By Sandaru Munasinghe
The Taj Samudra is not a stranger to the hotel scene as it is one of the busiest Hotels during the festive season in Colombo. Situated in the Galle Face Stretch which will be at the heart of all the festivities, the Taj Samudra looks well geared up for Christmas.
As we are still in the pandemic, management ensured all the necessary steps were taken to do their part against the pandemic by carrying out the mandatory fever checks, sanitization and gloves for serving.
The Starters
So I got to the business end of my visit to the Taj by trying out the two soups on offer which were a mutton broth and a classic sweet corn soup. The Soups were quite good and got my appetite up and running for the rest of the dishes. The Salad section was looking good on the healthy side and my pick out of the prepared salads was the Greek Mushroom Salad which felt like a shot glass off Santorini. However, The part that caught my eye at the appetizer section was the cheese selection and the cold meat slices which had pretty good range. The cheese section had about three cream cheeses and Gouda where I tried the spicy cream cheese with the meat slices from the ham trinity which had chicken,pork and beef. The salad plate was topped off with some Gluten from the impressive bread selection they had.
Mains
The mains section had mainly three cuisines on show. There was a section with chinese that had a vegetable stir fried noodles that was a bit too dry for my liking but saved by the amazing gravy combo of the mushroom dish and chicken dish on display. Well what’s a good buffet without some action?. The action was brought in by the kottu and hopper stations on the night that showed the Taj’s hand on local cuisine which was topped off by a mini Indian Section.
The Meats
The meat selection on the buffet was fantastic. The buffet had a good arsenal of meats with the usual contenders from chicken and beef on the grill and a pork in BBQ sauce which was presented out of the grill. The seafood range was also quite pleasing with cuttlefish, prawns and fish on the grill. There was also roast chicken off the grill.
Dessert
Easily the star of the night for me was the dessert section. The section had an amazing spread with also a dedicated freezer just for Panna Cotta. The Blueberry cheesecakes were to die for while the chocolate mousse just hit the spot.The Dessert section provided me with the culinary climax for the night and took my sweet tooth on a ride.
Conclusion
Overall I really enjoyed my dinner at the Taj Samudra. There was an amazing variety among the cuisines on display but the highlight of the day for me was the dessert section which was extremely impressive. As a part time Italian when I go to buffets I would have loved to be infused with a bit of oregano showing that the buffet has room to improve by including more cuisines on the menu. The service at the Taj was swift and prompt. The Taj is a must go buffet in Colombo for all the foodies out there.
Rates: LKR 4599 per person
Festive buffet rates:
Christmas evening dinner buffet: LKR 7500 per person
Christmas brunch buffet: LKR 7500 per person
Christmas dinner buffet: LKR 5500 per person
Opening & closing times: 7.30 pm to 10.30 pm
Contact Number: 0112 446 622
Visit their Instagram page @tajsamudracolombo or Facebook page Taj Samudra Colombo.
Or visit their website for more information.
