Sri Lanka’s highest restaurant, Blue Orbit offers diners a sky-high, one-of-a-kind dining experience at an elevation of 750 feet above ground. The first and only revolving restaurant in the country, Blue Orbit is located at the 26th floor of the Lotus Tower – the tallest structure in South Asia. 

True to its name, Blue Orbit immerses diners in a sleek, modern setting accentuated by blue-hued lighting. The restaurant can accommodate 225 guests at a time and is available exclusively for private bookings. At its unique elevation, the views are nothing short of phenomenal. Whether you dine here during the day or at night, the restaurant offers a panoramic view of Colombo, easily discernable during the day and a blur of lights in the night. The restaurant completes a full orbit every 90 minutes, so you glimpse the city from every angle. The seating layout offers guests the option to be seated at the revolving area or the non-revolving area. 

Open for lunch and dinner, the buffet itself wraps around the circular design of the restaurant and has a rotating daily menu featuring over 300 dishes across seven cuisines: Sri Lankan, Indian, Italian, Middle Eastern, Japanese and Chinese. 

We started our meal with the Soups and Starters.  The restaurant offers a minimum of three soups and on our visit, we enjoyed a comforting chicken egg drop soup, mutton marrow hot pot and a cream of butternut. The Salad Station offered options like Hawaiian salad, Russian salad, Carrot & Orange Raisin Terrine and more as well as fresh vegetables, nuts  and sauces for a build-your-own salad. 

A highlight for us was their standalone Cheese Station, which held an impressive variety imported cheese including parmesan wheel, pecorino, edam, blue cheese, gouda, brie and camembert, served with fruit compotes, crackers, fresh fruit and jams. What we loved was that if you just hopped across to the cold cuts section, you could create your own personalized charcuterie platter at the buffet. 

Their fresh Seafood station offered crabs, octopus, fish, mussels and cuttlefish with a choice of sauces. Their Dumpling Cart served up steaming dumplings with prawn, beef, pork, chicken and vegetable fillings with sweet and spicy sauces such as a coriander and sesame salsa and garlic soy sauce.  There’s also a Pani Puri Cart for guests to assemble their own pani puri shells with fillings and water.  It’s highly addictive and we often found ourselves returning back to this cart over the course of our meal. 

For Mains, each cuisine had its own station: 

Japanese
The sushi selection featured a variety of makis, California rolls, and nigiri. The Salmon Nigiri was fresh, with a delicate buttery texture. 

Italian
They have a pasta action station which is a hit among the diners where you can pick your choice of freshly made pasta and your choice of sauce from a variety like bechamel (white sauce), bolognese, marinara, pesto and more. They also had pizza, lamb lasagna and eggplant involtini which was a delicious thinly sliced grilled eggplant in a creamy ricotta filling and tomato sauce.

Indian 
Carrying all the favourites of the Indian cuisine, the butter chicken and tikka masala we mopped up with hot naan was delicious. They also had a shawarma grill to make your own shawarma as well as all the chutneys and raitas to go with your meal. 

Middle Eastern
This section featured a deliciously seasoned slow-cooked mutton stew and a roasted lemon chicken which was juicy and well-balanced with zest and herbs. 

Chinese 
From this corner, we enjoyed their fried beef with baby corn, garlic chili cuttlefish with oyster sauce and stir-fried vegetables with our egg fried rice. 

Western
The carvery station was a real showstopper, offering roast pork loin, lamb leg and Peking duck. The Peking duck was crispy on the outside and tender on the inside, served with hoisin sauce and cucumber for a DIY pancake experience.  

Sri Lankan
A well-curated selection of rice and curry, pol roti, pittu served with curries such as prawn curry, cuttlefish curry and a standout black pork curry. They also offered local snacks such as cutlets and wade. 

Dessert was also given its own spotlight. The spread included a Chocolate Kottu station for a playful treat with chopped-up chocolate roti tossed in melted chocolate, nuts and sprinkles, tiramisu, mousse cake, gateau, tarts, jelly, caramel and crème brûlée as well as cut fruit. There’s also an ice cream cart driven around the restaurant that’s a fun experience for everyone. 

Overall, we would say that dining at Blue Orbit is as much about the experience as it is about the food. Despite the fact that a 90-minute full rotation sounds like it moves at a barely noticeable snail crawl, you might just be surprised to find out that the rotation is quicker than anticipated!  With over 300 varieties of dishes, a revolving feature and a phenomenal view – Blue Orbit is an experience that’s worth indulging in. 

Location: 26th Floor – Colombo Lotus Tower
Rate: 9,000 Nett
Hours: Daily for Lunch (11.30 am to 3pm) | Dinner (6.30pm to 11pm)
Website: blueorbit.lk  

Pictures by Waruna Wanniarachchi