Some facts intrigued me when I researched and visited the multi-cuisine restaurant, ‘Cuisine Colombo’ for a review. Sushan Peiris, the founder of “Cuisine” is an accomplished lawyer by profession, qualified with his attorney qualifications all the way from England. He founded the Cuisine Colombo Restaurant chain in 2020 just three weeks prior to the country going in for a full lockdown due to the COVID-19 pandemic.

“We never anticipated an impact to such an extent. Just 3 weeks after launching we had to shut down our entire operation for 3 whole months” relates Peiris. So how have they survived the pandemic and the economic crisis situation that followed? How is their food? Is it the cosy place you might want to visit? Keep reading to find out all this and more!

Ambience

We were invited to visit their second outlet located down Gregory’s Road- an easy to access location in the heart of Colombo 7. The first thing we noticed was the spacious parking space and the parking lanes. The interior layout of the restaurant, although looks a bit tight, gives off a very fine, cosy ambience. For the writer in me, it was just an ideal place for ‘people watching’. The outlet also consists of a comfy and cosy hall upstairs that can host at least 60 people for an event. Equipped with a bar, movie projector, sounds, karaoke facilities and live music being performed occasionally, we understood that the place overall is capable of serving a wide range of ‘guests’ belonging to the individual/family/friends for drinks/ dinner/lunch outings. Peiris claims the space can host 150 people at one occasion and once served as a venue for a wedding!

Drinks

Our early afternoon began with the restaurant’s signature mocktail, the Achcharu Temptation and the Brazilian Lemonade. The Achcharu mocktail was hitting at our taste buds instantly with both its strong spicy and sweet flavour, awakening any sleep cell remaining. The Brazilian mocktail was chilled and thick with a pleasant curdy flavour of lime and mint, ideal for a hot afternoon. Here’s a tip! Try not to have the Achcharu mocktail first if you look forward to tasting the flavour or spice of a dish. It might steal it away.

The Food

The menu is quite extensive featuring an array of dishes ranging from appetisers, mains to scrumptious desserts. We started off with Golden Chicken Bites for the starter. Served with Kochchi Cocktail Sauce and grated fresh vegetables, I can honestly say that this dish was certainly a treat I want to have a second time! The texture of the chicken was tender, well cooked with a crisp batter coating, making the overall dish very fresh and fun to eat. If you’re a foodie with a big appetite, this is one dish you would love to start with! For the mains we tried two very filling dishes • Seafood Fettuccini • Chiky Chiky Cheese Bang. 

The Seafood Fettuccini boasts the ingredients including fish, prawns, and calamari cooked in a rich Bechamel Sauce tossed in olive oil. Garnished with parmesan cheese and parsley, the pasta was just a creamy cheese delight certainly due to the generosity with the cheese.

Chiky Chiky Cheese Bang was just a sight for sore eyes! Priced currently at LKR 2950, we would especially rate the garnishing and the coordination of the very matching elements of the overall dish. Stuffed with a fried egg, onions, peppers, cheese and salad leaves coated with a delicious sauce are two luscious pieces of crispy chicken thighs holding all of them together. You guessed it right. It’s a burger! Accompanying this burger are thick- cut, well seasoned fries and a fresh vegetable salad designed to soothe your watery taste buds with its refreshing freshness! This was a one-filling dish, we were sure we were not going to finish but wouldn’t want to either. Serving just right to the person looking for a low carb meal, we tag it as a cracker dish for its presentation.

Dessert

Based on the founder’s recommendation, we tried the famous Creamy Caramel Pudding of the restaurant and we found zero disappointment there! I would probably rate it as one of the best Caramel Pudding’s I’ve had to date. The creamy and milky pudding had just the right amount of texture to the custard with its sweetness and perfect shade of caramel. Another interesting fact? The Custard Sauce is actually home-made! What to look forward to at the venue? Hoping to expand lucratively within the coming years, the restaurant is gearing up to open its exclusive “Shisha Lounge” at its outlet in Gregory’s Road. Checking out the exterior layout of the lounge, we found the setting fitting for an outdoor date night, if you’re up for one!

Overall

we loved the experience at The Cuisine Colombo with its intriguing concepts, great food and interesting events coming up. One should definitely add this to their list of places to check out, especially if they live in the area. 

text Nuzla Rizkiya