By Hashini Pathirana
Renowned to be known as one of the finest City hotels in the heart of Colombo, Fairway Colombo takes pride in organizing a momentous Street Food Festival along the Hospital Street, Colombo, every once a month for two consecutive days, from 6.00pm onwards till late.
Along with some new additions and acquisitions, Fairway Colombo will be organizing this street food festival Twice a month from January 2023 onwards, and that’s definitely a lottery win for us foodies!
Here at Fairway Colombo Street Food Festival, there are plenty of vendors selling many varieties of food from vivid cuisines and the flow of people to enjoy and try these street foods is a sight for sore eyes. Let’s have a look at what we tried out from this amazing street food festival.
1.The Gills by British Pub
As one of the main sponsors of Fairway Colombo Street Food Festival, Gills was recommended to us and therefore our first pit stop was to try them out. Out of a menu that had Pork Chops, Ribs, Hot Dogs, Mongolian Rice, BBQ Chicken legs, Chicken Kottu and Crispy Chicken with Fries, the Sri Lankan in us chose Chicken Kottu, Crispy Chicken with Fries and Pork Rib. The portion of Kottu is quite the average for one person and comes in a plastic cup. Mildly spicy and slightly cold rather than served hot, it was not the most exciting start we needed.
On the other hand, the Crispy Chicken served with Fries was quite flavorful as the chicken has been pre-marinated well with spices and hence were able to taste an added flavor. The fries were well fried and cooked to add benefit. Two slices of Crispy Chicken and a considerable amount of Fries topped with Ketchup is their serving per portion.
We loved the Pork Rib as it was quite tenderly cooked, not to hard and not too soft either. It was well marinated and the flavors just melt in your mouth without any effort. The portion consisted of two ribs, mashed potatoes, topped with an in-house sauce. Even though the Ribs were rich in flavors and colors, we think the price for the portion served was quite high. But, it’s definitely a must try.
Chicken Kottu : LKR 600/=
Crispy Chicken with Fries : LKR 750/=
Pork Rib : LKR 1000/=
2. Masma Eat
Yet another Barbeque cuisine, that is into grilling, and frying. Their menu includes Masma Meals, Single Portions, Sausages and also Drinks. The single Chicken/Pork meal at Masma has a portion of Grilled Chicken leg/Grille Pork Chop, served with mashed potatoes, and garlic toasted bread. The dish comes in three flavors, “Classic, Sweet and Spicy” and the signature sauces used on the meat depends on the flavor you choose. It is quite astonishing as we can customize our own grilled chicken just the way we like. The chicken was perfectly grilled and definitely met expectations with the taste, smell and texture too. A slice of that juicy grilled chicken on a loaf of garlic bread, topped with the mashed potatoes, was the only way to satisfy my craving.
The Passion Mojito out of their beverage options on the other hand put us a bit off as the Passion fruit flavor was quite too strong throughout the drink.
We also wished the prices could be reduced slightly as it did not do justice to the size of the portion that was served. However, if grilled meat is what you are craving for when at the Fairway Colombo Street Food Festival, then Masma can definitely be your go to spot!
The Single Chicken meal : LKR 1250/=
Passion Fruit Mojito : LKR 600/=
4. Charu’z Kitchen
Significantly, most of the street food shops here catered to grill and fast food cuisines. Another shop as such that we tried was Charu’z Kitchen. We gave it a definite try because of something unique we saw there, which none of the other grill and fast food shops had; Grilled Corn. Mouthwatering just for the sound of it, this was a unique experience we had never tried before. Corns were hung in a row, making it a pleasant sight for all corn lovers, just like us. All you need to do is pick a corn and they will grill it right in front of you, top it off with BBQ sauce and assort it into a box. This grilled corn is crunchy to the core and oozes the BBQ flavor out of it. Safe to say, we were very satisfied as it was definitely worth the price we paid for it.
Grilled Corn : LKR 500/=
4. Mr. Pani Puri
The most Signature street food hailing from routes of Indian culture, and now a “Can’t without” street food in the streets of Colombo too, Pani Puri has really been brought to life and attention of million of fans and we include there too. So how can we possibly not try Pani Puri here? Out of few Pani Puri, our hearts stopped at Mr. Pani Puri, probably because this stall was attracting the most customers out there and we literally had to squeeze into the crowd to buy our share.
