stop for families.

Its long hours are a major advantage. The Commons opens at 7.30am from Monday to Friday and at 9am at weekends, and stays open until midnight every day, so it works for an early breakfast, a working lunch or a late coffee after dinner. Reservations can be made by phone, and delivery is also available. The space suits remote workers, students, families and friends meeting up.

Kynsey Road runs through Colombo 7, on the edge of Cinnamon Gardens. Viharamahadevi Park and the National Museum are a short tuk-tuk ride away, as is Paradise Road Café, which looks over the Town Hall, so it is easy to fit a coffee stop at The Commons into a day of sightseeing in this part of the city. Prices on the menu are marked as subject to change, so check the current list when you order.