Great Wall has been around for a while now, but they’re mostly known for their take out. We dropped by for lunch to see how they match up against the growing number of Chinese restaurants in Colombo.
Food
The menu you’ll find at Great Wall is pretty much the same as the ones you’ll find at other contemporary Chinese restaurants, with their selection of different fried rice, meats, fish and vege dishes. The pricing falls in the mid range, with all the dishes priced between Rs.600-Rs.1200 for small and large portions.
We ordered the Special fried rice (Rs.750 for L), Chilli chicken with cashew nuts (Rs.1045 for L), Sweet and sour fish (Rs.640 for S), and Three kinds of mushroom (Rs.640 for S) as a vege option. Overall we felt the meal was quite average in most aspects. The “”Special”” fried rice hardly had anything special about it. We really couldn’t differentiate it from a normal chicken fried rice, seeing as how it only had shredded chicken in it besides the usual vegetables.
The Chilli chicken was the best of the dishes we tried. It had the right balance chilli and seasoning, and it was nice to see that they didn’t skimp on the cashew nuts. The sweet and sour fish, which was batter fried, got mixed reviews from our group. Overall it was quite sweet, and we tasted hardly any sourness at all. Some of us liked it and some didn’t. So it really comes down to how sweet you like your food.
The Three kinds of mushroom was prepared as a stir fry with button, shitake and oyster mushrooms, with the addition of some Chinese cabbage (Bok choy). The dish was well seasoned and the different type of mushrooms added some nice texture.
Ambience & Service
The entire restaurant was pretty much one relatively large room with seating for about 70 people. It was pretty obvious that they were trying to mimic a classic Chinese restaurant with the ambience. They had some nice little additions like ceramic vases and a folding screen with classic Chinese art which added some much needed aesthetics to the otherwise dull interior.
The service we experienced was rather disappointing. The first thing we noticed when we arrived at our tables were that there were no napkins. We assumed that they would be brought to the table with our plates, but once again was not the case. The staff was also quite lackluster, with blank expressions on their faces and had to be told the number of a certain dish on the menu instead of the name.
Conclusion
There isn’t much at all that sets Great Wall apart from the rest of the Chinese restaurants in Colombo. At roughly Rs.850 per head it isn’t the really cheap either, with average food and poor service. They’re still a good option if you’re looking to grab some quick take out, but if you’re looking to sit down and have a meal with friends we suggest you look at the cheaper, more authentic Min Han on Deanstone Place.
