Tsing Tao, located at the newly reconstructed Race Course is the best place in town for Chinese food in Colombo.

Just like Loon Tao, her sister restaurant in Mount Lavinia, the food is excellent while the service is splendid, thus making your visit there a good one.

Unlike the casual dining on the beach atmosphere created at Loon Tao, Tsing Tao is a restaurant for Chinese designer, gourmet and fusion food.

 

When you walk into Tsing Tao, the first impression you get, is that you are walking into a top-notch Chinese restaurant in Hong Kong and this is exactly the feel that Restaurateur Janaka Wimalananda was going for when he hired renowned architect Philip Weeraratne to overlook the interior for the restaurant.

All this aside, though, it is the food that really makes your experience a splendid one at Tsing Tao. It is a little high end, in terms of price, but it is well worth every cent you spend.

I started-off with Crispy Cream Fingers and Mixed Mushroom with Seafood Soup. The former is a deep fried treat filled with slightly sweetened cream and a delicious crunchy batter.

 

The soup, a clear soup, was light but full of flavour along with a subtle hint of ginger to give that touch of finesse to it. Just from the starter and the soup, it was easy to understand what Janaka was trying to explain about the food being either typically Chinese or fusion Chinese food.

 

  

The thing about this restaurant is that it represents the four gastronomic provinces of China: Cantonese, Szechuan, Beijing and Shanghai.
All ingredients used, except for the perishables are imported frequently from China thus making it a “logistical nightmare,” according to Janaka however this allows his chefs to maintain the highest quality.

“Not a single Chinese kitchedn has an oven or a grill but here we have both due to the type of food we prepare,” Janaka adds.
The rest of my meal consisted of Seafood Fried Rice with Pineapple, a Vegetable Omelette, Fried ‘Kaew Taew’ Noodles with Prawns, Sizzling Seer Fish Fillet with BBQ Sauce and Bamboo Fungus with Mixed Vegetables.

 

Each of these dishes complimented the other perfectly  and the dish that took me most by surprise was the Vegetable Omelette.
I am not a huge fan of omelettes but this one was special with its hint of vegetable and the fact that the omelette was perfectly soft and not dry in the least. The worst thing is a dry omelette after all!

The Seafood Fried Rice with Pineapple went so well with the Sizzling Seer Fish fillet with BBQ sauce as well as the Bamboo Fungus with mixed Vegetables.

While the Fried “Kaew Taew” Noodles with Prawns is a noodle dish that can be enjoyed even on its own – with its soft fried texture along with its abundance of prawns, this noodle dish is a must have.

 

When I met Janaka the day before my tasting, he said, “We have the best desserts in town”, and he was more that correct on that one!
I could not decide which dessert I enjoyed best as they were all amazing ones, from the Cardamom Crème, which consists of a delightful and delicate cardamom-scented crème served with a glaze of raspberries, topped with a cookie cigar.

 

  

 

Then there was their Brandied Fig Torte – a perfect and delicious combination of brandied figs, rich chocolate cream and crunchy ginger-nut. There is certainly no shortage of brandy in the delicious Brandied Fig torte while the chocolate and ginger-nut went hand in hand!

Tsing Tao also has a range of Carino ice creams, which are made exclusively for them and I can most certainly recommend their Salted Caramel Ice Cream, which was simply stunning. It was such a subtle ice cream but so refreshing and smooth on the palate. 

 
From the ambience to the service and of course the food, Tsing Tao created the perfect dining experience for me.

 

They are open right through the week for lunch and dinner and the dress code is smart casual.

They serve all types of meat, including pork as well as seafood and even vegan dishes therefore making it the perfect restaurant for any taste bud!  

Ratings:

Ambience: 5 stars

Variety of food: 5 stars

Service and friendliness of staff: 5 stars

Parking: 5 stars

 

 

 

By Natasha Fernandopulle

Pix by Kanishke Ganewatte