From streetside food carts to posh five star hotels, the food scene at Colombo Fort is a lot of things. It's a tricky business finding a good place to eat in this mess, because it's either cheap kottu joint that comes with possible diarrhea, or a fancy high-end restaurant that leaves a dent in your wallet – there's hardly a middle ground in this case.
The Colombo Food Court is a hidden gem of a restaurant in Colombo Fort, which serves up some great rice and curry combined with tasteful ambience. We stumbled across it wholly by accident.
Food & Drinks
For a little over Rs. 200, you can grab a plate of red or white rice, with a protein of your choice and choose six curries, while the server runs through the options with you. All the curries are displayed in clay pots for a homely touch.
Aside from that, they also do nasi goreng, yellow rice, fried rice and chicken biriyani.
We opted for a Fish Rice and Curry (Rs. 280), which came with a hefty piece of fried thalapath fish, and six curries namely – polos (young jack fruit), kiri kos (jack fruit), radish, long bean, mallum as well as a fish cutlet.
All the curries were adequately spiced and held proper balance between milkiness and spiciness. The kiri kos was especially good with its creamy texture and peppery hit, while the polos curry deserves a special shoutout for being such a delight.
Making a good polos curry is hella tricky, let alone finding one in a restaurant. This is by far the best polos curry I've had in Colombo. It was very flavorsome with a hint of sourness that comes from good old goraka.
The cutlet was nothing to write home about, but was well stuffed with bits of mackerel and mashed up potato. We liked the gotukola mallum too. It was fresh, crunchy and the sliced up tomatoes added a nice sour kick.
With a massive piece of fried chicken, brinjal moju, tempered potato, chili paste and salad, the Chicken Fried Rice (Rs. 400) had a lot to offer on the plate. The rice itself wasn't too oily (which is always a plus point), cooked just right with bits of carrots and spring onions tossed in.
The brinjal moju was top notch and the tempered potato cubes had a crispy outside, with a soft middle. The fried chicken was pretty basic though, with a very light layer of crispy skin, and wasn't dripping with oil.
We loved the salad as well. It was essentially pineapple salad, mixed with cabbage and a drizzle of mayonnaise.
The Colombo Food Court serves up a range of desserts, and we tried this Caramel Pudding (Rs. 140). It wasn't creamy as we expected it to be, but more of a spongier version with a top that had the perfect shade of maroon.
I mean yes, it may not be the best caramel pudding out there, but definitely one of the cheapest. It's one big piece – so two can easily share it. It had a spongy, milky texture with a hint of caramel flavor. What more do you want?
Ambience & Service
The restaurant itself is air conditioned and very, very spacious – so it can easily accommodate around 70 people at a time. The weekends here are less crowded, but I've been here on a weekday as well, and it was buzzing with customers.
The food here is served with good hygiene, which we appreciate. They've covered the food counter with sneeze guards, while the servers wear gloves and head covers.
Conclusion
This is the place to get your rice and curry fix, if you happen to be in Colombo Fort. They're in high quality, delicious and you get your money's worth.
