Hunger Street isn't some new road that popped up in Colombo that deals with a Cloudy with a Chance of Meatballs kinda situation. Instead, it has a lot to do with being a tiny cafe in the middle of an extremely busy road smack dab in the middle of the city.
Ambience
The restaurant isn't large and isn't all that ideal for when your dining with a whole herd of people, but, if it's just you and a couple of others, this is a really cool place to chill out at.
Colourful walls, recycled furniture outside and plenty of things going on on the inside, we really liked the ambience here. The only real problem we could come up with was the lack of space for larger groups, but it's still definitely worth looking into if you're okay with scooting a bit.
Food & Drinks
The menu at Hunger Street is surprisingly diverse. Food ranging from Kottu to pasta to starters to burgers and a whole side of drinks to choose from, a lot of the things on the menu sounded really good. Plus, forgive us if we're mistaken, but, most or quite possibly all the dishes here happened to be under Rs. 600, which is pretty great.
Thus, we started off with a Spaghetti Carbonara (Rs. 550). Served as a messy dome of well-cooked spaghetti, the dish comprised of creamy pieces of chicken and pasta covered in a creamy white sauce – cheese combo that was well worth the Rs. 550 you spend on it. The portion size is generous and the added flecks of parmesan helped add a bit of nuttiness to the whole dish which we really liked.
Sure, it could have been a bit creamier, but with enough garlic and onions adding a subtle note here and there, we couldn't fiercely complain about anything.
The Prawn Masala Kottu (Rs. 550) also followed its former in terms of pricing and not being a disappointment. A generous portion full of lots of flavour-packed roti bits positively smothered in the likes of gravy, goraka (Malabar tamarind) and spices, we loved this one. 5 healthy prawns adding a bit of protein to the whole thing, the kottu came as a portion too big for one person and was very much a success in our eyes. We particularly enjoyed the addition of goraka which made everything a lot more interesting than expected.
The Kit Kat Shake (Rs. 450) surprisingly didn't disappoint either. The shake itself wasn't all that thick, but the Kit Kat presence was felt strongly. Decked with a frothy layer of whipped cream and chocolate sauce on top of the drink, the concoction had just the right amount of sugar involved. More chocolate sauce would have helped a lot in terms of chocolatey presence, but, it might have drowned out the flavour of the wafer, so it's really how you see it. We, fortunately, liked it.
A definite highlight of our experience had to be the Ginger on the Rocks (Rs. 300). An ensemble of ginger beer, lemon, mint and a whole heap of shredded ginger that slowly make its way to your mouth no matter how thin the straw is, we liked it. Coming through as a sharper take on ginger beer, it's a good palate cleanser for the kottu.
Service
The staff at Hunger Street, like the food, was quite good. Unobtrusive and barely there, they manage to bring your food within 10 minutes of placing your order and the only real interaction they make with you (apart from when you place your order) is when they ask you to tag them on social media. Don't get us wrong, it's good, very good in fact.
Conclusion
We think the review itself speaks well for this one. The food is very reasonably priced and turned out very well, and the place is a quirky mix of things cute and messy. All in all, it's a worthy opponent in your next hunt for a place to eat, we'd recommend it.
