200, Union Place, Colombo 2
Open 6.30AM to 10.00AM, 12.00PM to 3.30PM, 7.00PM to 11.00PM
FLOW is a restaurant at the Hilton Residences that serves up a variety of international and local cuisines.
The Hilton Residences is not really a hotel (they're residences) but they nevertheless maintain star-class hotel facilities. Among them is FLOW, their multi-cuisine restaurant.
FLOW and the next door coffee shop let you experience hotel-level food and service quality without going all the way down to the Galle Road. When we saw that they had a Nations Trust Bank American Express offer this season, we went to check it out.
The first question with a dinner buffet is why. Yes, people serve dinner buffets at weddings and events, but going out for one is rare. Brunch, lunch yes, but dinner buffets are usually for hotel guests. But they needn't be. If I may give you just one reason: unlimited sushi.
I was once stranded in Manila by a typhoon and the main benefit was that the hotel had a sushi buffet, which I consumed for breakfast lunch and dinner. if the fish is fresh and well prepared, this alone makes any hotel buffet worthwhile.
The FLOW selection is excellent, and generous. Normally you have to beg for a decent serving from across the glass counter, but in this case, the young man actually gave me too much. Unlimited tuna sashimi and salmon sashimi, what a wonder.
This being a multi-cuisine restaurant, there are multiple cuisines. The primary categories being Sri Lankan, Indian, Chinese and Western. My personal favourites from that range were the Chinese (everything from dim sum to a surprising take on bitter gourd).
Near the sushi, you can also spot a bunch of fish and cuttlefish on ice. Just pick one up, select your sauces and they'll make it for you fresh. This was wonderful and is a great idea for any buffet.
The one thing I wasn't impressed by was the desserts. Usual Sri Lankan hotel buffet selection of wobblies. There must be a market for them because every hotel has this sort of dessert, but it's not me.
Recently refurbished, the dining room is spacious and beautiful. The service is excellent. Beyond just seating us, the host showed me around and explained everything. The cooks behind the scenes are needed to serve food sometimes, and they could be a bit more attentive, but they are cooking.
Overall this is the best non-hotel hotel buffet you can get in Colombo. Small category I know. If you want to expand out a bit, this is a comfortable place to have unlimited sushi and an assortment of nibbles, basically everything but dessert.
Note that Nations Trust Bank American Express Cardmembers get 25% savings on dinner at FLOW, including Christmas Eve, Christmas and New Years Eve. This continues till March 2019, so it's a veritable buffet of dates.
Address
Directions
HCR is next to Staple Street down Union Place. You have to walk into the Staple Street side entrance of the hotel to get to FLOW.
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5/5
I arranged a farewell get together for my Team of 14, reservation was done on the previous night @ 10.00 pm. It was well organized, the table was ready on time. The buffet lunch was fabulous. No words to describe. The restaurant Manager on duty Mr.Rukmal Silva was very much attentive, and well assisted by Damith & Nipuni. Seriously one of the best restaurants in Colombo.
Hi YAMU why don't you write reveiew on Bundrys' Pizza Thalawathugoda which seres wood fired pizza with a Sri lankan touch. They have three unqiue pizzas that I never seen in any of the wood fired pizza place.
1. Sri Lankan Black Chiken Curry pizza
2. Cheese and Polos Delight
3. Maalu Ambul thiyal Pizza.
https://www.facebook.com/BundrysPizza
It's basically a buffet and not as nice as the other hotels either.
The service was extremely poor too.
The staff at each station looked annoyed that we were there and were chit chatting throughout. It's very difficult to serve yourself, having to lean over the large wok-like serving dishes with heavy glass lids.
There was a dried up wedge of pizza and a disappointing Japanese section.
In my opinion, me and my family had a great experience at Flow. The food was so yummy and the open kitchen environment is something new for buffets in Colombo. Simply loved the soups, salad bar, sushi, and the ice-cream kottu!. I think getting to taste five types of cuisine at the same place and getting it for 2900/- is something really worth.
The staff was so friendly and helped me out to throw a small surprise for my Amma on her b'day, which they gave FOC!!.
I will definitely go there again and again. Many thanks to the Crew at Flow for giving us an unforgettable experience.
I went to this place yesterday for lunch and it was the horrible food i ever had. They are advertising it as first time in Sri Lanka & 5 open kitchens and all the bla bla… but when it comes to food it's just horrible! I didn't had anything at all to eat… i even complained the one of their chef who was standing outside; about my total idea on this place.no verities and not worth for the money which spent… Kingsburry buffet is far more better than this and have plenty of food varieties to eat and price wise lower that this too. This is not worth at all and i think people should skip this place as its just a waste of money.
Went there yesterday (15AUG'16):
1 x Dinner buffer 2488.16
2 x Carlsberg 0.625 (large) 1500.00
Sub total 3988.16
SC 398.82
Tax 628.37
GRAND TOTAL 5015.35 (46.26 SGD / 44.86 AUD) ;
PROS:
(1.) I kind of liked the ambiance.
(2.) Courteous and professional staff.
(3.) The prawn soup was quite good.
(4.) Some of the desserts were quite good.
CONS:
(1.) A buffet for 3000 bucks has NO CHEESE. A shocker IMO.
(2.) Also no cold cuts like salami, ham etc. The only thing they had was a chicken live pate.
(3.) Cocktails are bloody expensive. A bull frog was over 2k if I can remember correctly.
(4.) They have hoppers etc. I don't know why. Better have something international instead.
(5.) No ice cream.
OVERALL: Not worth 3000+ bucks. They need to improve and also increase the number of items offered. This has to be the most expensive buffet in Colombo. In all other hotels its below 3K. So, you need to add more items and improve the quality also.
Have been to Flow a few times and today I took my mom and some friends out for dinner. I guess I paid more attention to the food today because normally I'm in and out for a quick meal during lunch time on weekdays. The service was not great. Starting with the drinks, the iced tea was diluted and lacked flavor. The bottom of the glass wasn't wiped properly and some pink liquid was all over my placemat. Moving on to the meal, the salad bar was ok. Penne pasta was under cooked and very dry. The main spread was so poor! No chicken! No grilled chicken no tandoori or tikka at the Indian station, the egg hopper they made for me was sooo burnt the black burnt stuff was all over my fingers! My friend ordered a pasta which they never brought to our table and when he walked back (after his meal) to the salad bar to speak to the manager the chef hands him the pasta saying he couldn't find where my friend was sitting to bring it over!! Great service Hilton! Wasn't worth the money we spent. I took the guests out to treat them and I was embarrassed as they couldn't find something they could eat and enjoy! Won't be recommending
Went for dinner today. The ambience was alright but the service wasn't good. Most dishes were 3/4 empty…you could count the carrots in the carrot dish and the beans in the beans dish…there were about 20 in each! There was no one at the pasta stand until I asked what was being served there from another chef and then someone rushed over to the station. Just poor service and poor spread. Disappointed
5/5
P M Prathaban
I arranged a farewell get together for my Team of 14, reservation was done on the previous night @ 10.00 pm. It was well organized, the table was ready on time. The buffet lunch was fabulous. No words to describe. The restaurant Manager on duty Mr.Rukmal Silva was very much attentive, and well assisted by Damith & Nipuni. Seriously one of the best restaurants in Colombo.