The Grill at Kingsbury opened its doors to the public very recently. We dropped by one evening to this one-of-a-kind fine dining destination for gourmet food in the city of Colombo. 

Located along a strip on the lobby level of The Kingsbury, with a great view of the ocean, this is the ideal place for grilled food lovers. 

Speaking to Life Online,the Director of Culinary Services Kithsiri De Silva said, “What we want to do here is to maintain fine dining standards and offer affordable fine dining, so I call it, ‘Casual Fine Dining. It’s not often that people get the real steak experience. When it comes to meat we have sirloin, t-bone, tender loin etc. and a variety of fish dishes too. 

Soon we will be adding Lamb and duck also to the menu. Kingsbury’s Grill takes great pride in serving the Best Australian Angus beef.”

Ambience

The ambience is fabulous. The dimly lit area, I would say is an ideal venue for an intimate romantic dinner for two, and it’s also fine for a family dinner. The lighting blends in perfectly.  Purple orchids in humongous cement pots adorn the entrance and the walls of the restaurant. You are literally surrounded by floor to ceiling glass panels which gives a beautiful effect, making the not so large area seem huge. During daytime the effect must be totally different. Bright and cheery and you will be able see all around you through the surrounding glass walls. 

Food

The menu offers an assortment of dishes, mouth watering appetisers and exciting entrees. The soup we tried out was the Fresh Mutton & Vegetable Clear Soup (Rs 650/-). The taste of mutton was very evident and you could bite into the little cubes of vegetable in the soup.

For starters we were offered the Classic Jumbo Shrimp Cocktail (Rs. 650/-) topped with the traditional house made cocktail sauce. It comes on a side plate, three huge jumbo prawns enhanced by the tangy dressing beautifully garnished giving it a lot of colour.

Then from their Signature Steaks, we were offered the Surf &Turf (Rs. 2300/-) which is supposed to be one of their most popular dishes. This was a real winner. It was an absolutely delicious and beautifully plated dish comprising filet mignon 80gr, grilled lemon garlic shrimps - which are really jumbo ones, sautéed spinach, roasted garlic mashed potatoes. The beef was very soft and well flavoured. The jumbo shrimps with the lemon and garlic flavour really teased your palate while the spinach was just right and the mash was also very tasty. The potion was not too large but more than enough even for one with a large appetite.

From the Fire-Inspired Entrées, we tasted the Plank Grilled Scottish Salmon (Rs. 2100/-)
which was a dish of pan fried Atlantic salmon so tasteful, soft and pink in the centre, you could just enjoy the flavour as you take your first bite. 

It is accompanied with seasonal vegetables and creamy whipped potato. It was prepared so well that you would definitely want to go and have it again. 

Then we tasted the scrumptious Blackened Roast Chicken ( Rs. 900/-) which was grill-roasted half chicken,  chicken seasoning, fresh herbs and garlic mashed potatoes.

Apart from these, The Grill plays a winning hand by serving up many other sophisticated grilled mains including lip-smacking steaks, lobster and prawn dishes which make their appearance on the menu, all served with an eclectic mix of delicious toppings and side dishes and also a few all-time favourites such as - BBQ ribs, pork chops and succulent burgers. Vegetarians can select a range of interesting and quirky side dishes and salads. 

Doing justice to the sweet tooth, they also have an extensive collection of mouth-watering desserts including the all-time favourite crème brulee. 

We tried out the Molten Chocolate Cake (Rs. 600/-) with toasted marshmallow, homemade graham crackers and the Caramel Apple Pie (Rs 600/-) a house-made apple pie with cinnamon ice cream and caramel sauce, both of which were absolutely delicious. 

Molten Chocolate Cake 

Caramel Apple Pie 
 

Staff & Friendly Service

I must say that the service at The Grill was excellent. The food was served without undue delay. From the point of greeting and welcoming us on arrival until it was time to leave, the staff were all very attentive, smiling, courteous and made us feel very welcome. I observed that they were the same to the other guests who had come to dine as well. 

To sum it up – here’s a place you really need to check out. 

Contact  
www.thekingsburyhotel.com/dining/the-grill
For reservations - 0771087720.

Pics by Kushan Pathiraja