Colombo has a few OG pizza parlours that pretty much survive on a loyal fan base that would do anything for that pizzeria. And while new spots keep opening every now and again, Arthur's is a pretty domesticated name for anyone and everyone who lives for pizza.
Arthur's already has 2 other outlets(Havelock and Mount Lavinia) and the 3rd one(which has really upped its game compared to our experiences at the others) is right down Horton Place.
Ambience
Apart from the location itself, the best part about the new Arthur's is the ambience. A mix of Golden Retrievers, fairy lights, plants and the night air acts as the figurative ribbon to the ambience.
After years of going down Horton Place, it's slightly bizarre to go inside this pretty much everything else has made the restaurant to look like any other one in Colombo. There are a bunch of hints that give it a very homely vibe to the specific spot down Horton place.
We really liked that specific aspect of the place. With seating inside for those of you who look for air conditioning and seating outside on the ground floor and space upstairs as well, the ambience at Arthur's is fantastic. It fits the bill for every instance you can think of, we don't think they have private rooms, but whether it be a family function or a bunch of friends getting together, it's perfect.
The Food
The menu at Arthur's Horton Place isn't all that big. A few pasta specials, plenty of pizza and maybe a couple of starters, the menu includes the nai miris specials, so we're all good.
We went with the half and half options with this one being part Margherita (Rs.675) and Part Chicken Nai Miris (Rs. 725).
Albeit thin crust, the dough at Arthur's was slightly fatter than what we're used to. And while this particular quality worked wonderfully with the Pizza Cholesterol, the Margherita tasted slightly washed out because of it. Decked with a whole heap of sliced-up tomatoes and a generous layer of cheese, the slices lacked the acidity from the pizza sauce and all in all, was quite okay. We wouldn't necessarily go for it again.
The Chicken Nai Miris turned out to be the nicer half of the pie. Cheese, bits of cut-up nai miris and plenty of shredded up, cooked chicken, this side of the pizza helped satisfy the void that was left by the Margherita and for that, we are grateful.
We're not going to lie, of the 2 pizzas we got, this had got to be the better one.
Half an half of part Mas Kade (Rs. 925) and part Pizza Cholesterol (Rs. 850), this was an absolute delight. The pizza Cholesterol stayed true to its word and served us a generous slathering of bad influence for our health in the shape of cheese and bacon bits. And when we mean generous, we genuinely mean generous.
The pie was decked with a solid layer of meat and cheese and we positively loved it. However, given how rich it is, you can't eat more than 2 slices of this, so make sure you've got someone with you in the shape of a takeaway box (the cholesterol is worth it).
The Mas kade wasn't bad either. Plenty of meat to have to keep any carnivore happy, the pizza had a surplus of added cheese and was all in all a success. Like the Margherita, these also lacked in the pizza sauce department, but the meat helped cover up for it.
Drinks
Pictured above: Sour Red (Left), Citron Ginger (Right)
Arthur's Horton Place doesn't have a host of drinks to accompany their food but they do have a few non-alcoholic ones that turned out to be strangely very strong.
The Sour Red (Rs. 300) was highly recommended for by the waiting staff and once we got it, we weren't all that disappointed. Lime juice with strawberry syrup, the drink had a strong kick coming through via the lime and was quite nice all-together.
What really blew us away was the Citron Ginger (Rs. 300). Hella strong in terms of ginger and lime presence, the drink was served icy cold and managed to damn every kind of phlegmy-nous in your throat to hell.
Service
The staff at Arthur's didn't really disappoint. They don't meddle too much and only turn up when they're needed. Bringing our food around 10-20 minutes after we had placed our order, we had literally nothing to complain about.
Conclusion
We genuinely liked our experience at Arthur's. The food was good, the ambience, possibly better and the pictures of dogs was pretty much what sealed the deal on this one.
