When one hears the name Tony's Kitchen for the first time, your first instinct would probably think that it sounds like some vintage cafe out of Westside Story or something. You know, the kind of resto that's named after the owner or something. And after travelling all the way to Colombo 13, we realised that the possibility of that is very very large.
A corner of a very busy junction in Kotahena with 2 very nice looking cats, a grand total of a one man staff and plastic white chairs, here's how our experience was at Tony's kitchen.
Ambience
It's quite charming, really.
We happened to drop in at a beautifully favourable time for the restaurant. Because, with very few rays of strong sunshine hitting the area, cold breezes and a gentle bustle instead of the gross traffic that ends up destroying your experience, we liked it. With a few white plastic chairs and glass tables taking up the space in terms of furniture, the ambience at Tony's isn't necessarily the most photogenic, but, it's great for when you're looking for a decent spot to get a bite at.
The Food
Tony's Kitchen does an array of fast food that generally span across the spectrum of things sandwiched, kottu-ed or riced. We wanted to get a mixed rice, but given how they were out of those, we opted with just a few of the options that caught our eye.
Coming at a very decent Rs. 300, the Crispy Chicken Burger turned out to be just that. With a bun that felt and tasted very similar to the McD's buns, and just a light sweetness missing to make it almost parallel to it, the bun was pretty much the nicest surprise.
And while everything was on point in the bun department, the rest of the burger didn't live to the expectations that were put on by the bun. With a sliver of chicken coated in a crispy batter and smothered in mayo and ketchup with a few salad leaves poking in at the side, the burger was all right at best.
A strong crunch coming through via the chicken and most of the flavour being pulled through the mayo and ketchup, the burger was nothing to rave about unfortunately. It wasn't bad, not even remotely, just very adequate is all.
The Double Chicken Burger had to be the better one of the two. Coming in at a more than decent Rs. 350, the Double Chicken Burger at Tony's was worth everything you pay for it. The only real thing it lacked was the addition of maybe a bit of pickle to give it an extra zing, but even then, we really liked it.
The bun followed suit to the prior and came through as a nice surprise, but it didn't stop there, with a surprisingly fresh take on chicken patties, the nugget was fried to a crisp but tasted as fresh as a nugget could possibly get.
A slice of cheese, lettuce, mayo and ketchup, we'd recommend going with this on your next trip to Kotahena.
We also happened to get a serving for fries for Rs. 100 (you can get for 50, 100,150… depending on how much cash you have), and we happened to like it. Store-bought, but fried to a light golden colour and flavoured with a bit of salt, it was good.
The saddest part about our experience at Tony's happened to be with the Chicken Kottu (Rs. 250). Utterly doughy with fragments of chicken at random intervals and most of the flavour coming through the sweet tomato sauce and chilli combo they had included, we didn't particularly enjoy it.
Service
Tony's is a one-man show. Meaning, the person who takes your order and serves it will be the one to cook it. Thankfully, we happened to drop in at a time when we were the only ones there, so he managed to get everything done within 5-10 minutes of placing our order. And while he was quite efficient if, you do happen to visit at a busy time, we can't vouch for how long it'll take.
Conclusion
Tony's is all right. Sure, it's in a corner of Kotahena that no one really knows about, but the food they serve is clean and is of pretty good quality when compared to other places in the area. And while it isn't all that fancy, it's worth looking out for in our opinion.
