A MIDDLE EASTERN FLAIR AT HILTON COLOMBO

Hilton Colombo welcomes the season of Ramadan with its ‘Middle Eastern Flair’ food festival for the second consecutive year at Graze Kitchen. A specially curated Iftar dinner buffet is available daily until 18 March, inviting  guests to indulge in a variety of delicacies and flavours from across the Middle Eastern region, curated by visiting chef Girgis Naguib from Hilton Cairo Grand Nile. 

The chicken shawarma corner with succulent, tender meat shavings and a DIY shawarma station was a popular stop for many diners. The Arabic street food station with the likes of tükürük köfte (Turkish meatballs), ta'ameya (an Egyptian falafel), hawashi (pita stuffed with minced meat) and cheesy and meat sambousek were also popular...

Our experience began with a selection of appetisers that ranged from salads inspired by Middle Eastern spices such as the Sumac Chicken Fatteh, Malfour Salad and Fattoush. But the real highlight was the hummus bar which featured 7 varieties, each in different styles. Our favourites included a foie gras and applewood smoked duck hummus and the alligator pear and pine nuts hummus for the different textures the combinations provided as well as the chocolate honey hummus for the interesting, sweet twist on an otherwise savoury dish. For the traditionalists, the truffle hummus infused with truffle paste, the muhammura hummus made with roasted red pepper and the fluffy, potent Tzatziki will be equally enjoyable. 

For mains, we immediately made our way to the two rice dishes on display, completely taken in by the mutton ouzi 

which is a traditional Middle Eastern dish with slow-roasted tender mutton on a bed of spiced khalta rice and nuts.  The lamb had a fall-apart tenderness to it that we loved. The chicken kabsa, the national dish of Saudi Arabia, is a one-pot dish consisting of chicken and rice, simmered in a spiced tomato broth. Complementing these dishes were the lamb kebab halal, Egyptian beef moussaka made in a layered casserole style, Middle East white bean stew and fried fish. The chicken shawarma corner with succulent, tender meat shavings and a DIY shawarma station was a popular stop for many diners. The Arabic street food station with the likes of tükürük köfte (Turkish meatballs), ta'ameya (an Egyptian falafel), hawashi (pita stuffed with minced meat) and cheesy and meat sambousek were also popular. 

The real highlight was the hummus bar which featured 7 varieties, each in different styles. Our favourites included a foie gras and applewood smoked duck hummus and the alligator pear and pine nuts hummus for the different textures the combinations provided as well as the chocolate honey hummus..

For dessert, sticky date cake, umali and almond brownies intermingled among other desserts. Our favourite was mahalabia, a cooling and refreshing Middle Eastern milk pudding with a panna cotta adjacent texture scented with rose water and garnished with pistachios, which was a light sweet ending to our meal.  All of these dishes are in addition to the other international cuisine options available to diners at the buffet including Western, Indian and Sri Lankan corners. The buffet is inclusive of beverages such as iced tea, faluda and mixed fruit juice. 

Graze Kitchen at Hilton offers a fantastic spread this Ramadan that celebrates the best of Middle Eastern cuisine, highlighting dishes that are known and loved around the world but also some  traditional local dishes that are seldom in the spotlight. 

• Middle Eastern Flair is on till 18th March 2026 at Graze Kitchen from 6pm to 11pm, priced at Rs. 10,888 nett per adult and Rs. 5,444 per child (6-11 years)