For the updated list of post-lockdown buffet prices, click here.
Buffets in Colombo's culture is a pretty important thing. From weddings to anniversaries to coming of age parties, if there is one thing that's probably more important than the event itself, it's the buffet.
Here goes this year's edition of buffets in Colombo so you do not have to wait for an event like that to eat an ungodly amount of food.
Enjoy!
Flow (Hilton Colombo Residencies)
200, Union Place, Colombo 2 Price: Rs. 3, 150 (D) Rs. 2, 800 (L)Our experiences with the buffet at Flow is a cocktail of things, whilst we loved the dinner buffet with its unlimited sushi and not so great dessert bar, our experience at the lunch buffet took a similar note with a very limited amount of sushi, a pretty good dessert bar and a fantastic noodle section. However, the selection albeit quite limited was done very well, the staff was very helpful on both occasions.
Note: The dinner buffet is only available on Fridays and they're offering a 25% discount on both the lunch and dinner buffets till the end of July.
Graze Kitchen (Hilton Colombo)
Hilton Colombo, Colombo 01 Price: Lunch: (Mon-Wed) Rs. 3388, (Thur-Fri) Rs. 3588, (Sun) Rs. 3988 Dinner: (Mon) Rs. 3288, (Tue-Wed) Rs. 3,888, (Thu-Sat) Rs. 3988With a wide, and we mean wide selection of goodies ranging from the Mediterranean to Japanese to Italian to a whole bunch of other options, Graze Kitchen takes the tea on the most variety on this list. So, if what you're looking for is a giant choice of food to absolutely go crazy on, this just might be the one for you.
Governor's Restaurant (Mount Lavinia Hotel)
No. 100, Hotel Road, Mount Lavinia Price: Rs. 2,300 (L), Rs. 3,200 (D)If you've got a sweet tooth and what you're looking for is a fantastic dessert spread, we'd definitely recommend going with this one right here. The buffet at Governors' Restaurant has a giant salad spread and a dessert spread that's fit for the Gods. Sticking mainly to the Asian side of things on the day of our visit, they're savoury items although quite nice, didn't seem to have the same effect as the desserts. Nonetheless, with a fantastic view and a band of very efficient staff members, we loved our experience at Governor's Restaurant, thus ending up on our definite recommends.
Latitude (Taj Samudra)
Taj Samudra, Galle Face Center Road, Colombo 3 Price: Rs. 2,950 (L) Rs. 3,400 (D)Our experience at Latitude was a mix of a lot of things. With a pretty great selection on the salad and dessert side of things and a not-so-great take on the mains, it's hard to give a straight up verdict on this one. Although, most things lean more towards things favourable, with yum desserts ranging from tarts to cakes to cheesecake and mains featuring some tasty meat and just a couple of carbs.
The Dining Room (Cinnamon Lakeside)
Cinnamon Lakeside, 115, Sir Chittampalam A.Gardiner Mawatha, Colombo 02 Price: Rs. 3,350 Dinner:Rs. 3,750We've only been to the breakfast buffet at The Dining Room, and from what we gathered from that, they've got a good spread you could swoop into. From bread to cereals to waffles and a section dedicated to things Sri Lankan, they did a pretty decent job of it. The addition of smoked seer fish was a very welcome addition to the usual mix of breakfast foods. Nonetheless, our experience at The Dining Room's breakfast buffet wasn't exceptional, but, if you're a breakfast person, it's worth looking out for.
Cinnamon Red
59, Ananda Kumaraswamy Mawatha, Colombo 03 Price: Rs. 2,400 (Dinner) Rs. 1,738(Breakfast)Elevate
No.278/4, Union Place, Colombo 02 Price: Rs. 1750 (weekdays), Rs. 1,950 (Saturdays)Elevate happens to be one of the newer additions to the hotel scene in CMB, and they're already pretty popular amongst the most of us. Anyway, if what you're looking for is a lunch buffet 29 floors high, with a great view of the Colombo city skyline, this just might be the one for you. They don't have a giant spread, but they do have enough to keep you very happy.
Ports of Call (Taj Samudra)
No: 25 Galle Face Center Rd, Colombo 8
Price: Special Buffet – Rs. 4200 (Sundays), Lunch- Rs. 2950, Dinner – Rs. 3400
Ports of Call has had Colombo buzzing for a while now. With a pretty damn solid selection of meats and cheese and a Japanese corner that follows suit, Ports of Call does a stellar starters section. And while they do do a generous selection of meat dishes, we couldn't help but wish for a bit more on the veggie side of thing. But, if you're looking for a good selection of Sri Lankan mains and sweets, this is probably your way to go.
Tides Restaurant (Marino Beach)
No 590 Marine Drive, Colombo 03
Price: Lunch – Rs. 2750 (Only during the weekends), Dinner – Rs. 2500
Tides is prepared to provide you with wave after wave of exciting food through their buffets. Sporting a beautiful view and really good food, you cannot miss out!
True, this isn't very long and it in no way covers all the places that serve up a solid buffet. Mostly because a lot of places in Colombo aren't serving buffets at the moment, nevertheless, we will be updating this list whenever we hear of any changes.