A Minute By Tuk is a little eatery on the first floor of the Galle Dutch Hospital. We weren’t that impressed by the food, it’s pricey, but the place gets points for ambience.
The Food
We got their desserts and tea on this visit. The bananarama pancake dish was pretty tasty. It’s basically pol pani wrapped up in pancake, with a small side of bananas and a glass of thick honey. Unfortunately for 600 bucks, we got three small pancake rolls, which was disappointing. But taste-wise, it’s a good dessert.
The Jaggernut was a piece of wattalapam with a side of vanilla ice cream. Again, we think Rs. 750 is too much for this. The wattalapam tasted alright and the ice cream was pretty creamy. We also got a decent cup of chamomile tea for Rs. 240.
Indi visited on another day and got this prawn dish for about Rs. 1000 and a drink. It was all kind of meh.
Service & Ambience
The theme of the place is cool, and so is the location during season. There was a crazy jazz festival going on in the Galle Dutch Hospital courtyard when we were there, so the atmosphere was exciting. Service was fast though the waiters seemed a little overwhelmed by the crowd that had come for the festival.
There’s a long continuous deck outside, which we preferred to the high bar stools in the small interior, and sandy wooden furniture. You get a pleasant view of the sea from here during the day, and a view of the central courtyard. There’s also a cool Tuk Tuk Wisdom board on the wall inside, covered in polaroids of tuk-tuks and the great (oft-misspelled) gems on the back of them, such as ‘One who flies not high, falls not low’ or the more minimalist ‘Why this Kolaveri?’
Conclusion
A Minute By Tuk is a cool place for its location and vibes in the late evenings. The food however is just alright and we didn’t feel like it really delivered where value for money is concerned.
