Located at: 104 Poruthota Road, Negombo, Sri Lanka

Visited on: 05th September, 2024

Located on Negombo’s most vibrant and touristy street, Leonardo offers a cozy and serene ambience to enjoy a spot of Italian cuisine. Both of my visits were in the evening, and the dark wooden interior with its dim lighting formed a wonderful backdrop by the side of the road, with a breezy upper floor that was delightful.

Leonardo’s menu is rather comprehensive. It covers a selection of bruschetta, antipasto, salads, pasta, risotto, seafood and meat, a vast range of pizzas and more. They also have a substantial list of beverages to choose from.

On this particular occasion, we picked two of their cocktails and a fresh juice. The Pineapple Juice (LKR 1,100) was excellent – great fruit, fresh, thick and frothed up. Both of the cocktails were fruit-based and looked and tasted really good, too. The Mango Passion Mojito (LKR 1,800) was refreshing, as expected, and the Leonardo Special – which we requested without strawberry, and comprised of vodka, triple sec, mango, passion (LKR 2,100) was equally good.

I had previously tried Leonardo’s Fettuccine with Porcini Mushroom Sauce (LKR 2,700), which was lovely – a beautiful creamy sauce, pasta well done, and bits of mushroom (unfortunately, I have no picture to share). Hence, on this occasion, I went with their Creamy Zucchini and Prawns Fettuccine (LKR 2,450), which was tossed in a tomato-based sauce. I’m not a zucchini fan, but I quite liked how the zucchini had been mellowed down and gave an almost pickled taste. There was a generous serving of sizeable prawns and, again, the pasta was done to perfection. Quite enjoyable.

The Beef and Pork Lasagne (LKR 2,450) was more meat and less pasta – which was great. The meat was well-marinated and had plenty of flavour in it, which blended in well with the molten mozzarella and sprinkle of herbs and pecorino on the plate. Yet another satisfying dish.

The Prawns Ravioli with Creamy Sauce (LKR 2,650) was probably the dish of the night for me. The ravioli itself was great, with a wonderful ricotta filling. That sauce, though, was fantastic. Great viscous consistency, indulgent yet not overbearing, with a touch of chopped herbs and prawn. Lovely! It came with a slice of toasted garlic baguette which was great for scooping up the sauce.

We were keen to try Leonardo’s Tiramisu (LKR 1,950) which looked great, but did not impress as much as the mains. My impression was that the sponge might have been a little dry before it absorbed the syrup – which could have used a little less sugar and a little more coffee. It was alright, but not great.

All in all, Leonardo was a memorable find and a spot that we will likely revisit in the future.

Yummy rating: 4.0 / 5.0