Harpo’s (Mt. Lavinia) – Reviewed

Italian food at its best

Harpo’s pizza & pasta has been around since 2005, selling their pizzas initially at the Bayleaf restaurant. The brand started out as Colombo’s first homegrown authentic thin crust wood-fired pizza maker. They’ve grown quite well over the years, and now has a menu consisting of numerous pizza toppings, pastas, juices and much more.

They are well known for their ‘Gigantic 19”’ pizza and the ‘Square 22”’ pizza, which are everyone’s absolute favourite. So when we heard they opened a new outlet in Mount Lavinia, we just had to drop by!

Food and Drinks

Drinks: Virgin Bloody Mary juice– Rs. 350, Limeade– Rs. 240, Peach iced tea– Rs. 290, Strawberry iced tea– Rs. 290

They’ve got a range of interesting drinks and juices and the 4 that we got definitely sent our palates on a roller coaster ride!

If you’re a fan off achchaaru and tangy drinks, then the Virgin Bloody Mary juice is the one for you. It’s a mix of tomato juice, Tabasco sauce, pepper, Worcestershire sauce and a dash of lime. Here’s the thing though; you’ll either love this drink or you’ll hate it. It all depends on your taste palate.

The Limeade was the ideal drink for a hot day. Mixed with soda, lime juice and ice cubes, this drink was absolutely refreshing. They had a couple of lime wedges in the drink and this ensured the flavor of the lime was retained right up to the last sip.

The iced teas were easily our favourites. Usually, I’m not a fan of iced tea, but this, I absolutely loved. The peach iced tea had a great sweet taste to it that we gladly welcomed, especially after trying out the Virgin Bloody Mary juice. The peach flavor was vibrant in the drink and we had no complains here.

The strawberry iced tea was also delicious. Not unlike the peach iced tea, the strawberry flavor was blended in so well and we enjoyed it until the final drop.

Mains: Pizza- 22” Pizza (Pizza Tikka, Pizza Con Pepperoni E Olive, Pizza Cucciatore and Pizza Aragosta)

Their pizza comes in four different sizes: Regular 9″ (6 pieces), Large 12″ (8 pieces), Gigantic 19″ (16 pieces) and the Square 22″ (36 pieces).

Boy, oh boy. Let me tell you about the most satisfying 22 inches ever! (Of Pizza, that is :P). The 22” pizza is absolutely perfect if you’re having a party or you just want to enjoy some good pizza at office. You can get it delivered right to your door step, too!

The price range of the 22” Pizza Varies from Rs. 5750 – Rs. 6650. When ordering quarters or halves of their pizza’s, the customer would be charged the exact amount of the respective quarter or half of the chosen topping. 

The 22” pizza that we had the pleasure of digging into had 4 different toppings on it, and every single one of them was mouth-wateringly, breath-takingly delicious! The first topping I went for was the Pizza Aragosta. This is a seafood pizza, topped with Tomato, Mozzarella, Capers, Roasted Bell Peppers and Shoe Lobster. I’m not a huge fan of seafood pizzas, but this one definitely falls far from that dislike. The flavours worked so well together and the lobster was perfection.

Next, we had the Pizza Con Pepperoni E Olive. This is not your usual pepperoni pizza. Unlike most places that only have slices of pepperoni and cheese on the pizza, this one has pepperoni, black olives and mushroom! All of my favourites on one heavenly slice of pizza.

The third topping we indulged in was the Pizza Tikka. Again, this was not your average Tikka Pizza. They were definitely very generous with the toppings and we were extremely grateful for this. This topping was a combination of mozzarella, chicken tikka, mixed peppers, mushrooms, fresh green chilli and onions. For me, this was the spiciest among all the toppings mainly due to the several chilli pieces on the pizza.

Last but not least, the Pizza Cucciatore. This was a mix of bell peppers, chilli, onion, mushroom, sliced chicken, black olives and fresh mozzarella. Once again we had no complains here. The flavours blended so well and tasted amazing.

Pasta- Tagliatelle Pollo Al Pesto- Rs. 900, Manicotti con Funghi- Rs. 930

Although we loved the pastas we got, we have to admit that we adored the pizza way more than we did the pasta!

The Tagliatelle Pollo Al Pesto is a dish pesto lovers would love. The pesto didn’t overwhelm the dish. We felt that the dish needed more salt because our Lankan palate would be nothing if not for its preference in salt and spices. But we were told that it is how the authentic dish is meant to be. So, if customers prefer a bit more salt on their plate, they’ve got salt and pepper shakers, sitting there on the table and waiting to be used!

The final main that we had was the Manicotti con Funghi. If you are a fan of mushrooms and cheese sauce, this dish was made for you! This was spinach ravioli with mixed mushroom, parmesan and cream cheese sauce. I loved every bite of it; firstly, they weren’t stingy at all with the mushrooms or the cheese sauce and secondly, because the flavours incorporated so well, I was left speechless. I would never have fathomed that a vegetarian dish could taste so good!

Dessert- Lava cake- Rs. 470

I haven’t had all too many lava cakes in my life, but I can safely say that the one at Harpo’s is at the top of my list! The cake was piping hot and was gooey and consisted of delicious, think chocolate. The reason I think it tasted different from the rest is because the lava cake, like their pizzas, are made in the wood-fired oven!

The moment you take a spoonful of the lava cake, you can see the chocolate ooze out of the cake and nothing could possibly give you more satisfaction.

Service & Ambience

The new restaurant is not too big, not too small, it’s just right. It’s perfect for a chilled out evening with your friends or a cozy night out with your family. The place is very chilled out, with a chilled out playlist of jazz music playing on the speakers. There are two big booths with couches and cushions, making them the perfect place to be with your buddies on a Friday night. The service was quite good and the waiters explained to us what was in each dish and drink as we got them

All in all, I was extremely happy about dining at Harpo’s. From the drinks, to the pizza, to the dessert; everything never failed to amaze my taste buds!

Let us know what you think of Harpo’s in the comments below! Is there anything we’ve missed?

Tip: Try the 22” pizza with 4 toppings. You won’t regret it!