Issue 54

16 February

Breakfast and Lunch

Peppermint Café are refreshing their breakfast menu so, if you've not been yet, now is a good time to go. New dishes include scrambled egg with pomegranate on multigrain bread which sounds amazing. And better still, breakfasts are available all day, from 7.30am to 9.30pm, or all night on Friday and Saturday.

Have you tried China Bar Restaurant yet? They opened recently and have just introduced a selection of Executive Lunch packets. There's four available, starting from vegetable fried rice, vegetable chop suey and hot butter mushroom for Rs490 and a couple with chicken or fish for Rs550. These will be available for delivery from next week (21 February).

For a more substantial lunch, the iconic Galle Face Hotel is again offering a lunch buffet in the Verandah restaurant. The buffet includes Sri Lankan, Eastern, Indian and Western cuisine and costs Rs3,100 per person. 

Did we cover a burger offer last week? Can't remember - but here's one now. Classic Lounge have a burger, chicken strips, tres leches and drink offer. For two burgers, eight strips, one cake and one drink it's Rs1,330 and for three burgers,  twelve strips, two cakes and still one drink, it's Rs2,060. But remember to hydrate!

High Tea and Dinner

In the mood for a high tea but can't decide which one? Or two of you can't agree which one? Then you might want to consider the Hilton Colombo as they have not one, not two, but four high tea options available: Western, Local, Tea Inspired and Vegetarian. Prices (for two people)  range from Rs3,588 to Rs4,488 and teas are available from 3.00pm to 5.30pm daily.

If you're in the mood for some comfort dim sum, Long Fen at Cinnamon Lakeside are offering an all-you-can-eat dim sum deal. For Rs3,500 per person, you can choose as much as you want from over 30 types of dim sum.

Have you tried Russian food?  There is a Russian restaurant, Plovf, in Malabe. They offer a range of Sri Lankan curry, rice and kottu dishes but they also have Russian dumplings "pelmeni", cutlets, salads, soups and grills as well. 

The Movenpick is celebrating "Seven Days of Culinary Magic" in their Ayu restaurant this week. Each day there is a different themed buffet dinner. Thursday is Sri Lankan, Friday is ASEAN, Saturday 'Delicacies from land and sea' and Sunday is 'Wonders of the World'.  The dinner buffets are available from 7.00pm to 10.30pm and prices vary by day of week. 

Happy Hours & Ladies' Night

In addition to their regular happy hour, Rare Bar & Kitchen also have a rare, special treat on Thursday evenings:  Cocktails and Canapes. For Rs3,900 you can enjoy three cocktails: Raw Mango, Tamarind and Arrack Passion, along with a platter of savoury canapes. This is available from 6pm to 9pm, only on Thursdays.

Multi World Champion Flair Bartender, Alexander Shtifanov, will be taking over the bar at Kingsbury's Sky Lounge this Friday, 18th February, from 8pm. Expect special cocktails prepared with flair and showmanship, worth watching - and of course, tasting!

ME Colombo have a nice Happy Hours offer on cocktails and shots but they also have a beer and bites offer. A pitcher of Lion for Rs2,300 or a tower for Rs3,600 and each will come with a portion of devilled chicken or fish. This offer is available all day, in either the indoor MY Dining restaurant or the MY Bar rooftop..

With Wednesday being a Poya Day, the ladies missed most of this weeks' ladies' nights! However, Kava Lounge have kindly moved their Kava Diva night  to Thursday this week, so ladies can still enjoy freeflow cocktails from 8pm to 10pm.

For regular weekly ladies' nights you can check our website Ladies' Night page. 

Live Music and DJs

It's definitely a good time for music lovers with several festivals these weeks. On Friday you can take in a live music festival featuring Daddy and Aura, with Wasthi, Chitral and Dinesh. This is at the Ranowell Hotel in Kochchikade.

Also on Friday is Lit 22, with DJ music, open mic, food and more. This is at Premadasa Xtreme Gravel Karting.

On Saturday it's Focal Fest, the long awaited event with International DJs Olly Esse and Teri Miko along with DJ Mass, Apzi, Romaine and leading local DJs Clifford Isaac, Kyze Music, Dirty Dzn and The Music Director. This is at Havelock Sports Ground. 

For regular gigs, on Thursday you'll find The Notion at the Long Bar, Link at Colombar, Ishini & the Branch will be at Taphouse  and OiC at The Joint.

On Friday, The Notion will be at In on the Green, The Kingdom will be at Taphouse, Footprints at the Irish and Dream Caravan at Allstar. 

On Saturday, 2Forty2 will be at Colombar, Cold Sweat at The Joint, OiC at SunsetBlu and Warehouse Project at Allstar.

Sundays are livening up too, as Barstool Prophecy will be at Taphouse.

As always, we only have room to list a few highlights; for the full list of live music, check our Gig Diary.

For music from the decks, on Friday you'll find "The Birds and the Bees" at Botanik with DJs Sarini, Sajeewa, Harintha and Clifford Issac playing house, disco, funk, tech and Italo.

At Lavix, "Sumptuous Friday" features DJs Moonkillex, Ace and Kaden Jr spinning hip hop, R&B, Afrobeats and Reggaeton.

There's probably more to be announced for Friday and Saturday, so keep an eye on our home page or follow us on Instagram at @HappeningColombo21 for updates when we get them. 

Other Events

Why not start Thursday evening with "Sync and Move", a movement and meditation class to prepare you for the weekend ahead. This class is hosted by Rangi at Nuga Rosmeade at 6.30pm.

Also on Thursday evening there's the weekly quiz at Kami Maki, with prizes for the winning teams. Quiz starts 6.30pm.

For something more energetic it's Salsa Night at Playtrix, with deals on Cuba Libre and Mojito cocktails, this starts 8.30pm.

On Friday, the Social Networking Evening is back at the Hilton Residences from 6.30pm, a good way to meet people.

Saturday is the next Ceylon Happy Market, featuring an array of local small business and entrepreneurs. This time it's an evening event and will be at Gourmet Boutique, Alfred Place from 3pm.

Got a pile a books that you've read and are not likely to read again? Looking for more to read? So, take the books that you have read to the Book Swap on Sunday and exchange them for something else! The book swap is at The Department of Coffee from 4pm.

On Sunday there's also another Open Mic night at the Colombo City Centre Food Studio Terrace. Hosted by Adam and Eve, it starts at 6.30pm.

Looking ahead to Monday evening, Shanjei is hosting another Warrior Vinyasa Yoga class at Prana Lounge at 6.15pm.