The Newest Café In Colombo Elpodio

text  Panchali Illankoon

The newest restaurant entering the culinary scene in Colombo is ElPodio, a family-friendly restaurant that aims to offer unique culinary experiences to their guests. Located in the heart of Rajagiriya, casually tucked away at the busy but serene Royal Gardens, ElPodio officially opened for business on 24th March 2023. 

PHOTOS  
Nisal Baduge

ElPodio is the newest family friendly venture of the Podium Sports Restaurant and Pub in Thalawathugoda and differentiates itself by positioning ElPodio as a restaurant that combines classic techniques with modern influences and locally sourced ingredients in a casual, lounge setting that is suitable for all. 

“We love to feed people and ElPodio is an extension of that love. We launched ElPodio because we want people to just come and enjoy themselves at the restaurant. ElPodio was created to cater to everyone; whether it’s a casual coffee with friends, an intimate dinner, celebrations of a special occasion, an outing with friends and family or even as a space for business. 
Whatever the occasion, we’ve got the right ambience and good food in store for you” shared a representative of ElPodio. 

The Space 

Elpodio’s indoor-outdoor café concept offers a variety of seating spaces suitable for every occasion. At the very front stands the ElPodio Bakery – already a hit among students from the nearby international school and the neighbourhood.  Inside, the ground floor mimics a cosy and warm lounge ambience with plush sofa seating that’s ideal for catching up with friends or settling in to work or read. The open style kitchen is also a riveting feature of the restaurant as it offers guests the opportunity to watch their orders being prepared in real time. 
Upstairs, family style dining occupies one corner of the space, and another offers private meeting rooms with the necessary facilities. The building also extends itself to a rooftop outdoor space, lush with greenery and a gentle breeze. 

The Food 

Elpodio menu features an extensive variety of dishes ranging from salads, soups and snacks to succulent meat and seafood dishes, wraps and burgers and more. As a restaurant that has just launched, ElPodio wishes to offer a large variety to their diners during its early days in order to ascertain customer favourites to customise and specialise their menu over time. 
The ElPodio Bakery produces fresh baked goods daily, including breads, cakes and other sweet treats and patisseries. The Bakery is poised to be a valuable addition to the restaurant’s aim to be a reputed place for parties and special occasions as customers can order and customise cakes directly from the ElPodio Bakery at the same venue. Over time, the ElPodio Bakery aims to offer gluten free products, sourdough variety of breads and seasonal treats made with generational family recipes. 

The ElPodio Restaurant menu offers an exciting breakfast range with dishes the likes of the full English breakfast, granola, French toast and more as well as a specially curated kids' menu. The food menu also includes soups, salads, grilled meats, pasta, rice/noodles, pizza, burgers, bites and desserts. For beverages, ElPodio offers fresh juices, freshly brewed coffee and tea and much more. 

Every dish, be it a tuna steak or a crispy chicken burger, is made fresh to order and served to the customer at the earliest. ElPodio prides itself in using quality locally sourced ingredients and believes in serving portions that are value for money. 

“We’ve got great plans for ElPodio and we invite everyone to come, dine and see for yourself what we offer. I believe ElPodio has what it takes to become a favourite among the foodie community thanks to our unique blend of classic and modern cuisine, friendly service and our warm ambience.”