Bilal Hotel is a little kade on Bamba’s Galle Road that serves kottu, fried rice, biriyani and the likes. The prices are low and the kottu is super cheesey. It’s also one of the handful of (Muslim) food joints open on Eid holidays – even its neighbor Hotel de Majestic was closed on festival day.
The Food
Chicken cheese kottuWe got a chicken cheese kottu (Rs. 400) and a chicken biriyani (Rs. 190). This place is generous and flexible about portions, because typically your plate is available in four sizes, all for ridiculously good prices. What we got seemed like an epic portion, enough to fill a very hungry belly or maybe even two people. But that was just for 190 bucks, and the bigger plates are for Rs. 240, 280 and 350.
Chicken biriyaniThe chicken biriyani was alright, tasted average, an epic portion but with a measly chicken leg. You can get one of the bigger plates for more chicken. The chicken cheese kottu was pretty great, I think it’s safe to say this is one of the better places to visit for good old cheesey kottu. Again it was a huge plate, with big chunks of chicken and veggies, and plenty of creamy cheese.
We couldn’t leave without getting some wattalapam, an important constituent of the Muslim kade menu. It came in a little yoghurt cup and was not bad, wasn’t watery like it unfortunately so often is in most shops.
Service & Ambience
Bilal Hotel is an ordinary cramped but clean little restaurant, with a steep narrow staircase to take you to a small upstairs sitting space if it’s a busy day. I don’t even know why we have a service and ambience section for our kade/mini-restaurant reviews because they’re all the same: small space, steel chairs, always a majority of male customers, fast service, despite waiters that seem too busy to talk to you.
Conclusion
Bilal Hotel is a good place to stop for a quick order of kottu and soft drinks on your lunch break. The prices are good and the place does well what it’s expected to.
