Xilaton is a Chinese restaurant in Bambalapitiya – the service is good and so is the food. We’re especially fans of their hot garlic prawns which – get this – are slathered in cheese.
Location & Ambience
Xilaton is a big white clunky building near Amrith Indian Restaurant on Havelock Road. It’s randomly decorated with little red Chinese lanterns with Buddhist flags on them. The premises have ample parking space.
The interior is pretty big too with formal dining arrangements. The central area also has a bar while there are quieter spaces in the restaurant to dine at too. A lot of Chinese customers come here, which I suppose is always a positive sign if authentic Chinese food is something that matters to you.
The food
We were a table of six, and we got a round of fried rice with seafood (Rs. 769), Singaporean fried noodles (Rs. 629), roasted chicken (Rs. 769), hot butter cuttlefish (Rs. 1099), two large portions of hot garlic prawns (Rs. 2658) – sounds pricey but not really considering these were 6-person portions.
The fried rice was very oily and tasted great, and the noodles were pretty good too and well flavoured. The cuttlefish was alright, nothing fantastic.
The roasted chicken was just okay, and could have used a little more salt.
Behold! The star of the occasion: the hot garlic prawns. Mother of seafood. They basically took two of the most awesome things you can eat out there – prawns and cheese – and threw them together. One large portion is pretty huge, and the plate arrives in a thick gravy, with the prawns barely recognizable because they’re drowning in cheesiness. This was very filling with the fried rice, and we’d recommend a visit here just for this dish.
Conclusion
Xilaton is a super place to pig out, we love the generous portions. Taxes can get on your nerves a bit (Rs. 1500 in taxes for six of us) but your visit will cost you just about 1100 bucks per head if you go with a crowd – a little pricey for a casual outing, but then again, reasonable by Colombo dine-in standards.
