The Cafe Shazé experience 

Cafe Shaze Owner Sharfaz Nuhman

By Madushka Balasuriya

Horton Place is fast becoming a hub for all your culinary needs, and Cafe Shazé (pronounced shah-zi) is the latest establishment to enter this tasty equation.

Having relocated from its original Thimbirigasyaya locale, Cafe Shazé re-launched in the heart of Colombo 7 in September this year. That soft launch however was followed up by a grand opening earlier this week.

The first thing you notice is that the property is significantly larger; an outdoor dining space is accompanied by an upstairs seating area as well, while their sister property serving Jam Rolled ice-cream is right next door.

Owner Sharfaz Nuhman explains that the larger property is to accommodate the new direction of the brand, which is now in its fifth year. 

“Most of the people thought that when the Thimbirigasyaya branch was shut that we were closed, but we were just relocating and it took a good six months for us to find this location,” explains Sharfaz.

“The key thing is for us, now completing our fifth year, is that we wanted to bring in the Cafe Shazé experience, which combines our fusion dishes plus the environment for parties and outdoor events.”

Indeed with the hashtag #shazexperience a prominent aspect of the launch event, and with several social media promotions to go along with it, it’s clear that Cafe Shazé is definitely striving to be more than your average cafe.

We were reliably informed that the fairly vanilla interior was to be redone in the coming weeks, while the different areas of the restaurant were going to be targeted at different sections of Cafe Shazé’s clientele – a family setting upstairs, a romantic setting outside etc.

Asian fusion 

But the proof, as the old saying goes, is in the pudding. Cafe Shazé markets itself as a purveyor of Asian fusion, and at the launch event we were given a sneak peak as to what their new extensive menu will hold.

Served in bite-sized portions were a host of some expected, and some quite novel, fare. Alongside the usual suspects of spring rolls, samosas, chicken nuggets, hot dogs and burgers were some truly unorthodox items such as pol roti with beef stroganoff, and a combination of hot butter cuttlefish and avocado. Even its brief soft launch period, Cafe Shazé had been getting somewhat of a reputation for the quality of its pol roti, but to see the Sri Lankan favourite paired in such an idiosyncratic manner was as much unexpected as it was refreshing. 

That such flavour profiles work is down to the tireless efforts of Sharfaz and his crew, who make sure each item is tried and tested several times over before it finally makes it to the menu. As such, it’s not surprising to learn that much of the past two months has been spent perfecting the new menu, and Sharfaz confirmed to Daily FT that the final product will be unveiled in the coming weeks – just in time for the busy festive season.Among some of the more unconventional items you can look forward to are their range of kottus, such as the Pasta Kottu, Roast Paan Kottu, and Pol Roti Kottu. Every item is also made in-house, right down to the bread. This also allows for interesting menu items such as the soup bread bowl, which is…exactly as it sounds – a home-made bowl made of bread, filled with soup. Offering something utterly unique to Colombo’s dining scene, it is also rather delicious.

Cafe Shazé also has a wide selection of sweets and beverages on offer, which we urge you to try and see what suits you best. And with them set to be available on Uber Eats soon, and already on Meal Riders, Cafe Shazé is well and truly set to be a popular Colombo haunt for the foreseeable future.

Pix by Shehan Gunasekara