Brunch for the whole family at Waters Edge

By Madushka Balasuriya 

Waters Edge has long been one of the more scenic dining venues around, with its alfresco seating arrangements overlooking its grand lawn, which itself is perched on the edge of the lake, all the while keeping away the noise of the busy streets – it truly is a supreme weekend getaway.

Now with the revamp of its Sunday Brunch to an already impressive array of dining options, this property on the lake is making a serious claim for your weekend’s attention. 

Serving up over 150 dishes, it is first and foremost one of the most extensive brunch arrangements we’ve come across. Add to this no less than five carveries; 10 action stations – including ones for hoppers and isso wade; fusion cuisine covering Spanish, Italian, Thai, Mongolian, Indian, and Western dishes; a veritable seafood pyramid with delicacies such as lobster, mussels, and oysters, to name but a few; not to mention, a specially-demarcated kids section, that includes favourites such as margherita pizza, fish fingers, French fries, etc., and a picture starts to form of an establishment where much thought has gone into the end product.

The real clincher, however, is the little known fact that the Rs. 3,450 nett price also includes complimentary use of the pool, but more on that later.

In terms of the food, Daily FT made its way to Waters Edge last Sunday to pick out the best from the rest so you wouldn’t have to.

Hits

Among the positives, as alluded to at the top of this review, is the sheer variety in options. Even when it comes to simply salads and appetisers, you’re looking at something like 12 different appetisers, 18 different salads, and an assortment of about 10 cold cuts and cheese varieties each – and this is before we even begin to count the sushi and sashimi!

As such it was not even worth trying them all, but what from what we did try there were a few that were genuinely outstanding. The first that comes to mind is the Duck & Chicken Salad, which had  a brilliant blend between sweet and spice, but most importantly was exquisitely moist and succulent – something many restaurants fail to pull off successfully.

Meanwhile the gamut of raw seafood, sushi and sashimi on offer was truly exceptional. We would highly recommend trying them all out with a selection of sauces and dressing at the Gravalax counter – the horseradish and dijon mustard were personal favourites.

Moving on to some of the mains, one of our favourites was the Sri Lankan section. Chicken ambulthiyal, maniyok curry, black mutton curry, prawn curry, and ambarella curry were among the plethora of local favourites represented.

While the staples of red/yellow rice were also available, this writer would strongly recommend pairing the egg roti with some of the curries – I couldn’t give any higher a recommendation than the black mutton curry, which was truly divine.

Then as mentioned earlier, the Asian fusion section covers a whole host of cuisines, so there truly is something for everyone. Be it the homemade naan from an authentic tandoor oven, or a Spanish omelette heavily infused with premium-grade salmon, or some seafood paella, this buffet has got you covered.

But even with all these options, where Waters Edge tends to stand out the most is in its offering of meats. The wide range of carveries covers pork two-ways – both loin and knuckle, a whiskey-braised beef, the mandatory leg of lamb, as well as some beautifully baked barramundi. On top of all this, there is also a grilling station to offer even more smoky meats.

Suffice to say the pork, lamb, and beef hit it out of the park, while the fish was marinated and cooked to perfection. If you enjoy your meat, there may genuinely be no better way to spend your Sunday afternoon.

Finally we loved the desserts, with the chocolate at Waters Edge a must-try – each of the chocolate desserts left us deeply satisfied.

Misses

While there were several more desserts we liked, we unfortunately couldn’t make note of some of them, which is why the desserts come under this section – the criminal lack of labelling. There were several times where we had absolutely no idea what some of the dishes were, which is extremely disappointing considering many of the desserts were rather exceptional.

The one other grouse is that the chicken at the grilling station was rather dry, while some of the mutton and chicken roti squares in the Sri Lankan section were also missing some, for the lack of a better word, oomph – diners are much better served going straight for the curries and pairing them with the plain egg roti.

Recommendation

With all the chafing dishes and station set up in one long train, extending across and through several rooms, this buffet is both literally and metaphorically a journey.

However, when you consider some of the attention to detail Waters Edge has put in, such as the specially-arranged kids buffet, a lovely selection of welcome drinks – including favourites such as king coconut, iced coffee, mixed fruit juice and virgin mojitos – and most importantly complimentary pool, the value begins to stack up.

This last factor cannot be overstated, while brunch runs from 11:30 a.m. to 3 p.m., the pool can be used until 3:30 p.m. by anyone paying for brunch. Kids under 12 meanwhile have 50% off, while kids under six eat free of charge. 

All things considered, in terms of weekend getaways, not many properties in and around Colombo offer more bang for your buck than Waters Edge.

Pix by Ruwan Walpola