Overlooking the pool, Ports of Call inside Taj Samudra, Colombo has pretty much made a name for itself just for their buffets. Whether it be for breakfast, brunch, lunch or dinner, Ports of Call has had Colombo buzzing for a while for what they do. So, come one fine Sunday morning, we too decided that it was high time that we checked out what the hype was actually about.
Coming at a rather whopping Rs. 4200, the Sunday Brunch buffet at Ports of Call begins at noon and is no doubt, definitely worth looking out for, for your next pig-out sesh.
The Buffet
Buffets are generally associated with (as crude as it sounds) pigging out and not much else. So, bigger the buffet, the happier you're going to be. Which is why the brunch buffet at Ports of Call is actually perfect. Having a pretty wide range of food to get anyone happy, it promised to be quite good. And apart from a few glitches here and there, it was.
Soups and Bread
The eating begins here. With 3 kinds of soup kept steaming in 3 separate stainless steel tanks, they kicked things off pretty well; we happened to go with the Seafood Chowder. Thick, creamy and smelling utterly heavenly, the soup had been prepared to as close to perfection as we could have hoped for. The only real problem we had was a dire lack of salt. It isn't something to cry rivers about if they had table salt at every table. But, unfortunately, our table limited itself to pepper.
Right next to the soups, we had the bread corner. With a dozen different kinds of freshly prepared buns and such, it's a haven for people who want to fill themselves up with different kinds of doughy goodness. However, if you're not there for the bread, hold on.
Starters
Ports of Call doesn't necessarily do a heap of starters. But, what they do have is a pretty diverse range of meats and cheese. While the veggies themselves dwindled themselves to a not so happy bunch of bowls, the meats and cheese were very very successful.
They had a few dressing options like Vinaigrette and Passion Fruit, but after trying the passionfruit and finding it too sweet, we decided to move on to the meats and cheese without caring too much about the healthier aspect of things.
With a solid 7-10 types of cured meats ranging from mutton to lamb to beef and at least 5 kinds of cheese to accompany them, this had to be the best part of the entire buffet.
Sushi
If there was one thing that posed even a remote threat to the meats and cheese, it had to be the Japanese corner. Sushi rolls (both veg and non-veg), sashimi and one or two other teriyaki-ed options, Ports of Call is a heaven for anyone that likes sushi because hey! It's all you can eat.
Mains
The mains at Ports of Call ranges mostly through all things meat, European cuisine, American, a hint of things middle eastern, Indian, Sri Lankan and a BBQ Seafood section.
After looking through everything at the premise, this is what we wound up with.
The seafood action station has a small pile of seafood from prawns (both big and small), fish, cuttlefish and split lobster. We happened to get a normal and Jumbo prawn and found the jumbo prawn to be a bit on the undercooked side of things. It wasn't ideal, but we don't necessarily blame the chef. There was a bunch of people waiting rather impatiently for their food. So, just make sure your food gets cooked properly before you take it.
Lamb, turkey and another baked animal we can't really remember, the grilled veggies and meat section was brilliant. I mean, just look at how pretty that bird is!
The Sri Lankan section comprised of a row of clay pots filled with various Sri Lankan curries. Ranging from crab to dhal to even guava and pineapple achcharu, we were rather impressed by this particular section.
And if nothing makes you happy, there's always nuggets, kieves and french fry corner to look forward to. We happened to try the potato wedges and we can fully guarantee that, crispy on the outside with a small sheen of spice running through it, they're brilliant.
Dessert
Cut up fruit, puddings, cubed sweets, Ice Cream, low-sugared, Indian and Sri Lankan, the dessert station at Ports of call was quite good. But, while we didn't particularly love everything that was up, we can guarantee that if you're looking for a very Sri Lankan experience, we don't think anyone does it better than they do.
They also have candy floss and they don't judge if you're not a child.
Ambience
The ambience at Ports of Call is lovely. Golden hued with plenty of very comfortable seating and a view of the pool, we loved it.
They also have a 3 membered calypso band for anyone who wants a bit of music while they eat. Cheerful and all in all quite nice, we enjoyed it. Plus, they also take requests in a number of languages.
Conclusion
In conclusion, we like it. There is a range of the food they have and while we weren't too thrilled with small aspects of the experience, we would recommend it.
