Classic Sports Pub is a bar located on top of Curry Leaves Restaurant in Wellawatta. They did a bit of a relaunch recently and we dropped in for a mid-week drink sesh.
Ambience & Service
They have a dodgy-looking staircase that leads up the Curry Leaves Restaurant, and at the very top lies a door which is NOT the door to the pub. The door is on the left of that, which can be easily missed. We found out because my lunch buddy gave it a small push to see whether it will open to Narnia.
After you enter through the huge door, you are treated to rather cosy looking setup, dimmed lights to fit the vibe, with sports pictures decorating the wall. The place somehow exudes chill hang out. They have a TV hanging overhead as well as a projector lighting up a wall with sports-related programmes.
My lunch bud dug the whole scene while saying that they somehow managed to capture a rustic (intentional or not, we don't know), classic sports bar vibe in a Sri Lankan style, which I agreed with as well.
We were presented with a menu quite fast and our food took like 25 or so minutes to comes to us but we didn't mind.
Food & Drinks
They have rice, noodles-based mains and protein options like chicken, mutton, fish, cuttlefish to go along with it.
From the first glance, our Chicken Fried Rice (Rs. 750) didn't look all too big of portion size but my buddy and I managed to share it between us. The rice had a decent smokey wok-fried aroma and was cooked well without being much oily.
There were plenty of carrots, leeks and eggs in the mix adding to the crunch and the flavour. This went well with pieces of chicken that were fried to have a bit tough outside and a soft inside with more than enough chickeny flavour coming through.
Even though we did find one or two that is too charred and boney pieces, we can overlook it since they didn't cheap out on the number of chicken pieces. We managed to clean the plate up while wishing they were a bit more generous here.
There were nine chunks of mutton in the Mutton Devil (Rs. 800) decorated with capsicum, onion and plenty of chilli flakes. Gladly, all the mutton pieces were all meaty ones that were thoroughly cooked while retaining its tenderness in the middle. The outermost layer gave a slight crunch, while the meat was succulent and had a flavour mix of pepper, chilli with the salty-sweetness taking a step forward. Coupled with the crunch from onion and capsicum bits, this dish was delicious.
Our Hot Butter Prawns (Rs. 800) came with about a ten or so medium-sized prawns that are coated in a rather thick batter which, was not too hard nor overpowering the texture. It was chewy to the bite and had slight crispiness alongside a bit of sweetness.
There was a tinge of heat from the chilli flakes as well. Size-wise the prawns were a bit of a letdown, but they did pack enough seafood goodness in them making the dish enjoyable.
As the main star of the drinks, we got a Bull Frog (Rs. 1000). This one packed a strong tag team punch of Barcardi, Vodka, Tequila with a twirl of RedBull at the end with the Curacao syrup handling the colour. There was a bold, bitter, spirit note that accompanied a citrusy-fruity note while being smooth and delightful.
Conclusion
Classic Sports Pub is a good spot to chill out while enjoying a drink. We wouldn't recommend them solely for their food but their service is good and the place is cosy. If you can afford to drop a few pennies here they are a pretty good option, especially to enjoy a sports day with a few people.
