We headed to the shore at Mt. Lavinia to catch some good sights of the blue green sea and of course, to enjoy a meal at the Shore by O!

Atmosphere

The location could not be a better spot – with a perfect view of the beach along with the right amount of shade from the sun. The seating choices at the Shore by O! are aplenty. They even accommodated a 300 guest wedding recently!  The outer area has bean bag couches, white wooden beach chairs and brown chairs with cushions on them. The open interior has an upstairs and downstairs space with plenty of seating options. You can sit on the usual chairs or go for the high stool type ones.

Just when we thought that the view couldn’t get any better, they arranged a table upstairs for us, with a much wider view of the ocean front. The staff was accommodating and kind. The head chef seems to be highly passionate about his dishes and as a plus point, all meals are served in no time.

Food

They offered us a passion mojito to cool off. It was nothing short of brilliant- no exaggeration. It had the right amount of sweet, sour and mint flavours. This is a MUST try for anyone heading to the Shore by O! I’m pretty sure that I would go there just for this drink.

They offered us their meals in a ‘minimal to extravagant’ pattern. We started off with the Hot Butter Cuttlefish. By far the best I have ever tried. It was much like a crispy chicken fry on the outside and soft and juicy on the inside. The contrast is what made it special. The seasoning was balanced as they didn’t add too much chilli (which is a personal preference) or salt. The portion is quite large considering the size of the cuttlefish rings. The manager, Tharanga, explained how they use only the best quality of cuttlefish to achieve this bestselling dish at the Shore by O!

The second dish was Pork Chops. Three pork fillets on top of a bed of buttery mashed potatoes, vegetable ratatouille and pineapple sauce. (Yes, Pineapple!) 

Being a huge fan of mashed potatoes, I jumped in to see if it was as good as it looked. I wasn’t disappointed. Although there were a few lumps (which some people prefer), the flavour of the mashed potatoes was delicious and oh-so-buttery!

The ratatouille didn’t have much to speak of. It had its usual tangy flavours of tomato and vegetable, a good accompaniment to the pork and potatoes.

The pork chops were the cherry on top! They were large portions of pork fillets with not too much fat in it. The flavour was pretty rich and the meat was cooked well-done. The aim of the pineapple sauce was to balance out all the salty and buttery flavours on the plate. However, it didn’t do much for me as I didn’t like how the flavours went with each other. Although it is a meal for one, it would suffice for two. This is definitely is a dish worth paying for.

The final and the most extravagantly arranged meal was the Seafood Platter for Two. It was dressed with jumbo prawns, crab, para and modha fish and a different version of cuttlefish. Additionally, paprika dressed potato wedges and a garlic lemon butter sauce was placed on the side. The jumbo prawns were sweet and soft and the crab meat was equally good. The modha fish definitely tasted better than the para. The cuttlefish was, much like the earlier dish, brilliant. The sauce took away any strong fish flavours.  However, I have to admit that this isn’t the best seafood platter I have tried. Personally, it lacked flavour and the garlic lemon butter assisted minimally. For those who like natural sea food tastes, this is a great choice.

For dessert, they served us with a plate of Fresh Strawberries with Chantilly Sauce. It was a perfect ending to a heavy meal by the shore. The Chantilly sauce and strawberries were fluffy and light.  The crumbs on the side didn’t make much of a difference. It’s good to know that dessert doesn’t have to be heavy all the time.  

Apart from these dishes, they have bestselling items such as black pork curry with roast paan and grilled chicken. They also serve cocktails under two categories, Old School and The O! Way.

If you are a HSBC Credit cardholder, you can score a 20% discount on all food at the Shore by O!

Offer valid until 31 March 2017.

Tel - 0114389428

Location – College Avenue, Dehiwala- Mount Lavinia

Open from – 11am – 11pm.

text by Madushi Rajapaksha 

images by Pradeep Dilruckshana