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Berlin Sky Lounge, a secret rooftop treat.

SuddaReviews

Updated: Dec 2, 2020

Hidden away down a quiet street, this 7th floor rooftop restaurant does a surprisingly good German meal, complete with decent cocktails and quite a special view.


Address: 101, The Goldblock, 11 Hunupitiya Lake Rd, Colombo 00200


Covid Care: a casual temperate check when you enter the building.

 

A seemingly little known European restaurant; we've never heard or seen it mentioned, so when we did we decided to try it out, and it was well worth the visit.


First Impressions

A few steps down a dark street brings you to a nondescript building. Take the lift to the 5th floor where you step out into Il Cielo Italian restaurant and lounge. From there up a flight of stairs, and then up a slightly worrying outdoor spiral staircase, and you emerge onto a rooftop , with a row of tables, overhead fairy lights and a rather impressive view around. The atmosphere was added to by music spilling from a sound system on one side, which played a selection of mainly songs from the 80s including a large amount of Ricky Martin in Spanish.

Berlin Skybar is mentioned in some sites as a romantic rooftop rendezvous. While that description fits it could equally well be suitable venue for friends to gather for an evening, or for a family dinner.


Menu

We were offered menus for both Belin Skybar, mostly German cuisine, and Il Cielo Italian restaurant. We opted to go German except for the cocktail, which was Singaporean!


The menu is indeed reminiscent of a nice German Wirtshaus. The starter selection includes potato salad or onion schnitzel, a potato soup, then a wide range of sausages including currywurst, bratwurst, pork frankfurters, white sausages, or frikadellen meatballs. For mains, there is a choice of schnitzels, pork knuckle or for the less adventurous a standard grilled chicken, beef or pork.


We ordered a currywust starter, along with a Caesar salad from the Italian menu. For mains we chose a schnitzel with homemade gravy.


Singapore Sling Curry Wurst Caesar Salad

Drinks and Starters

We could have had a European beer but as the place is considered a "romantic rendezvous" we decided to try the cocktails and asked for a Singapore Gin Sling. This was served in a glass that was almost a tumbler, strangely, but the mix was good and it tasted refreshing, light and fresh. Very well done.


The Caesar Salad was a good size, with several rashers of bacon as well as lots of croutons and two pieces of crispy garlic bread. The lettuce was not as crispy as some others but it tasted good.


The currywurst was dished up with fried potatoes, as expected, but also with garden vegetables and we realised that this was intended as a main course rather than a starter. Still, we ate the vegetables and felt good about it.




Main Courses

One of us had the pork frankfurters which came with fresh vegetables and a generous helping of gravy slathered over the sausages and potatoes. It was good though the taste - and quantity - of the gravy did somewhat smother the taste of the sausages.


No such concern for the schnitzel. Though described as schnitzel with gravy, the two large schnitzels combined well with the full flavoured gravy. The vegetables were cooked just right and the creamy mashed potato was smooth and ideal for the mopping up the final drops of gravy. Overall, it was very good.


Service and Ambience

As mentioned earlier, getting there means walking up two floors from the 5th to the 7th. The first stairs are inside and somewhat like the emergency exit stairs in an apartment block while the second are outdoor, spiral stairs almost like a fire escape. The first impression some relief to have got there! However, that soon makes way for the quiet, calm view. There are few buildings of that height nearby so there is an almost uninterrupted view to the tall buildings in the distance, such as Colombo City Centre and the Hilton. That the area in between is dark and relatively quiet gave us a feeling almost of being on an island. Of course being outdoors there is a risk of rain but the inside bar, one floor below, offered a suitable alternative in case the weather did turn.


The service was also good, with menus coming immediately, the each course arriving together, more drinks being offered. It was attentive, and pleasant, when a mistake was made they rectified it quickly and positively.


Prices

The salad and soups were priced at around Rs600-700 and the hot starters Rs750-800.

Sausage dishes were mostly around Rs750-850 and the schnitzels mostly around Rs800. Pork chop or knuckle around Rs1300 and the steak R2900. The building and other tall build

So dinner for two could cost around Rs3000-4000 plus drinks, which is good value as the food is very good.


Summary

Accessed via an Italian restaurant, with background music in Spanish, we half expected a confused attempted at a European hybrid but we were pleasantly surprised. The food is as good as we have found at two other German restaurants in Colombo with, in one case at least, a much nicer view. The service was good, we were well taken off. This place would suit both a quiet dinner for two and a few friends together - but not at the same time!


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