Long Bar is a chill spot to drink in Water's Edge (Battaramulla). The cocktails have improved and the food is still pretty good. It's basically like a hotel bar but in the suburbs, which is nice.

The Food And Drink

When we went they were actually having a South African High Commission Party, which was AMAZING. All we can say is South Africans are super nice and they play great music. But more on that later. That's just to explain why there's South African flags in a lot of the photos.

For our first round we tried a daiquiri (Rs. 750) and an espresso martini (Rs. 670). The daiquri was fine, if not exceptional. The espresso martini was quite nice. Sweet and refreshing.

The next round was more interesting. This is the heavenly mix (Rs. 670), which is really nice. It has fresh pineapple and papaya juice in there and it's both a hangover cure and a drink in one. Really thick and quite satisfying. We wonder why there aren't more cocktails like this. We also tried a brandy alexander (Rs. 670) which was a nice desserty drink like the espresso martini above.

As you can see, drinks are around Rs. 700. The ones which are classics were well made and the novel items were pretty good, if the heavenly mix is any indication.

Now the foods. We tried the six piece buffalo wings (Rs. 650) which were sweet, rich with sauce and a good mix with the more acidic drinks (AKA daiquri). I personally prefer a dryers, spicier wing but these were good for what they were. We'd say this almost a more Chinesey sort of wing.

We also tried the cheese toast (Rs. 400) which, while generous with the cheesiness, was somewhat forgettable. 

They have a pretty decent food menu here supported by the big Waters Edge kitchen, so we'd say the options are better than your average bar.

Location

They say that the Long Bar is the longest bar in Colombo, but our experience was that the sort of narrow space actually brings you closer to whoever's there. They sat us in an isolated corner initially but we went and sat at the bar and were glad for it. The South African High Commission was having an official function there, but they talked to us and offered us wine and were generally cool, plus we learned a bit about that wonderful country and Nelson Mandela, etc.

In a way it seems like that kinda bar, it's a relatively compressed space and you can talk to and meet people.

There's also a nice view of the lake and some outdoor seating.

Service

It wasn't very busy when we came in, but no complaints. The service isn't super fast and we understand it might get slow when the place is busy, but they're nice and the bartenders seem to have been trained a bit in mixing drinks.

Conclusion

Water's Edge is basically a five-star hotel in the middle of Battaramulla (minus the rooms) and at Long Bar you get an experience like a hotel bar. There are other cheaper drinking spots around (Machang) and the nearby Boardwalk is also pretty good, but nothing quite like this. They have a good food menu backed by the Water's Edge kitchen and their cocktails have really improved. Besides that it's a beautiful location on the lake. If you're in the neighborhood, it's a good place for a drink.