Casserole Restaurant has been around for over a decade, and it’s arguably the most popular family restaurant at Mount Lavinia. Be it a birthday party, intimate dinner, a get-together with friends or a family lunch out – this place has got you covered.
Food
From hot butter cuttlefish to Australian steak, the menu at Casserole Restaurant is a mix of Chinese and Western cuisines. We tried a little bit of both.
The Casserole Special Mixed Grilled Platter (Rs. 1950) we got from their Western menu was massive! It came heavily laden with five stripes of bacon, three pork chops, two chicken fillets, two mini beef steaks, two lamb fillets, one jumbo chicken sausage, one fried egg, roasted tomatoes and two slices of pineapple, accompanied by a side of steamed veggies and mashed potato. All the meats were cooked right, easily cut through and had a slight char from the grill.
Me and my friend tried conquering this beast of a grilled meat platter for an hour, but finally gave up because we did not want to exceed our daily protein intake. It's well worth the price considering the quantity and quality at play, and it's made for sharing – so bring at least three people if you're planning to finish it off.
The mashed potato was decadent and insanely buttery, while the steamed veggies were fresh and crunchy with a hit of pepper.
We also ordered up a portion of Chicken Fried Rice (Rs. 430) and a plate of Sweet & Sour Prawns (Rs. 620) off their Chinese menu.
The chicken fried rice was basically properly cooked basmati generously tossed in pieces of chicken, egg and sprinkles of carrot and spring onions. It was nothing special really, but we have no complaints about it. The seasoning was spot on, and the rice itself wasn't too oily.
The sweet and sour prawns were simply brilliant! It had around eight batter fried jumbo prawns, beautifully blended with thinly sliced carrots and radish, in a thick, delicious pineapple sauce that balanced out the sweet and sour elements perfectly. The prawns were chewy, the batter was nice and crispy, and despite being generously coated in batter- the prawns werent soggy in the least.
Drinks
As for drinks, we got a Milo Dinosaur (Rs. 350) and a Lime Juice (Rs. 250).
*Pictured above: Milo Dinosaur (left) and Lime Juice (right)
They make a decent glass of lime juice. It was very limey, refreshing and not overly sweet.
Despite the hefty price tag, Milo Dinosaur did not live up to our expectations. They've got all the elements right, but not in the right balance. It was quite watery – so the scoop of vanilla ice cream on top, or the spoonful of Milo powder they used to garnish it, was not enough to save grace.
Service & Ambience
The staff here is well-trained, and they know their menu back and forth. They're quite helpful, efficient, and more than happy to assist you with any questions or recommendation you may have regarding the food.
This restaurant is located on the first floor of Family Super supermarket/Family Baker building, and is very comfortable. It's air conditioned, and they've got plenty of space, easily enough to accommodate at least 50 people at a time.
We visited here on a weekend, and the restaurant was almost entirely full – so you might want to call ahead and make a reservation if you're going here with a group.
Conclusion
The restaurant scene at Mount Lavinia gets competitive by the day, and it's truly impressive how Casserole Restaurant has been able to keep up their game for all these years. If you live around this area, and keen on having a boozeless, but nice and calm family lunch/dinner out for a decent fare, this is just the place to drop by. They’re pretty good at what they do, so satisfaction is guaranteed.
