For as long as I can remember, dining at Flag & Whistle always turned out to be a lot of fun, especially when I was little. Mostly because it was fascinating to watch the ships and their containers, amidst the lights and activities of the Colombo Port in the evening, while we waited (not so) patiently for our food to arrive.

Flag & Whistle’s new menu is vast and comprises of a wide variety of appetizers, soups, salads, burgers and sandwiches, rice, noodle and pasta dishes in addition to grilled meats and seafood. To start things off, I delved into a prawn cocktail, which consisted of freshly boiled prawns on a bed of shredded lettuce, chopped black olives, and topped with a thick and creamy sauce which tasted a lot like Thousand Island salad dressing but seemed to go well with the prawns and lettuce. For mains, I picked the Thai stir fried chicken with vegetables, the seafood marinara, and the Warship – a submarine sandwich.

The seafood marinara was quite nice, and consisted of spaghetti cooked in a thick and creamy sauce tossed with cuttlefish, prawns and fish, and served with two slices of crispy garlic bread. Warm yellow rice cooked with coriander coupled with the Thai chicken and vegetable stir fry, and light cucumber and apple salad was excellent. The stir fry itself was cooked in a light soy sauce, and comprised of soft pieces of chicken combined with sliced carrots, bell peppers, baby corn and cucumber. The Warship makes an ideal snack or even appetizer which can be split between two or three people. The submarine was stuffed with cubed chicken tossed around in a spicy chillie tomato sauce and onions, and served with crispy French fries and a coleslaw.

Dessert as always is my favourite part of any meal, and choosing the baked Alaska was one decision I didn’t regret because really how can you go wrong with baked Alaska? A thick wedge of ice cream ensconced in vanilla sponge cake and a layer of meringue on top, topped with a cherry and drizzled with a light strawberry sauce – this has always been a favourite at Flag & Whistle, and despite being extremely stuffed, you will always find that delving into baked Alaska here is a treat. The fried ice cream also comes highly recommended, in addition to the cheesecake.

Flag & Whistle can also be hired out for private events. The restaurant is open everyday from 11am-2pm for lunch and 5pm-11pm for dinner. For reservations and inquiries, please call (011) 2485505/7. Flag & Whistle is located on the fifth floor of the Setmil Maritime Centre at 256, Srimath Ramanathan Mawatha, Colombo 15.

By Sarah Kellapatha