Arthur’s Pizza Express (Havelock Town)

Pizza with a side of Sri Lankan! 

Arthur’s Pizzeria has been around for a while now, and is a favourite abode amongst many because of the great vibes and good food that seems to follow it. With the original branch located at Mt. Lavinia, they now have one in Havelock Town. If you are a student at Royal Institute or planning to go there, you’re a lucky one because it’s tucked away in the tiny lane right next to Royal Institute! This Arthur’s branch isn’t the ideal place to go if you’re planning to dine in but, if you’re going with a bunch of friends to grab a quick bite, it’s great. However, it wouldn’t be on my list of date night options.

It’s a very small outdoor space, complete with fairy lights, a street sign with the words ‘Havelock Town’ (like the one that says ‘Mount Lavinia’ in its parent branch!) and a rustic brick outlay. The waiters are really friendly and will assist you with what options to go with, but what I love about this place is the fact that they aren’t expensive. The most expensive thing on their menu is Rs. 1850 which is actually quite reasonable.

However, that being said, they don’t have everything the Mount Lavinia restaurant has, so inquire about what’s available!   

Appetizers

French Fries- Rs. 350

So, I actually asked for a portion of Machos, which is actually supposed to be manioc chips with tomato salsa and mozzarella. But what we got was French fries, coated with loads of mozzarella, spicy sambal and pieces of green chilli. So a big let down there on that inefficiency!

But getting down to the fries; they were amazing! The Sri Lankan twist was very much appreciated although we couldn’t stop tearing because the sambal was so extremely spicy! The fries were crispy, but there were the ones in the middle of the dish that were quite soggy. 50/50 on this one.

Mains 

Chicken Nai Miris & Bacon Biththara Pizza- Rs. 1355

We opted for two half and half pizzas so that we could try out more of their toppings. The Chicken Nai Miris and Bacon Biththara toppings were my absolute favourite! The Chicken Nai Miris half came with chicken, nai miris, onions, curry leaves and mozzarella, and was extremely flavourful. Any spicy food fanatic would love this! Thankfully, they were quite generous with the pieces of chicken and nai miris they had used, which made almost every bite hot. The chicken was a bit on the dry side, but the sauce they had used went well with it.

The Bacon Biththara consisted of bacon, egg, BBQ sauce and mozzarella and was something I was a bit hesitant about due to the fact that I wasn’t quite sure how well the egg + pizza combo would work. But boy, was I wrong! The BBQ sauce complemented the pizza quite well. The only set back here was that there wasn’t enough bacon on it. Some slices had tons of bacon pieces, while there were merely 5 or 6 pieces on another slice. Consistency would have been nice.

Pizza Full Moon & Paneer Masala-  Rs. 1525

I preferred the Paneer Masala topping over the Pizza Full Moon, namely because it had so much more flavour to it. The Paneer Masala  came with paneer, bell pepper, onions and mozzarella.The sauce used gave the pizza an unexpected burst of flavour, and the pieces of paneer were coated with salt and pepper, which gave it an extra oomph. There was barely any bell pepper on it, though.

The Pizza Full Moon was not a favourite. Consisting of chicken bacon, button mushroom, cheese sauce and mozzarella, this half of the pizza just tasted of butter to me; each bite tasted of butter and mozzarella.

In addition to that, this pizza dough was under-done. So all in all, we weren’t fans of it.

Bacon Bacon Pasta-  Rs. 680

Don’t try this. Save your taste buds the trouble and just don’t. I’m not sure if the parmesan they used was spoilt, but it tasted quite awful. If not for the cheese, this dish would have actually been quite nice, because it had quite a bit of bacon and olives in it. However, the taste and smell of the parmesan just ruined the dish as a whole.

Have you been to Arthur’s Pizzeria in Havelock Town? Let us know what you thought of it in the comments below!

Tip: Try the Bacon Biththara and Chicken Nai Miris pizzas!