We opted out to choose Pani Puri out of the Dahi Puri, Pani Puri and the Mixed Puri choices given to us. Each portion consists of 6 Puris, and are filled in with pre-cooked Chick-pea, Masala Crunch,and Pani was offered to us in a cup, so we can add it to the Puri separately.
The Puri itself was crispy and the filling made it more crunchier to us. A mouthful bite of these mildly spicy puri was just the street food we needed to try.
Portion of Pani Puri : LKR 600/=
5. Tasty Food
Quite a regular stall at Fairway Colombo Street Food Festival, but definitely the MUST try stall if you are a Seafood lover.
From fried fish to deep fried crabs, prawns and jumbo lobsters, this stall had all Seafood items we loved trying out making it undeniably, one of the most crowded stalls at Fairway Colombo Street Food Festival.
Seafood is pulled out of an open stock of display, on order, and put into a wok of oil to deep fry. The deep fried Seafood are assorted over a plate and are topped off with in house sauces, served hot and crispy to the customers. The outer shells of the Crab were as crispy and juicy as it could be while the meat inside was tenderly cooked, and had a “falling off the bone” texture.
The stall also had other grill items such as Fried Chicken Kebabs, Grilled Sausages, and other non-seafood items. But, the must try in this stall will definitely be the Seafood.
Crab : LKR 500/=
Regular Lobster : LKR 1000/=
Jumbo Lobster : LKR 2000/=
6. Jolly’s Ice Cream
After trying out many grills and fast food around Hospital Street, we wanted to deviate and satisfy our sweet tooth. As the main sponsor of this event, Jolly’s Ice Cream was truly outstanding, as it was not just your ordinary stall, but instead a fancy floral bicycle, selling Ice Cream to everyone alike. Bringing about that nostalgic feeling, Jolly’s Ice Cream had four flavors available; Blueberry, Strawberry Sorbet, Swiss Chocolate and Bubble Gum. Blueberry was our first and go-to choice and we got it served onto a Waffle Cone. One scoop was just the perfect fill and was indeed worth the money we paid for it. We highly recommend a try on this for it has no scope for disappointment.
Blueberry Waffle Cone : LKR 400/=
7. Heaven Sweeties
Ice Cream was a fresh start in satisfying that sweet tooth for us, but we wanted more and that was when we found Heaven Sweeties, a boutique sweets and desserts stall selling all kinds of desserts from Cheesecake to Tarts, Biscuit pudding, Mousse, Gulab Jamun and many more sweet delicacies.
Our eyes got stuck on the delicious Cheesecake slices at first glance, and no doubt, the strawberry layers in between the cake sponge with a slice of strawberry on top,made us fall in love at first try with this delicacy.
Did we also try Strawberry Tarts? Oh hell yes! Hands down, one of the best Strawberry tarts I have tried in town. Amana has got some serious “God gifted skills” in making these Sweet Delicacies and we truly loved everything about this stall.
A slice of Cheesecake : LKR 650/=
Strawberry Tart : LKR 170/=
8. Chaiwala
Our “last but not least” try was at the ever famous Chaiwala. A hot and fragrant Cardamom Chai was all we needed to cleanse all the oil, juicy sauces and spice sitting still in the tummy. Chaiwala is well renowned around Colombo for their significant Chai, in many flavors and fragrances. Nevertheless, a sip of this amazing Cardamom Chai can put you in a good mood for days and days, and we were happy customers at the end of the day.
Cardamom Chai : LKR 150/=
9. A Touch on the Dutch
If you are in the mood for a booze or a slow drink while enjoying all the street food out there, then Dutch Pub down Hospital Street would be the ideal hangout place.
10. The Chatham
The newly opened Bar and Grill of Fairway Colombo is called The Chatham, and is down the Chatham Road to your right. Entertained by live bands and DJ music, the interior is fully designed in a rustic yet vintage outlook. Do not forget to head over to this fun hangout spot when you are around for some amazing Grills and Music.
Conclusion:
Fairway Colombo takes pride in organizing this extravagant Street Food Festival every twice a month from January 2023 onwards. With a crowd exceeding more than 500 per day, Fairway Colombo Street Food Festival is a huge success over the two days of it taking place and is beyond any doubt, one grand street food festival in Colombo.
