Located at : 2 Sir Chittampalam A Gardiner Mawatha, Colombo 02, Sri Lanka

Availability : Thursdays, 3:00 PM to 6:00 PM

Price : LKR 5,388 nett

Every Thursday afternoon, Lounge & Bar (L.A.B.) at Hilton Colombo puts away the stands and rolls out a mini high tea spread. Although they call it a ‘mini’ buffet, it’s quite a comprehensive spread with a good variety of meat, seafood and vegetable items in the savoury section, and an eye-catching array of sweets. There’s a selection of chilled drinks – juice mocktails, iced coffee and the likes – and a DIY counter with a selection of hot teas and infusions. One can also order other hot coffees and yaara tea.

What’s great about this mini high tea spread is that although it is a toned-down version in terms of size, Hilton has still managed to include a great deal of variety in terms of taste, texture, item types and sizes, as well as cuisines. There was everything from tempura prawns and vegetable spring rolls from the Far East, to seeni sambol and egg open-faced sandwiches and mini pol roti with devilled pork from Sri Lanka, to vadai, and a superb feta and beet open baguette bites. There were mini vegetable croissants, fish curry in Turkish bread, roast paan sandwiches, chicken tikka sliders, and chicken and mushroom vol-au-vents. You could tell that a lot of thought had been put into curating this spread, with every possibility and combination considered. And the hard work has definitely paid off – it’s an excellent option for a relaxed Thursday afternoon.

The sweet section offered everything from homemade ice creams to scones, caramel choux pastries, date and caramel dessert shots, their signature bitter chocolate mousse, mini cakes featuring strawberry, passion and other flavours, cookies, noisette and other cakes, and a chocolate fountain with fruits and marshmallows to indulge with.

All-in-all, it was a delightful culinary experience in LAB’s iconic backdrop (by the pond with its celebrity black swans), and the warmest and most attentive service from the crew – Lakmal, Charilyn, Ruwan, Ruhini and company. Looking forward to enjoying this mini feast sometime soon again!

Yummy Rating: 4.5 / 5.0