2016 Apr 2
This is a review of Tsing Tao’s old menu. For our new and updated review, click right here, or below!
by Anuki Premachandra
Chinese with a twist!
Out of the many places in Colombo that offer Chinese, there’s only a handful that honestly does equity to its authenticity. For some odd reason, Chinese food in Sri Lanka is a very ‘happening’ cuisine. From the small roadside kadès to the fine dining hotels, the Chinese cuisine has taken a monopoly in its course over the years. The infamous Fried rice and Devilled chicken most think is as far the Chinese got to offer. Wrong! Authentic Chinese food much more than the mainstream. From the abundant variants of sauces to their bona fide spices and garnish, their cuisine will definitely take you by surprise.
Tsing Tao specialises in giving you modern Chinese fusion food designed by the Chefs of the Land of the Red Dragon. The restaurant opens from 11.00 a.m. till 3.00 p.m. for lunch and again from 6.00 p.m. till 11.00 p.m. for dinner. The restaurant is very easy to locate, it’s literally located above McDonalds at the beautiful Racecourse Colombo.
Ambience
Quoted on Trip Advisor as one of the best fine dining restaurants in the country, Tsing Tao takes you on a journey the minute you step into the restaurant. The interior is beautiful, chic and elegant. The entire restaurant has taken over a melancholy yet striking brown and gold interior that sets a luxury and grandeur atmosphere to the place. If you do look closely, like I did, you would realise that their walls are covered with a one-of-a-kind, Chinese embroidery wallpaper. I don’t think the word for it is wallpaper as per sè but whatever it was called, those walls looked primitively elaborate. This is pretty much acts as a metaphor to the whole restaurant. They’ve taken extra time and that extra effort to perfect the tiny details, and this is what adds the extra elegance to the place. Melancholy lights and Chinese music enliven the dining area. For an upgrade to your dining experience, if you do go to the place on Thursdays or Sundays, you’d have the opportunity of enjoying a perfect Chinese mean listening to vibrant live acoustics.
The view, as said earlier is overlooking the Racecourse Pavilion into the luscious greenery. It’s both a very calm and peaceful setting and a great contrast from the hustle and bustle of the city right beside it.
Food and Drinks
In summary, an authentic Chinese cuisine modernised and combined to satisfy your Sri Lankan palette. Some of tips to keep in mind; on your menu, the outline of a chilli right next to the food item, indicated the food being spicy and the thumbs up indicates it being a Chef’s recommendation. In terms of their portions, although before I went to the restaurant, I read online some reviews that said the food was severed in small quantities, this I tell you is a lie. A complete and enormous lie. Tsing Tao serves portions so big, it’s very rare to find places as such in Colombo or anywhere in the country. The small portions serve for two and the large portions serve for four. Let me warn you, the small portions in some of the food items are ginourmously huge. The soup bowl was enough to serve all four of us and even in the case of the Crab Balls we had, half of each would suffice a person.
The beverages alcoholic and not ranged between the prices Rs.750 to Rs.100 by glass. The Pina Colada we had was an alcoholic pineapple sensation and was only a 748 LKR. We also had a Nuclear fusion Mocktail which looked stunning in sea blue and was somewhat alcoholic and would obviously be loved by the ones who likes a small kick to their food. The white wine was also up to expectation and complemented the meals well.
Tsing Tao offers three categories of soup; clear soup, steamed and thick. We went for the Sri Lankan favourite, the Sweetcorn and Chicken soup (you have the option of choosing either crab or chicken) and the “Shichuan” style hot and sour seafood soup. Each cost us only Rs.598 for a portion of two. For those of you Chicken and Sweetcorn lovers, the one at Tsing Tao is going to blow your mind. Literally, it does complete justice to the term ‘thick soup’ as it’s both creamy and unlike in most cases where you find a chicken or a kernel of corn here and there, this soup is fully loaded with chicken and corn! The Hot and Sour seafood soup was also a favourite but if you’re not the type for a spicy soup with a rather oily base, then it’s not the dish for you. But for those who prefer a light soup stuffed with cooked veggies and meat, then this is perfect for you.
Alongside the soup, we had the appetizers, we tried out the Golden Fried Cuttlefish and the Fried crab meat balls. Let me make this clear, I have only tried crab meatballs here once that were up to my expectation and that was in Pasikudah and the crab balls here were phenomenally succulent and juicy. For Rs.848, they serve three amply large crab balls with a complementary sauce on the side. For us Sri Lankans, what else says Chinese than a good dish of fried cuttlefish? Now this is not your average hot butter cuttlefish but something that looks more like the seafood version of onion rings. A crispy golden batter envelops the cuttlefish rings inside. This is a show stopper for Rs.848 if you’re getting the small, and Rs.1348 if you opt for the large.
If the appetizers haven’t blown you away already, then the mains sure will. We tried the Sizzling Chicken thigh in Spicy BBQ sauce, the dish was Rs.748 and had two small chicken thighs. The presentation of this dish was tempting. The smoke, the sound of burning oil and the ‘wow’ factor in this dish continued from the minute the waiter brought the dish all the way until we had our first bite. Although it could be said that the portion of this dish was rather small as compared to the others. We also the White Mushroom with Beef fir Rs.898. This dish was something a little different to the rest. The white mushrooms were very well cooked and sautéed and the beef was like the cherry on top in this dish. The Baked Mixed Vegetables in Cheese Cream for Rs.698 is an absolute show-stopper. The vegetables literally melts in your mouth along the luscious cheese sauce. This is a dish the Pulse Team would definitely recommend. The dishes worked well with the Chicken Fried Noodles at Rs.747 and the “Indonesian” style Fried Rice with Seafood at Rs.648. What was special about both the dishes were the fact that they were so freshly prepared you can taste its freshness with every bit you took. The time taken on perfecting each meal was well reflected on the table.
The dessert is always the best part. The dessert menu in itself was tauntingly graphical and the outlook of the desserts at the end of the night on our table looked even better than it looked printed on the menu. The Ebony and Ivory, Rs.390 is a heavenly combination of dark chocolate Brownie and cream cheese served with a dark chocolate sauce for the brownie lover and the Black Beauty at Rs.590 is a sophisticated chocolate dessert for the chocoholic. A smooth, pressed, chocolate soufflé topped with black cherries in syrup and cream.
As an absolute die-hard Chinese food fan, Tsing Tao is by far the best in Colombo. It’s the perfect fine dining experience situated right in the heart of the capital city. Who knew such a fancy place existed at Racecourse Colombo. I guarantee you, you will be as blown away as I am. It’s the perfect place to go for a date or even a family dinner with the ones you love. When the sky turns to dusk and the football ground lights are lit up, the view from the restaurant far out looks surreal. It’s definitely worth your time and money. Do check it out and tell us below what you think of Tsing Tao, Colombo Racecourse.
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