Sea Fish is one of those parts of Colombo that’s been around since the
1970’s. It’s in a neglected little corner between Slave Island and Pettah next
to ye old Regal cinema, and unexpectedly serves up some fresh, well prepared
seafood. They seem to have improved under new management.
Location & Ambience
Sea Fish declares itself discreetly on a faded blue signboard down a little
lane of plants and housey roofs, a little dodgy from the
outside.
It’s not really dodgy at all once you walk inside though. It’s a long, neat,
A/Ced formal dining space with a bar at one end, but with the strangest choice
of blue lighting across the ceiling. With the lights and the Tina Charles
variety of music playing from the radio while you eat, it’s very ’70s disco
dining (yes that’s a thing now), and I imagine my dad would enjoy having dinner
here and putting an uncle-dance. There’s also a pleasant outdoor space out back
for more casual dining, where they can set up a seafood BBQ party on
request.
The Food & Service
The menu at Sea Fish is pretty extensive – check out their menu
here. They’ve got everything from sandwiches to pastas, but their forte is
obviously seafood. So we went for two seafood mains – the Dello Borata and the
grilled seer fish. It cost us roughly Rs. 3000 for two, which is on level with
most formal dining restaurants. They do crab and lobster too though, which we
haven’t tried yet, and this’ll add a little more weight to your bill (about Rs.
3000 for a kg of medium crab).
The grilled seer fish for Rs. 1350 tasted alright – well cooked, mildly
seasoned seer fish, coupled with boiled vegetables and french fries. Not a
memorable dish, but tasty, and filling for one person.
It was the Dello Borata that impressed us though – this is an aromatic,
spicy curry of cuttlefish, the kind of dish that makes my mouth water just
thinking about it. It typically comes with a side of four slices of kade paan
and pol sambol. For Rs. 1400, this is a hefty bowl that comes hot in the
cooking pot, easily enough for two, featuring plenty of soft, delicious
cuttlefish in a very thick, flavoursome gravy, the Sri Lankan home-made curry
powder kind – any spice lover’s dream come true. With the kade paan, it’s an
addictive dish.
Our waiter recommended the chocolate biscuit pudding, so we got that too.
For Rs. 350 this is actually pretty good. The biscuit isn’t as crisp as I
usually enjoy it, but this is one of the better CBPs as far as restaurant
desserts go – served very cool, with a great creamy chocolate texture, topped
with fresh strawberry.
We went at a not so busy time, so our waiter was extremely attentive. They
were a little bit forgetful – forgot my pol sambol and forgot my takeaway till
I reminded them, but overall they were very friendly and helpful.
Conclusion
Sea Fish does some decent seafood and if you order wisely it’s not too
costly either. If you’re in the Fort neighbourhood and you’re a
seafood person like me, it’s one of the few places there to sit down indoors
for a comfortable meal.
