Sunlight Garden is a hidden gem of a Chinese restaurant. They’ve got good food, huge portions and great value for money.
Food
Chinese food is very popular here but a lot of the best places fly under the radar. Sunlight Garden is one of these hidden gems, along with the likes of Min Han. Both also get a stamp of approval from many Chinese guests.
The menu at Sunlight Garden is similar to most other Chinese restaurants with small portions between Rs. 400 – Rs. 650 and large portions being around Rs. 300 – Rs. 400 more. One thing we can’t stress enough is how large the portions were, with a small portion being enough for around 4 people. We’d say you could manage for around Rs. 800 per head.
Their batter fried prawns (Rs. 620) were different from any other that we’ve tried. These were very lightly battered jumbo prawns served with a mountain spiced fried crumbs. You get whole prawns (with the head), which is great since the head has so much flavour. The crumbs also add a great texture when you have it with rice.
The garlic chicken (Rs. 520) was also cooked and seasoned very well with the flavour of the garlic not overpowering the dish. This portion size was huge. We’d say it’s on par with some of the large portions from higher-end Chinese restaurants.
We also tried their chilli pork (Rs. 520) which comes with a good amount of veges in it. This was a very simple preparation but we didn’t really mind that at all. Good seasoning and just the right amount of spice.
The fried rice (Rs.420) was the only thing we weren’t crazy about. It wasn’t bad in any way but we’ve had better. Combined with all the dishes it worked fine though.
Ambience and Service
BUTT CHEEK CHAIRS! Can someone please tell me why every restaurant in Colombo doesn’t have these? They’re both hilarious and practical. Besides that awesome feature, the ambience is simple and clean. It actually smells very Chinese and the place was full of Chinese expats which kind of adds to the authenticity.
We had no complains about the service at Sunlight Garden either. The waiters were friendly and attentive without being overbearing and the food came to the table in no time at all.
Conclusion
We think Sunlight Garden is one of the better Chinese restaurants in Colombo, specially in terms of value for money. Definitely worth a visit.
