Hooch is a restaurant that was recently opened, and is neatly tucked in between the buildings in Bambalapitiya. They serve different food items during the different hours of the day, and have specialised menus for breakfast, dinner and lunch specifically.
The Food
We chose to visit Hooch for brunch, so we were able to grab a few bites from the morning menu while helping ourselves with some freshly prepared rice.
There are few places in the city where you can find some relishing, delicious stuffed roti, and this is certainly one of it chief. The Roti (Rs. 80), slightly thick and moist, comes in the form of a sandwich, with the lunu miris serving as the filling. The lunu miris is simply heavenly, bringing out the original spiciness, and also having enough flavour.
The Meatball Pastry was flaky and moist, and had a sliced meatball in the filling. We weren't huge fans of the Fish Pastry because we couldn't quite find any exquisite flavours of fish in the stuffing, but the pastry itself was quite flaky and had a slight buttery taste to it.
Their portions of rice were quite large and cooked well, and it was only Rs. 220. For a portion that huge and relishing, it's totally worth it!
Hooch has different combinations of rice on different days as well, and while they have rice and curry everyday, they have a different schedule for their specials. We caught them on their Yellow Rice day, and we sure are glad we did.
Pairing the yellow rice with chicken and the white rice with fish, except for the meat, the rest of the curries were the same. They had an amazing rendition of the dhal, where it was the ideal balance between being thick and watery, a deliciously prepared dambala curry, giving that extra spice and nutritional boost, along with a portion of beetroot.
The omelette, with a runny yolk and a tinge of salt, and the pol sambol, the perfect harmony of chillies, onions, and grated coconut, was just how we liked it. The chicken we were presented with was succulent and juicy, and prepared in the orthodox manner which you can't really go wrong with. The chicken itself was a bit small, but really, for that price, it's totally worth it. The yellow rice also had a hint of ghee in it, which gave it that extra kick.
The white rice was perfectly fluffy and the starchy flavour was presented through the rice. What we particularly liked about the food was also the fact that it was quite fresh, and the fish perfectly complemented the rest of the curries. The (almost) boneless fish was cooked and had a flavourful gravy slathered on it.
The Chocolate Milkshake (Rs. 200) took us by surprise with its strong chocolate flavour although it wasn't as thick and the drinks too were top notch. The Watermelon juice perfectly encapsulated the watermelon flavour. The texture too was quite thick and had sizeable chunks of watermelon which made it so much better.
The Lemon juice, pulp infused, was as pretty as it was refreshing. Not too sweet, and have the perfect amount of sweetness and lime, it was the ideal drink to have on a warm day.
They also informed us that they serve some boss burgers in the evenings, using roast paan and patties that they make themselves.
Service and Ambience
The staff were one of the friendliest and were not hesitant in explaining what was on the menu during the specific times, and the service was quite fast as well.
The restaurant itself is a small place and quite warm during the day when the sun is glaring down at us, but in the mornings and evenings, it's quite cool and breezy.
Conclusion
A chilled out place with amazing food at a really affordable price, Hooch is the perfect place to drop by if you're in the neighbourhood and are looking for a quick fix.
