It was another of those evenings. One of us wanted something slightly spicy. One wanted no spice at all. One wanted something plain and simple. So we needed somewhere that could satisfy all preferences and also deliver reasonably quick. Solution?
Address: 316 Ethul Kotte Road, Battaramulla
Phone: 070 600 3344
Website: www.watersedge.lk
Instagram: www.instagram.com/watersedgesl/
Facebook: www.facebook.com/watersedgeSL
Water's Edge, for those who don't know, is a "hotel" which has restaurants, bars, lounge, bakery, meeting rooms, even a lobby - but no bedrooms. So it's not a hotel that you can stay at overnight. However, they do have several restaurants, some of which we've eaten at in the past. They also have a nice bakery. So we decided to try their delivery service.
Menu and Ordering
It started a little bit complicated. We saw a couple of posts on social media and called the number. We asked for a few specific items; they gave us another number where someone said they would call us back. They did, and gave us the website address. Then it was easy.
Ordering is done through the website www.watersedge.lk/delivery/ which has a range of dishes from most of the restaurants at Waters Edge. When you arrive at the site, the dishes are all presented in what seems to be a totally random order; rolls and biriyani are followed by Japanese chicken and sushi, then a couple of cakes and breads, then back to sushi, sawan and afternoon teas! You can browse through the mishmash, or at the top you can select a particular restaurant or cuisine and get a more focused selection.
That said, there is a wide and diverse variety of dishes on offer, from curries and biriyanis to sushi and teriyaki, from pizzas and pastas to salads, sandwiches and baguettes. A selection of treats from the bakery is also available to order here, including breads and cakes.
Once we made our selection and clicked on the basket, we entered our address along with directions and landmarks. There was also an interactive map to pinpoint the exact delivery location. It's unclear what the purpose of this was, as the driver still called and asked for directions, but it was an interesting touch.
Then we sat and waited for it to arrive, which it did at the specified time.
The Food
We ordered an international mix of Vietnamese Spring Rolls, an Italian Pasta with Salmon; British Fish and Chips and an Indonesian Nasi Goreng.
We liked the Vietnamese Spring Rolls. The pastry was excellent, with an almost shortcrust texture; biting into it, there was a perfect crispiness followed by a flakiness, which was a bit unusual but worked very well. The filling was standard with a mild flavour, the vegetables not at all crispy but the wrap provided all the crunch that was needed. It was good, but the pastry really made it stand stand out.
Unfortunately the fusilli pasta with zucchini and salmon was quite disappointing. The pasta itself was a bit dry and there was very little sauce to prevent it from drying out. The zucchini was bland and could hardly be tasted; the salmon did have some flavour and almost tasted good, but was rather masked by a strong taste of pepper that covered not just the salmon but the pasta as well. The taste of pepper dominated the whole dish and, while we like the flavour of pepper in some dishes, it did not work for us on this dish and it was left unfinished.
The fish and chips were much better. The battered pieces of fish came with a side of fries and a pot of tartar sauce. The chips were a little limp by the time that we ate but still tasted good. The fish, however, was still crispy on the outside, the batter not overly thick or heavy but adding something to the flavour while inside the fish itself was still moist and with a nice, fresh taste. The tartar sauce was also very good, and enhanced the flavour well.
The nasi goreng, happily, was very good too. It came with two sticks of chicken satay, peanut sauce, fried egg and half a dozen crackers. The chicken satay was quite authentic, the pieces of chicken were tender and juicy. The sauce was mild, with a nice peanut taste but would be better with just a little more spice. The fried egg was as good as it can be probably 45 minutes after being cooked, while the rice was tasty, well cooked, not at all dry. Overall, very enjoyable.
Delivery
As mentioned earlier, despite giving the address, directions, landmarks and even pinpointing the exact location on a map, the delivery driver still called to ask for the location. However, once we had explained they found it without further difficulty. It was delivered in their own van by their own staff.
Pricing
The prices vary widely between the different cuisines so it's really only possible to give some very rough guidelines. Starters like rolls and samosas start from around Rs500; kottus and ambulas from Rs650 to Rs800, basic pastas and biriyanis from Rs980 and pizzas from Rs1200 to Rs1850. Japanese dishes are typically Rs1400 to Rs1750. Family dishes for four people like sawans and set menus are priced around Rs5500 while, from the bakery, breads like multigrain or rye are from Rs480 to Rs650.
Summary
The advantage to ordering from Waters Edge is that there are several restaurants there, so several different cuisines available; you can also order breads and cakes as well. The place itself is impressive and run to international standards and some of the restaurants there really are quite good. This was reflected in some of the dishes, with a good nasi goreng and spring rolls and a better than average fish and chips. The pasta being so disappointing was something of a surprise especially for the one of us who had chosen it. Overall, yes we probably would order from them again but would not choose a pasta next time!