Another among the Chinese Restaurant boom in Colombo is 998. It is tough to miss the large building with massive gates and large red lanterns, situated on Alexandra Place opposite the rear end of Vihara Maha Devi Park and Town Hall.

We met Hai Long who manages the place and we were told that most of the cuisine served covers that of South China while there are six Chinese chefs working in the kitchen covering the varying culinary areas of China. They also cater to the locals as they have a chef who specialises in ‘Sri Lankan Chinese’ too. They have two menus; for Chinese and Sri Lankans. The restaurant has been in operation for six months and the staff are still quite rough on the edges. I’d advise you to ask Mr Long for any interesting options in either menu.

He recommended we try the Prawns Pieces dish (Rs 1,580) – I am not certain if this is what the dish is called but it roughly translated to that. As the name suggests it consists of prawns cut into small pieces and deep fried with red and green chillies – I’d rate it as one of the best dishes we had that evening.

We were also served Dumplings (Rs 500 for 10 pieces). They were stuffed with pork and served with a pungent, tart and fishy sauce – I preferred the dumplings on their own as the sauce didn’t suit my palate or my nose!

Steamed Rice (Rs 120 per bowl) is the best accompaniment for the varying dishes on the menu. Among the options to choose from is the subtle but flavoursome Sizzling Bean Curd (Rs 728 – small), the spicy and tangy Kung Pao Chicken (Rs 788 – small) and crunchy Thai Style Fish Fillet (Rs 788 – small). The latter had the perfect balance of textures of crunchy but soft fish and the sauce that accompanied it was sour and sweet and basically, delicious.

A snack like dish which may even go well with one of the above is the Cantonese Style Roast Beef (Rs 580). It can be best described as meat and herbs, coriander specifically, stuffed in something similar to a rotti.

Seated at 998 you may, for a moment or two, forget that you are in Sri Lanka as the setting and ambience has that rough feel of a busy Chinese restaurant. It may not be the ideal place for date night but the food tastes good.

Address: 51-C, Alexandra Place, Colombo 7
Hours of operation: 10am – 3pm and 5pm – 1am

Ratings:

Value for money (food) – 4 stars
Parking – 4 stars
Cleanliness (Restaurant) – 3 stars
Cleanliness (Toilets) – 3 stars
Value for money (service) – 2 stars

By Natasha Fernandopulle
Pics by Kanishke Ganewatte