Colombo’s latest seafood restaurant ‘Totally Hooked’ aims to create a distinctive dining experience with the fusion of American and Singaporean cuisine styles highlighting the fresh local seafood found in abundance in our island nation. Having opened its doors just a few weeks ago, Totally Hooked positions itself as offering a unique experience to its diners with menu items that are perhaps the first of its kind in Sri Lanka. “Living on an island, Sri Lanka has some of the best seafood you can find and we want to highlight that through a unique style of preparation that will offer diners a one-of-a-kind experience” shared the management of Totally Hooked.

Ambience
Located at W.A Silva Mawatha in Colombo 06, it’s hard to miss Totally Hooked with its vibrant presence and marine-themed outlook. The restaurant is a two-level restaurant with more seating and privacy available on the second floor. We loved that the nautical and marine theme is spread out through the restaurant’s interior as it created the ambience for the food we were set to indulge in. 

Food & Drink
Totally Hooked offers an easy to read, low-fuss menu with just over 25 items including starters, salads, sides and mains. Much of the menu is very novel like their Yam with Dried Shrimp side dish or their Jamaican Corn Jerk while others are their signature take on a classic dish such as fish and chips or battered cuttlefish prepared in a unique style. After getting a few recommendations from the staff and picking some of their signature dishes from the menu, we ordered a few starters and mains for our meal.

Popcorn Shrimp
Our starter of choice, the Popcorn Shrimp came recommended by their staff as the dish has already been established as a customer favourite in just a few weeks. The shrimp is flattened, lightly crumbed and battered fried till it's golden and crispy and served with a cold tartar sauce. The smooth creaminess of the tartar sauce really complimented the savoury flavour and crispy texture of the prawns.

Laksa
Another starter from the menu, this seafood Laksa was packed with prawns, mussels, calamari and fish along with a ramen style noodle and egg. The Laksa broth was very creamy and rich (and a little too salty for us) and though it’s a satisfying starter, if you intend to indulge in a main course, we would say that the Laksa may be too rich and heavy as a starter.

Chillie Crab
This main dish is the star of the Totally Hooked menu and for a good reason. The Singaporean Chillie Crab is a theatrical, messy affair and we loved it. The crab comes to the table in a food-grade polybag and the customer has the experience of unpacking the crab before they dig in. Totally Hooked uses eco-friendly packaging in its operations and we hope that it will extend to this dish in the future as well! 

The Chillie Crab is served with 4 fried Mantou buns – a Chinese steamed bun fried in oil, perfect for soaking up the leftover chillie crab sauce. The Chillie Crab was delicious with a good balance of the sweet and savoury flavour profiles in the sauce. The crab in itself was fresh and packed with meat so we thought the dish was value for money as it's easily shared by two. Even though it was a messy affair (as crab always is), it was well worth the trouble! The Chillie Crab and the Mantou Buns is the perfect combination and a unique dish that is a Totally Hooked signature. In the alternative to crab, Chillie Prawn is also available in the same style.

Peri Peri Prawns
This main dish offers 6 tiger prawns marinated and tossed in a spicy Peri-Peri sauce and served with a generous side of butter rice and seasoned French fries. The Peri Peri prawns were delicious; the sauce is a triple threat with hints of sweet, sour and salty and the perfect marinade for the prawns.

The Hungry Chick
For non-seafood lovers, this chicken dish is a great option. The Hungry Chick includes a crispy chicken fillet tossed in their signature BBQ fusion sauce and served with a side of butter rice and corn. BBQ Chicken and corn is a timeless combination and we enjoyed the flavours of the signature sauce. 
When we visited, Totally Hooked only had a choice of ready-made beverages such as sodas and juices (we enjoyed a refreshing Narang and Passion Fruit thirst quencher) but they do have a beverage menu in the works that they hope to introduce soon.

Overall
Overall, we had a wonderful meal at Totally Hooked. The food was fantastic – fresh, prepared to order with a good balance of flavours and the portion sizes are value for money. As big fans of seafood, it was great to experience new styles of preparation and combinations that are new and unique.
 
173, W.A Silva Mawatha, Colombo 06
http://totallyhookedcmb.lk/
Dine-in | Takeaway 

photos Pradeep Dilrukshana