Located on the fifth floor of the Setmil Maritime Centre in Colombo 15, overlooking the harbour, this is a spacious, tastefully decorated restaurant. Although the drive to get to this beautiful location was quite a tedious task during lunch time, when we did eventually get there we were not one bit disappointed. Actually we were pleasantly surprised. 

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Ambience (4/5) 

Decorated like an old ship, there are some antique equipment from old ships beautifully polished and spotless among the many tables on the upper deck. On the lower deck are the high bar stools with tables where we chose to sit. These tables were made like old beer barrels and blended well into the theme. There’s quite an impressive bar as well. Apparently lots of people from the city patronize this place specially during the weekends and in the evenings. Outside on the balcony is a glass bottom floor where fish swim to and fro. Sitting out here for dinner overlooking the movements of the habour, I’m sure must be an awesome experience. But we were there at lunch time so it was far too hot to sit out there. 

Food and Drinks (4/5) 

Starting off with a very refreshing fresh Orange Juice (Rs. 400), we were served Crab Croquettes (Rs. 500) as an appetizer. These were absolutely delicious crispy crumb-fried tartlets mixed with crab meat, potatoes, cheddar cheese and mild spices and they served it with coleslaw and cocktail sauce. 

Then the Salad that was served was a Chef’s Salad (Rs. 430) with shredded grilled chicken, chicken ham, boiled egg, tomato wedges, oninon, cheese, mixed leaves and black olives dressed with a creamy tangy dressing and sprinkled with croutons. The veggies were fresh and the leaves were crunchy. 

For our mains, we were served the Grilled Red Snapper with Thai Sauce (Rs. 700). The fish was well marinated with chillie and coriander and topped up with tomato and onion. The delicious Thai sauce that was poured on top was out of this world. I asked for more and poured myself an extra helping. It was served with Green Salad and Herb Rice. 

Dessert was served a Triple Layer Chocolate Mousse (Rs. 250). This was the only item from what we tasted that I thought could do with a little improvement. 

Some of the other popular dishes on the menu are the Chicken Piccata with Mushroom Capers sauce, Meatless Shepherd’s Pie, Chicken Carbonara, Mongolian Mixed or Seafood Noodles, Spicy Thai Rice in Banana Leaf just to mention a few. The other hot favourite is the Chef’s Special Black Pork Curry, a Sri Lankan favourite made with kalu pol spices and they serve it with either steamed rice or their famous herb rice and add ons are salad and papadam. 

Value for money (4/5) 

I must say their menu is very interesting and priced very reasonably. 

Service (4/5) 

Special mention must be made of Ragupathy the steward who served us. He was really obliging and you could say he made a genuine effort to perfect his service. Chef Pradeep who I asked many questions from seemed to be quite an expert in the field as well. 

Note: All prices mentioned above are subject to 10% service charge and government taxes. 

5th floor of the Setmil Maritime Centre 
256, Srimath Ramanathan Mawatha, Colombo 15 
Contact number: (011) 2 485 500 / 0777 309 272 

 

Photographs by Kushan Pathiraja