Cheers at Cinnamon Grand has been a mainstay in Colombo's pub scene for a while now. The food sticks to the usual English pub fare, and they do a satisfying job with it though the service was pretty darn slow in our case.

The Food

Being a pub, Cheers has a more than respectable selection of alcohol. However, their prices for drinks are definitely on the higher end with a bottle of local beer (Lion/Carlsberg) at Rs. 540, not including the usual +++.If you do intend to have some beer, our suggestion would be to go for a pitcher, which makes a lot more sense at Rs. 1300. They also serve up a few cocktails priced between Rs. 880 - Rs. 1200, but we weren't given the cocktail menu during lunch, so perhaps they're only available in the evening.

Cheers is as much a restaurant as it is a watering hole, if not more so. Their menu is very British with everything from bangers and mash, a bunch of red meat options and the usual sandwiches and burgers. Unlike the booze, the prices of food was actually not too high with our bill for four coming to Rs. 7000 including dessert.

The Club Sandwich (Rs. 800) at Cheers was a winner. We weren't sure what the portion would be like, but it turned out be about as much as a main. Served along with some excellent fat fries, the Club Sandwich comes packed with bacon, chicken, egg and cheese along with tomatoes and lettuce. It's an excellent choice for meat lovers, and features a good amount of creaminess from the cheese. The bread is toasted for a slight crunch and the sandwich isn't stacked too high, so it doesn't get too messy.

As far as value for money goes, the Roast Chicken (Rs. 990) is probably one of the best choices at Cheers. The dish itself is quite simple; two sizeable chicken hindquarters, served with boiled vegetables, baked potatoes and two bacon and onion cutlets. The chicken was well cooked, with a crispy skin and served with a subtly sweet sauce. As with most British style dishes, the spices here were mild at best so we suggest adding a bit of tobasco sauce for those looking for a bit of heat.

We'd heard a lot about the Fish and Chips (Rs. 1100) at Cheers, so we went ahead and tried it out. Pushing Rs. 1000, this is one of the more expensive F&C dishes in Colombo, and while it is good, we're not sure if it's the best in town. Once again, they score points for those chunky fries, which were crispy on the outside and soft in the center. It also comes with a mash which was just a bit too pasty for our liking.

We got a massive fillet of fish, which was honestly just a bit too big to eat comfortably. Just cutting it in half would have made it a lot less tedious. On the plus side the batter was thick, crispy and well seasoned. The fish was cooked well, though it really needed that seasoning and texture from the batter to bring it all together. The one major gripe we had with this was that there was this odd gelatinous texture between the batter and the fish, which is sure to bother some people.

For dessert we tried out the Chocolate Chip Bread Pudding (Rs. 400) which was like a spongier version of a chocolate biscuit pudding. The chocolate chips on top were pretty standard, but the combination of the bread pudding and the warm chocolate sauce certianly worked along with the vanilla ice cream.

Cheers seems to be one of the only places in Colombo that serves up Key Lemon Pie (Rs. 400). The pie itself is quite tart so you'll need to have it with the passionfruit and berry coulis which add both acidity and sweetness.

Ambience & Service

Two things we like about Cheers are how they nail the English pub atmosphere and that it's spacious. It's all wooden furniture and carpeted floors with Premier League memorabilia adorning the walls. Cheers is probably one of the most popular spots for football fans to catch an anticipated encounter. The atmosphere is reminiscent of club houses in Nuwara Eliya, which is a nice change from the usual bars.

We dropped in for lunch around 1 PM and the service was just way under par. Both our mains and desserts took around 45 minutes to come to the table, at a time where only around three other tables were occupied. The waiters seemed incredibly unenthusiastic, only apologizing at the end while waiting for the desserts when we basically threatened to leave.

Conclusion

We're not quite sure if it was an off-day, but the slow service had us wanting to just pay the bill and leave, which is a shame since the food was actually well executed for the most part. Combined with the English pub atmosphere Cheers makes for a good sports pub, just go with time to spare.