Platinum Pier is the restaurant at Mirage Colombo, a hotel on Marine Drive. Having never heard of the place we decided to go check it out. Aisha and I dropped in for lunch, and to our good fortune we were served a decent fish & chips though the rest of our meal was somewhat distasteful. The place has great ambiance given its location, plus it's got Chef Lloyd Opatha in the kitchen, so it shouldn't too bad, right?
Food
The menu at Platinum Pier has everything from pizzas and pasta to Indian cuisine, and the prices aren't too hefty either. We decided to go with a salad, a pizza, fish and chips, and a brownie with ice cream.
Mother of Mayo
For starters, we tried the Mirage Chicken Caesar Salad (Rs. 490). First off, as the dish arrived, all we could smell was egg. There was plenty of chicken, and it was definitely flavourful, but sadly there was too much mayo in the way to really feel like you were eating a salad.
I'm not a fan of mayo as dressing, and Aisha didn't care for it either. Combine that with the eggy smell, this wasn't a salad that made you think or feel 'healthy'.
The Impenetrable Pizza
There's a banner outside the hotel that promotes Platinum Pier's pizzas with Chef Lloyd's face, so we thought we'd try the Chef's Signature pizza – tandoori chicken (Rs. 380).
It came with a salad, and topping that included tomato, tandoori chicken, bell peppers, black olives, and a thick layer of sub-standard cheese. We were glad this pizza came sliced, because you'd need a breadknife to get through it. Thick, dense crust. When we inspected it closer, we found that the top was browned, and had fork marks right across, which meant the pizza dough had been baked separately. We're not sure where Chef Lloyd learned how to make pizza, but this is no good. Still, costing less than Rs 400, you're getting a fair amount of food. We just wished it was executed better.
Fish & Fries
Alas, the saviour of our lunch experience was the fish & chips (Rs. 700). Well, more accurately, it was fish and french fries. While we're disappointed that they don't make their own chips, the fish was done really well. Nice and crisp, plentiful serving, and a more mayo than tartar sauce. We brought this back to the office and everyone was happy with it.
Desert
We went with brownie and ice cream (Rs. 260) for dessert, because it seemed pretty straightforward. Maybe we should have emphasized we wanted ICE cream, because what we got was more like creme anglais. The ice cream had already melted, and the brownie was more like a dry, chunky cake. It had plenty cashew in it, though. Disappoint.
Ambiance & Service
The staff at Platinum Pier seem quite jovial among themselves, particularly when we were there at least. They're attentive enough, though they didn't take our plates as we finished each dish. That was strange.
The place has a nice enough ambiance, mostly credited to the view of the sea. There's an outdoor dining area, too, though it's not as spacious.
Conclusion
There's probably a really good reason that you don't hear about Platinum Pier from anyone. There's nothing to write home about. We were really disappointed with the food, but perhaps we should have seen that coming given the prices. Would we go again? Probably not. There's no harm in trying it out though and if you do, try the fish & chips, get a table outside and grab a pitcher of beer too.
