Bastille Fort Galle — Restaurant in Galle

We went for dinner here as it was one of the highest rated Seafood restaurants in Galle Fort, and looked really welcoming from the outside.

After we sat down, a large group of 7 sat down near us. Despite arriving after us they had their food served first and did not have to wait long. During this time we asked multiple times for bring our drinks, as these had been forgotten.

We ordered a mixed salad to start, however were not given any bread as stated on the menu. We asked and were told the bread would arrive soon, however later on were told by a different waiter that there was no bread. We were not offered an alternative.

With regards to the main course, we were very disappointed that the restaurant had no fresh fish available caught on the day, despite going quite early (about 6:30pm). The only fresh ingredients were prawns and crab. They were also sold out of Tuna on the menu. The fish they did have was at least 1 day old and seemed to be frozen and quite small. We ordered our meals with chips, and were not warned that they would actually be served with crisps instead than actual french fries/chips. I am surprised that this was not clarified at the start. Instead, we were offered rice after the crisps arrived.

They should have warned us that multiple key ingredients were not available, especially on a Sunday evening.

I ordered crab as this was one of the only fresh ingredients that they had. This took about 45 minutes to arrive. After some time they then eventually brought me a plate for the shells. Despite have to use my hands which was messy, I was told that I could not have a finger bowl and that I had to go to the toilet to wash my hands. I really don't understand how it can be so hard to put some water in a bowl on the table, there was plenty of bowls in the restaurant.

The large group arrived after us and left about 45 minutes before us. We were in the restaurant for about 3 hours. We had to ask several times for our drinks as they had been forgotten and I had to ask for the bill 3 separate times. When the bill arrived 25 minutes after first asking, the text was not printed clearly and I could not read anything.

At the end when discussing the bill, I explained that I was very disappointed with the service and the availability of food. One of the waiters apologised however refused to offer me any reduction on the bill despite my complaints. I asked to speak to a manager and was told that there was no manager as they were in a different country. The waiter told me that he was unable to offer any discount because of this. I kept complaining and he eventually offered to remove the mixed salad from the bill which was quite a small price. This proves that he was able to make changes to the bill, but that he just didn't want to.

I asked to remove the service charge several times as we had been waiting hours and did not receive good service, however this was repeatedly refused. I did not realise service charge is mandatory! I thought that this was really unacceptable.

2 weeks in Sri Lanka by far the most expensive meal. Extremely disappointed. Go somewhere else, they don't even have any fresh...

A Masterclass in How Not to Run a Restaurant

Arrived at 7:30 pm, full of excitement thanks to the rave reviews. 4.6 stars, we thought – this is going to be amazing! Spoiler alert: it wasn’t. In fact, it was the opposite of amazing, unless you count being left hungry, frustrated, and baffled as a unique culinary experience.

We kicked off with an enthusiastic welcome and a confident order. That’s where the fun ended. First came The Wait. Oh, how we waited. Long enough to discuss life’s big questions, consider our career choices, and watch other diners’ patience visibly expire.

Finally, the vegetable curry arrived. Medium heat? Try lukewarm – in both temperature and flavour. A culinary triumph in blandness! Then came Round Two of waiting. The vegetable pakora arrived to save the day! Except it didn’t – because it wasn’t pakora. It was potato wedges in batter, stripped of any flavour but somehow retaining a faint aura of disappointment.

More waiting, because clearly this is a place where time slows to a crawl. Next up: coconut prawns. Now, if you’ve ever wondered what pre-frozen, supermarket prawns taste like after being dunked in coconut, you’re in for a treat. For everyone else, just grab a pack from the freezer aisle – same result, less hassle.

Then came the fish curry. Supposedly “hot,” but so mild I genuinely wondered if they’d swapped it with someone’s baby food. A quick dash of emergency chillies barely saved it from being inedible. And as for the chicken curry? Well, that became the stuff of legend – whispered about, but never actually seen. Eventually the waiter arrived with a glass of coke “on the house” as a means of apology and informed us they had given the now elusive yet legendary chicken curry to another table.

By 9:00 pm, we’d had enough. We walked out, hungry and thoroughly unimpressed. The real kicker? They actually tried to charge us for this marathon of mediocrity. A bit of a kerfuffle later, they waved us out the door without paying. Small mercies.

So, 4.6 stars? Really? Were these reviews written by people who’d never tasted food before? Or is there some sort of elaborate joke we’re not in on? Either way, avoid this place unless you’re a fan of underwhelming flavours, endless waiting, and food that occasionally just… doesn’t show up....

Disgusted - STAY AWAY FROM THIS PLACE!

We visited this place for dinner for the lack of better options at night. We reached there at around 9.40PM. Initially this one guy welcomed us enthusiastically and took our order. And then we waited for 50 minutes before they bothered to serve our order. This too after asking them multiple times and finally going to the counter to cancel it.

Mind you, the place was not crowded and nor were they short-staffed. They had over 5 people in the kitchen and 3 waiting tables. And of course they were bashing customers in Sinhala.

The attitude of the waiters was appalling. I don't know if it was because we were all girls, or because we called their bullshit out. They kept taunting us even afterwards. One of them argued with us saying the standard time of prepping the order was 30 mins of bullshit (which even if it was, was not communicated). And when we pointed out it's almost an hour he mocked us right till we left.

The food - not worth the price at all. We were anyway put off by the attitude, but we were hungry so we just ate the sorry excuse of food they put in front of us. The veggie pasta with tomato sauce - a roadside kadé would have done a better job after 50 mins. The spring rolls - a portion of 4 took 50+ mins to fry and lay over a bed of aged vegetables/ or salad or whatever they wanted to call it. The wedges - you can count on one hand - but of course how many can you cut in 50 mins, right? The prawns and garlic rice was the only saving grace, albeit served cold.

They further gave us the wrong bill (with one item missing). At least we had the decency to point it out - to which we saw these jokers try their luck at standup comedy and miserably fail, hence further mocking. The funny part was the next bill was immediately given. It was almost as if they were testing us.

Summary - there's no reason I would step into this place again. I'd rather drink water and go to bed hungry. And if I ever find out the name of that one guy who was bashing all the customers behind the counter and mocking us, I would put it up for everyone to see.

To the management - upon reading other reviews, this looks like a frequent occurrence and you don't seem to give two hoots....