Cafeography
Colombo · Kollupitiya & Galle Face

Cafés in Kollupitiya & Galle Face

Galle Road and Duplication Road from Galle Face Green to Colpetty: garden cafés, malls and the sea.

Photo: Thilina Alagiyawanna, Pexels License

Kollupitiya, historically Colpetty and administratively Colombo 3, is a commercial district of malls and embassies, and Temple Trees, the prime minister’s official residence, is here.1 The name is said to come from a Kandyan chief who tried to dethrone the last king of Kandy.1 Galle Face Green closes the district to the north.

Between Fort and Wellawatte, Galle Road is split into two one-way streets to keep traffic moving.3 Most cafés here sit on Galle Road or on Duplication Road, officially R. A. de Mel Mawatha for more than 60 years, though no street sign carries the old name and it is still the one people use.4

Local tip: Go to Barefoot on a Sunday for lunch with the jazz quartet, and book ahead; on Poya days the café closes at 18:00.7

At a glance

30Cafés listed
4With opening hours
06:30Earliest opening
01:00Latest closing
  • Opens earliest: Urban Green, from 06:30 (Daily 06:30–22:00).
  • Closes latest: Bitcoin Cafe by Wheelys, until 01:00 (Daily 17:00–01:00).
  • Most listed streets: Galle Rd (3), R. A. De Mel Mawatha (2).
  • Most common features: outdoor seating (7%), open late (7%), bakery café (7%).

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Coffee chains in Kollupitiya & Galle Face

Galle Face Green and Marine Drive

Galle Face Green, an ocean-side park of about 5 hectares along roughly 500 m of coast, was laid out as a promenade in 1859 under Governor Henry Ward. Horse racing ran there from the early 1820s until 1893.2 On weekend evenings vendors sell crab, prawns and mango slices with pepper and salt, and the Galle Face Hotel next to it was established in 1864.2

The Coastal Line runs close to the beaches through Colombo 3 and stops at Kollupitiya.5 Whight & Co, in a colonial building on Marine Drive with views of the Indian Ocean, opened at 06:00 in 2020, among the first cafés in the city each day, and was known for pour-overs, cold drip and Vietnamese-style coffee with condensed milk.6 Ceylon Stories gallery café and Kaapi are also off Marine Drive.

Galle Road: a garden, a roaster and a cricket bar

Barefoot Garden Café sits in the garden behind the Barefoot shop at 704 Galle Road, and a jazz quartet has played there on Sundays for 20 years.7 It opens 10:00–19:00 Monday to Saturday and 10:00–18:00 on Sundays and Poya (full-moon) days, and has Wi-Fi and outdoor tables.7

Island Yaka Roasters is at 328 Galle Road and The Vanilla Affair at 342; Coffee Stop is at 77. The Coffee Bean & Tea Leaf has a branch at 385 Galle Road and Barista one at 213.

The Cricket Club Cafe on Flower Terrace was opened in 1996 by James and Gabrielle Whight from Melbourne. Its walls hold cricket memorabilia going back to the 1940s, including items used by Don Bradman, Shane Warne and Arjuna Ranatunga, and it screens matches non-stop.8

Duplication Road and the malls

Duplication Road keeps the later hours. Bitcoin Cafe by Wheelys, at 261 R. A. de Mel Mawatha, opens daily 17:00–01:00. Macchiato is on the second floor of Liberty Plaza at number 14, and Sugarcube, The Avenue and Cherries are on the same road; Kaffi Colombo is in Crescat Boulevard.

Urban Green, at 10 Unity Place, opens at 06:30 and stays open until 22:00, with a vegan menu. Bakes by Bella on Col. T. G. Jayawardane Mawatha and Baguette French Bakery and Cafe on Queen’s Road are bakery cafés, and Yah Empyrean is on level 4 of One Galle Face Mall.

Sources

  1. Kollupitiya, Wikipedia, accessed October 2026
  2. Galle Face Green, Wikipedia, accessed October 2026
  3. A2 highway (Sri Lanka), Wikipedia, accessed October 2026
  4. Colombo Jumbo!, Daily FT (Cassandra Mascarenhas, March 16, 2013), accessed October 2026
  5. Coastal Line (Sri Lanka), Wikipedia, accessed October 2026
  6. The Sprudge Coffee Guide To Colombo, Sri Lanka, Sprudge (Zinara Rathnayake, February 10, 2020), accessed October 2026
  7. Cafe, Barefoot, accessed October 2026
  8. Welcome to Cricket Club Cafe Colombo, The Cricket Club Cafe, accessed October 2026
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FAQ

Kollupitiya & Galle Face cafés: questions

Where can you hear live jazz at a café in Kollupitiya, Colombo?

Barefoot Garden Café, in the garden behind the Barefoot shop at 704 Galle Road, has had a Sunday jazz quartet for 20 years. It opens 10:00–19:00 Monday to Saturday and 10:00–18:00 on Sundays and Poya days.

What is Duplication Road in Colombo?

Duplication Road is the everyday name for R. A. de Mel Mawatha in Kollupitiya, renamed more than 60 years ago. It is one of the district’s two café streets: Bitcoin Cafe by Wheelys at number 261 opens 17:00–01:00, and Macchiato is in Liberty Plaza.

When was Galle Face Green in Colombo laid out?

Galle Face Green was laid out as a promenade in 1859 under Governor Henry Ward. The ocean-side park covers about 5 hectares along roughly 500 m of coast, hosted horse racing from the 1820s to 1893, and draws food vendors on weekend evenings.

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