New restaurants in Hong Kong: Hotal Colombo – a taste of Sri Lanka that will live long in the memory
- Affordable prices, friendly staff and perfect food that included chicken kothu, which was a delicious mess, and the best bone marrow dish ever
- A different beer was even brought from a nearby sister restaurant, because one guest did not like the ones on the list
I cannot remember when my friends and I ate with such joyful abandon as at our recent meal at Hotal Colombo.
It’s partly the price point (about HK$170 per person without drinks and the service charge, although we were comp’d a few things since they recognised me and my friends), which meant we could order close to half of the menu to share between four of us, but it was mostly due to the food (fantastic) and atmosphere – the Black Sheep Group hire great, friendly staff who are thoughtful and proactive (one went to get another type of beer from a nearby sister restaurant, because my guest did not like the ones on the list).
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The menu is quite brief: just 14 dishes, not including snacks, side dishes, and chutneys and sambols, we ordered six of them; there wasn’t anything we disliked.
String hoppers (HK$58), served with kiri hodi (coconut gravy) that we spooned over the long strands (which look very similar to Chinese rice noodles), was light and fragrant, and the spicy pol sambol served on the side was so good we ordered it as a side dish (HK$18).
Two plump steamed idli (HK$38) came swimming in another aromatic gravy flavoured with mustard seeds and topped with coconut cream. We pulled apart the triangular-shaped masala dosa (HK$58) with our hands and dipped the pieces in the bowl of sambar that was served on the side.
We loved the chicken kothu (HK$98), which was a delicious mess of a dish: shredded chicken, sliced vegetables, bite-sized pieces of flatbread, all cooked together with tongue-tingling mix of aromatics and spices. This is apparently a common street food in Sri Lanka, but somehow, and unfortunately, I missed eating it on my visits to the country.
Devilled shrimps (HK$98) looked fiery-hot, but the spice level was tolerable and the flavours were balanced.
Bone marrow varuval (HK$88) was the best bone marrow dish I have ever eaten; it makes the version that St John in London has made famous (grilled, topped with herbs and served with flaky salt and bread) seem insipid and heavy by comparison.
This one had bright, spicy flavours that balanced the fatty richness of the bone marrow, and the sliced shallots and slivers of fresh coconut also helped. We spooned the ingredients onto the pieces of pol roti served with the dish.
Black pork kari (HK$108) was the last dish to be served. The tender meat came in a very intense dark sauce that was deeply flavoured with fermented black peppercorns, cinnamon, cardamom and other spices. In retrospect, we should have eaten it with rice.
A word on the sambols: order them. At HK$18 each, they seem pricey compared to the other dishes, but they were all really delicious and varied, and they added complexity to the main dishes.
The restaurant does not take bookings, so if you want to avoid waiting, it’s best to arrive soon after they open at 6pm.
Hotal Colombo, 31 Elgin Street, SoHo, tel: 2488 8863. About HK$170 per person without drinks or the service charge.
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