Restaurant Reviews L.A.B. Lounge & Bar at Hilton Colombo | High Tea Review

L.A.B. Lounge & Bar at Hilton Colombo | High Tea Review

2023 Apr 22

Open Time:

Sunday to Friday, 2:30 pm to 6 pm

Address

2, Sir Chittampalam A Gardiner Mawatha, Colombo 02

directions

Located at the Lobby Level inside Hilton Colombo, overlooking the Lotus pond

Contact No

0112 492 492

L.A.B. at Hilton Colombo is in a delectable class of its own in the Sri Lankan high tea scene!

 

The L.A.B. at Hilton Colombo offers three delicious and distinct high tea platters for you to indulge in for afternoon high tea. Named aptly after the flavours that each platter brings to the table, you can choose among Western Affair, Vegetarian Affair or Island Memories or order them all if you fancy! The tiers of each platter was plentiful with their well-curated assortment of sweets and savouries. Beverage options include hot or cold coffee made to your liking or bottomless Ceylon tea on request. The gorgeous canapés on the platters are definitely worth the price you pay for two people unlike most platters out there which may leave you unsatisfied for throwing your money hoping for a lavish high tea experience.

 

Vegetarian Affair – LKR 6,088 nett (5/5)

 

What’s included:

Savoury Treats

  • Spinach, Sun-dried Tomato and Feta Puff Pinwheel with Black Olive Dust
  • Mac n’ Cheese Twinkies
  • Maize and Fungi Beignet
  • Courgette, Melitzano and Wild Tomato Pie with Persian Feta

Sandwiches

  • Classic Cucumber Sandwich with Dill – Cream Cheese
  • Rainbow Vegetable Sandwich
  • Roasted Mediterranean Vegetables with Roma Tomato Relish
  • Go Green Slider

Desserts

  • Plain and Raisin Scones with Cream and Strawberry Jam
  • Choco-Orange Eggless Fudge
  • Blueberry Panna Cotta
  • Bittersweet Dark Chocolate Mousse
  • Almond Bean Curd

For an entirely vegetarian platter, there were a lot of items that really stood out in terms of flavour since vegetarian nibbles are trickier than most to perfect.

From the finger sandwiches served, the Rainbow Vegetable Sandwich and the Classic Cucumber Sandwich took the centre stage. The Spinach, Sun-Dried Tomato and Feta Puff Pinwheels featured in both the Vegetarian Affair and Western Affair platters were also decent and flaky pastries to compliment the other pastries on the plate.

Moving on to the sweets, the bite-sized Bittersweet Dark Chocolate Mousse was a rich blob of chocolate that just melted in the mouth. We also loved the creamy Almond Bean Curd for its smooth and buttery texture. None of the sweet items on this platter was overly sweet which was a huge thumbs up. We ordered iced coffee as drinks and it complemented the meal wonderfully. Plus, in this heat, who wouldn’t opt for iced beverages?

 

Western Affair – LKR 6,788 nett (5/5)

 

What’s included:

Savoury Treats

  • Sea Prawns in Mac n’ Cheese Balls
  • Chicken, Mushroom Empanada
  • Smoked Swordfish and Young Onion Pie with Crushed Potato
  • Spinach, Sundried Tomato and Feta Puff Pinwheel with Black Olive Dust (V)

 Sandwiches

  • Cocktail Shrimp Triangles with Egg and Tabasco
  • Smoked Chicken and Avocado with Roasted Guajillo Mayo
  • Home Cured Wahoo Tarts with Pickle Onion and Compressed Wild Guava
  • Classic Cucumber Sandwich with Dill – Cream Cheese (V)

Desserts

  • Plain and Raisin Scones with Cream and Strawberry Jam
  • Strawberry Cheese Soufflé with Armagnac Snow
  • Mini Cardinal Slices
  • Crazy Hazelnut and Cashew Crunch
  • Espresso Royal Manjari

The Sea Prawns in Mac n’ Cheese Balls was a creamy treat with delicate prawn pieces balled up into cheesy goodness, with a slightly crunchy exterior. This went well with the Smoked Chicken and Avocado Sandwich or the very-easy-on-the-palate-but-flavorful Chicken and Mushroom Empanadas which were great savouries on their own as well.

Two star dessert canapés from the platter were the Strawberry Cheese Soufflé with Armagnac Snow and the Crazy Hazelnut and Cashew Crunch, which were lusciously creamy, crunchy, and hit all the right notes on the sugar palate. Both savouries and sweets in this platter were flawless.

  

Island Memories – LKR 6,788 nett (5/5)

 

What’s included:

Savoury Treats 

  • Black Mutton Curry Rolls
  • Spicy Tuna Cutlet
  • Chicken and Kochchi Patty
  • Vegetable Roti

Sandwiches 

  • Curried Fish Sandwich Finger
  • Seeni Sambol and Cheese Sandwich
  • Rainbow Vegetable Pinwheel
  • Egg with Grain Mustard Sandwich

Desserts

  • Mini Gnanakatha and Jam Doughnut Cream and Strawberry Jam
  • Nutty Caramel
  • Love Cake
  • Coconut and Jaggery Pancake
  • Mango and Pineapple Delight

This platter was equally aesthetically pleasing like the others and had a few different flavours. Seeing the Mini Gnanakatha and Vegetable Rotis sure did put a familiar smile on our faces. So we reached out to the street favourites like any other and relished them first. There was nothing notable about them apart from being the hearty snacks we have come to love since childhood, which we guessed was reason enough to be special.

Then came the Black Mutton Curry Roll, with excellent meat that was well cooked and spiced to elevate your regular roll experience. The Mango and Pineapple Delight was enjoyable as it was fresh, fruity and moist as any good cake should be – enough to convince someone who doesn’t even like pineapple. The Nutty Caramel was an instant favourite with the crunch and punch. We were already full from all the things we tasted, but made an exception for the spicy and heavenly Tuna Cutlets to finish off.

 

Service and ambiance

L.A.B. operates daily from 8 am to midnight, while the high tea is served between 2:30 pm and 6 pm.

Currently, three types of luscious high tea platters are served at this chic yet serene setting at the L.A.B restaurant at Hilton Colombo. To complement the tiers packed with sweet and savoury goodies was a view of the lotus pond with floating black swans which was an interesting sight to see right in the unsuspecting middle of the city. The modern decor and the seating was functional and comfortable to provide a relaxing and welcoming  ambiance.

The staff was professional and friendly and they attended to quite a few of our requests without any hesitation. If you need to pack away any goodies, they will cater to it with easy-to-carry neat packaging. We cannot wait to see what innovative seasonal and festive canapés  L.A.B. has in store for the future!

Did You Know?

  • You can pre-order online on their website and get a 10% discount for dine-in platters.

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