Elegantly rising into the Colombo skyline, the lean building of Cinnamon Red is a unique structure. On level 8 of this modern hotel is its main restaurant.
Flavoured: the word red beautifully embellished in the name thus enhancing the brand name even further. The restaurant is really a vantage point to get an awesome view of Colombo, with our nation’s new high-rise building standing majestically to adorn the afternoon view.
The natural lighting drifts into the venue giving it a fresh aura, nicely supplementing the green and red cushion chairs. Waitress Deepika with a radiant smile hands us the digital menu: an endorsement of the way forward in tourism on par with global trends. I asked her to recommend a drink and she points to a Virgin Mojito on the list - a refreshing choice amid the heat of the day. The cuisine here is very reasonably priced I felt, after browsing the menu.
The starter was gracefully presented on a white dish, a classic Caesar salad with grilled beef. The meat was tender and had the right amount of cooking to supplement the green salad. Often, lunch is a rushed affair, but today being a holiday, was a moment to unwind and enjoy the meal.
Flavoured has a nice range of dishes that reflect a well balanced menu with choice. For the main course my preferred dish was the pan fried salmon, while my colleague ordered herb crusted rack of lamb from New Zealand.
Deepika returned to the table still wearing her smile, and placed the dishes. The rack of lamb on a flat plate was a visually stunning preparation by Sous Chef Asela Nissanka. My salmon was done to the right degree and the taste was very refined, perhaps, a wedge of lemon on the plate would have enhanced its presentation. It went down quite well with a glass of champagne.
It was nice to have seafood in this fashion, a break from the somewhat mundane fish curry! Being an island I think it’s time we as gourmets, began to have fish as a main meal and not a mere side dish to rice. Dessert during the week is something I often miss at lunch, but today, was a moment to indulge. The Cinnamon apple tart with vanilla ice cream was quite a regal treat; again Chef Asela impressed us with a sterling presentation that was equally matched with contrasting tastes.
Thus lunch at Flavoured was a rewarding holiday treat. The spectacular views of the growing city were a bonus.