Located at: 77 Galle Road, Colombo 03, Sri Lanka

Visited on: 18 Jun, 2018

Yet again, the first thing that struck me was how crowded this place was on a weekday. I guess it says something about the restaurant and what it dishes out. The staff are on their toes, yet manage to keep it courteous and polite with their patrons. The menu is comprehensive, the seafood is top quality, and the food is delicious. Recipe for success? Certainly seems so.

Let’s start with the beverages. I ordered a Fruity Mojito mocktail (LKR 490). It was delightfully refreshing, and I was happy to notice that they hadn’t overdone the crushed ice or the sugar. The fresh Strawberry Juice (LKR 490) looked and tasted great too. The C & C cocktail (LKR 960) was also good – not too thick despite having a milky base, with just the right amount of chocolate.

Fruity Mojito, C & C, Strawberry Juice (L-R)

We ordered three starters. The first was a portion of Prawn Spring Rolls (LKR 550). Nice and crisp with an inner lining that was soft but not too thick. It was well complemented by the dip that came with it.

The second was a dish of Devilled Fish Roe (LKR 500). This turned out to be a great choice that was enjoyed by everyone at the table. The roe itself was well prepared, firm and seasoned to perfection, and the accompanying condiments tasted great with the sauce in which they had been cooked. We really were glad to have made this somewhat uncommon selection.

The third starter was a Sushi Platter (twelve pieces, LKR 1,400). This turned out to be the most – and only – disappointing dish of the night. It’s not that the sushi was dry, but there was something lacklustre about the mix of nigiri and maki. It was a bit, how should I put it – plain, and didn’t offer much to enjoy. And this was probably even more obvious owing to the fact that the rest of the food was so good.

For the mains, we went with some lobster, modha fish and crab with steamed rice. I won’t be including prices here since they are based on weight. Of course – as I’ve mentioned in my previous review of this place – The Lagoon has a ‘market’-style approach, where patrons select their seafood from the display and ask for it to be prepared in their style of preference.

The lobsters were prepared to perfection. The rather meaty crustaceans had been boiled to the crunch, and the crunchy meat was cut into substantially sized cubes for easy serving. The presentation was appetising too. Out of the two lobsters we ordered, one was prepared as a Lobster Thermidor. The thick cream tasted great and the sliced mushrooms and cheesiness went well with the crunchy meat. The second was prepared as Lobster with Tamarind Sauce. The sauce was delicious. And the addition of fried onions pieces and chopped onion leaves over the slightly battered lobster chunks was brilliant. Did it have an edge over the Thermidor? As good as the former was, I think this one trumped it, yes. Just one thing though – for both dishes: more sauce, please!

Our choice for the fish was Modha in Chilli and Lime Sauce. Well, dish of the night for me. They’d nailed this one, and it brought back memories of a similar delicious preparation that I’ve had at Lemongrass Thai restaurant in Dubai. Delicious. Again, I really wish there was more of the gravy – such a rice puller. And the fish was fantastic too – a beautiful balance of tender and meaty. Kudos!

Finally, there was the Sri Lankan Style Crab, which also had a delicious gravy. In fact, I felt like it was better than on our last visit. The crab was very meaty – top-notch – and the chunks of meat had taken up the flavours of the curry well. Another great partner for the rice.

We declined from having dessert this time after the heavy meal, but were treated to a platter of home-made flavoured chocolates on the house. Good too. And yet another satisfying evening at The Lagoon.

Yummy Rating: 4.5 / 5.0

Read Part 01 of The Eat Log’s review on Chutneys @ https://theeatlog.com/2017/09/25/the-lagoon-cinnamon-grand/