Best Seat For Sunset Show
There is nowhere better to be in than at the restaurant’s chic white terrace
By R. Wijewardene
Colomboians constantly complain about our fair capital’s lack of entertainment options. Tawdry concerts, a smattering of plays, a handful of seedy clubs, they maintain are all there is to entertain the city’s seething millions…
But those who complain about Colombo’s apparent lack of entertainment forget that beyond such developed world niceties as cafes, galleries and opera houses our Third World environment does in fact provides a wealth of alternative entertainment; The nonstop cliff-hanger that is our politics, the high farce that is our parliament, the absolute adrenaline rush that are our roads, the virtual water park our poorly drained city becomes after a moderate shower of rain.
Personally I believe that Colombo hardly needs the artifice of multiplexes, malls or the metropolitan museum of art when our environment contrives to provide so much entertainment for us. But while the squabbles of our politicians, our racing bus drivers, and our faulty drainage perhaps stand as city highlights the sublime pinnacle of Colombo’s entertainment is something much more spectacular …
The evening sunset
Every evening the most potent force in our solar system provides a colour and light show of exceptional intensity as it disappears into the Indian Ocean. To live in our west coast capital is to enjoy a life time of incomparable Indian ocean sunsets and what immediately sets La Voile Blanche apart from the myriad of other restaurants and bars in the city is that it offers front row seats to the finest show in town. As the sun’s molten orb sinks into a gold flecked sea there is nowhere better to be in than at the restaurant’s chic white terrace, which sits on one of the broadest sections of Mt Lavinia’s fine sweep of beach.
And La Voile Blanche takes full advantage of its spectacular location by offering its signature tamarind margarita, easily the best sundowner in town — a cocktail with a near perfect balance of sweet, sour, and bitter to tempt even the most ardent of teetotallers and tequila haters. But while the bar offers a generally superior range of cocktails these remain merely appetizers — aperitifs before the serious business of choosing from a exceptionally wide selection of substantial main meals.
Usurprisingly given the restaurant’s name there is a strong Gallic influence on the menu but a range of culinary styles are represented. Of course given its location just feet away from the ocean, La Voile Blanche offers a range of fresh sea food, and succulent steaks, exceptional salads, and delicate ragouts emerge from its sleek, kitchen. However if you’re not in the mood for serious culinary exertion the restaurant doubles as a café bar offering excellent coffee and deliciously moist slices of cake. Again perfect accompaniments to the evening’s infallibly impressive sunset show.
And once the sun has successfully sunk into the sea, and day turns to dark, tropical night, La Voile Blanche performs its own metamorphosis and transforms from laid back lunch to one of the most attractive and stylish bars in the city. With its cocktails , swaying palms, seas side space and overtones of Café del Mar you don’t need too many margaritas to imagine your self in Ibiza or is it more St. Tropez?
