Table One at Shangri-La Hotel Colombo

Shangri-La Colombo’s all day dining nirvana!

Table 01 is Shangri-La Colombo’s all day dining restaurant that features an eccentric meal selection from all over the world. Out of all the buffets in Colombo, we can vouch for the fact that this one is definitely worth your buck. The spread is long, it ranges from salads to fresh seafood, and to cuisines from all around the world. No matter what you’re craving, from sushi to kottu, Table 01 has got you covered! The breakfast buffet is priced at LKR 2700, lunch buffet is priced at LKR 3000 and the dinner buffet at LKR 3300.

Can we also please talk about how attentive and sweet their staff were? The hosts greeted us with massive smiles and so did the rest of the staff who assisted us the few hours we were there. As soon as you’re done with your meal, they will clear out the table for you, unlike in most other places where you’ve got to point out and request a waiter to clean your table after finishing up. There’s also staff placed strategically at the action stations and along the spread to help you serve and navigate your way through the buffet.

Props to their decor and ambience too. The place is huge and can seat 292 people. Like Shang Palace, attention to minor detail is startling as you would expect from Shangri-La.

We decided to drop by their dinner buffet and we loved every bite we had and every minute we spent there. To give you a quick review, we’re rating a few items we tried from their buffet so that you get a rough idea of the spread and know what to try when you visit, soon.

Appetizers

Assortment of breads – 4/5

They’ve got all kinds of bread rolls, soft to hard, topped with cheese or coated in seeds.

Mushroom Soup – 5/5

The best cream of mushroom soup I have ever tried. We licked the bowl clean!

Caesar Salad Action Station – 5/5

Loved this mini action station. A typical Caesar Salad Action station has the usual spread of lettuce, tomatoes, cucumber, carrots, croutons, bacon and parmesan. This salad station took it to a whole new level! There were roasted herb baby potatoes, corn kernels, fried garlic and chili and a few dressings to choose from too.

Other Salads: Raw Papaya Salad, Chicken Salad, Grass Noodle with Shrimp Salad – 3/5

 

These salads too, did not disappoint. The produce was fresh, crunchy and colorful.

Cheese board, nuts and cold cuts – 3/5

They had a small, but good cheese selection of Cheddar, Brie, Blue Cheese and Emmental. There was also a selection of nuts; almond flakes, walnuts and lupin beans (first time I tried them). The cold cuts too were not in variety, but whatever they offered was good, A grade meat; smoked turkey, smoked salmon and more.

Fresh seafood station – 5/5

Living in an island has its perks, and one of these is easy access to fresh seafood. The seafood was almost as fresh as it would have been if it were just sourced. A range was presented, ranging from prawn to lobster.

Mains

Sushi – 2/5

We’re giving the Japanese Station a 2/5 because there were only two rolled sushi choices; either radish or salmon. There were a handful of nigiri choices, however.

Asian Style Cuttlefish – 3/5

This Asian Style Cuttlefish was fresh and flavorful. Would always prefer some HBC over this, though.

Wok Fried Vegetables – 2/5

This was quite an interesting dish. We still aren’t too sure of what we ate because it was some vegetable noodle thing and bakchoy. The bakchoy was yummy, and if usually would be, and so was the stringy vegetable noodle like element.

Lamb with Black Pepper Sauce – 4/5

This was one interesting Lamb. For a minute I thought it was a mock meat because texture wise it felt different. Taste wise, it was great.

Malaysian Style Chicken – 4/5

This chicken is something I would go back for. The meat was incredibly soft and almost fell off the bone.

Vegetable Noodles – 5/5

I found it interesting how the vegetable noodles from the East Asian aisle looked like a chicken kottu. Questionable looks aside, this was one good dish of noodles.

Vegetable Fried Rice – 5/5

We’re in love with this Fried Rice as much as we were with Shang Palace’s!

Prawn Crackers – 5/5

Yes! They serve crunchy Prawn Crackers here!

Pasta station – 3/5

We weren’t too impressed with the pasta from this action station. You can have your pasta made with a white sauce or a tomato base one.

Kottu station – 3/5

How cool is it that they have a kottu station in this considerably long spread? The kottu was great, but taste wise it was lacking the Polaroid affect.

Dumplings – 2/5

We weren’t too impressed with the dumplings. They had also run out of the other options when we were serving and only the seafood option was available.

Baked Potato – 3/5

Loves this baked potato. Starchy yet comforting. It was topped with a mayo that deceived me to think it was actually melted cheese.

Brussels Sprouts – 4/5

OMG there’s brussels sprouts in Sri Lanka!

Grilled Prawns – 4/5

This part of the spread was top notch. The grilled prawns were nothing short of that.

Grilled Chicken – 5/5

The Grilled Chicken was our favorite out of the grilled meat items. The meat was moist and succulent.

Beef – 5/5

This slice of beef was the juiciest! A carving of it perfectly complements the baked potato and brussels sprouts.

Grilled Fish – 3/5

This Grilled Fish was soft as a baby. The meat was deboned and grilled to perfection.

Vegetable Biriyani – 4/5

Absolutely loved the North Indian flavors in this biriyani.

Vegetable Koroma – 3/5

The Vegetable Koroma was intensely rich in depth and flavor. Worked so well with the biriyani.

Prawn Masala – 4/5

I assumed I’d be in seafood coma after this, but I’m still standing yet. The prawns were super fresh, as per all the seafood they served, and the flavor palate of this dish was deep and closer to home.

Butter Chicken – 5/5

Loved this butter chicken. Just like the Grilled Chicken, the meat was succulent enough to a point where it almost fell off the bone.

Beef Curry – 5/5

A Sri Lankan classic, done right.

Tempered Potatoes – 4/5

Another Sri Lankan favorite! The ala thèl daala was spicy and delicious.

Cashew Nut and Carrot Curry – 5/5

This curry was super yummy as well. What stood out to me was how moist and soft the cashews were. How do they do that?

Egg Hoppers – 4/5

Biththara appa FTW!

Dessert

Gelato – 4/5

You have a choice between vanilla, and coffee and macadamia nuts. You can then opt to finish off your scoop with nuts and/or sauce.

Crepe action station – 5/5

This action station was also another highlight of my dinner. A really nice lady makes you super yummy dessert crepes of your choice. I had a chocolate one with chocolate chips and peanut butter inside.

Candy corner – 4/5

My 12 year old self was screaming when I saw jars filled with jelly beans and gobstopper like balls and marshmallows and cookies. The perfect distraction for your kids!

Assortment of cakes – 4/5

They also have a cute drawer of profiteroles, red velvet slices, peanut butter crunchy bards and other varieties of cake if you’re up for some new experiences.

Have you had the buffet at Table 01 yet? Let us know what you think of it in the comments below! Is there anything we’ve missed?

Tip: Make a reservation beforehand, they fill up pretty fast.