Copper Ceylon - Sri Lankan Restaurant — Restaurant in London

My partner and I decided to revisit Copper Ceylon for Valentine’s Day, as we had previously enjoyed our experiences there. However, this time around, our evening left much to be desired.

When booking online, we were presented with a menu featuring options for happy hour, à la carte, and the Valentine’s Day special. Despite specifically booking for the à la carte menu, we were informed that only the Valentine’s Day menu was available that evening. Despite our disappointment, we decided to proceed with the Valentine’s Day menu as we were the only customers in the restaurant, and it would have felt awkward to leave at that moment.

We opted for the prawns and chicken curry from the limited Valentine’s Day menu. Regrettably, the portions were severely lacking, with only three prawns and two pieces of chicken in the curry dish. Given the £40 price tag, the quantity of meat provided was unsatisfactory.

Although we appreciated the complimentary dessert and glass of Prosecco, they did little to compensate for the overall disappointment of the meal. Additionally, the management’s apparent disengagement, as they remained on their mobile phones throughout the evening, was disappointing. The staff, aside from our main waitress who was kind and attentive, seemed inexperienced and overwhelmed.

Furthermore, the presence of multiple hovering waitresses made it challenging to enjoy a private conversation with my partner, contributing to the overall dissatisfaction of the evening. For an expenditure exceeding £100, the experience fell short of our expectations and left us feeling let down.

Despite the disappointments, it’s worth noting that the cocktails were really tasty. However, they were marred by excessive ice, leaving only about two sips of drink in each glass.

From my other experiences, I would’ve given them a five-star rating. However, due to the way that my Valentine’s Day was ruined by this restaurant, I have to give them only a two-star rating.

I’m particularly upset that we were forced to have the Valentine’s Day menu when they are advertising three different types of menus. It’s disappointing that they wouldn’t even offer the happy hour menu on Valentine’s Day. Offering a happy hour deal would actually attract more customers, and I would have been happy to spend more money on cocktails, thinking that I was getting a better deal.

Moreover, I felt very pressured to buy a cocktail as the bartender kept coming over and pushing cocktails onto us, even after we expressed multiple times that we didn’t want to order yet.

In conclusion, while our previous visits to Copper Ceylon were enjoyable, our Valentine’s Day dinner experience was marred by poor management, limited menu options, inadequate portions, intrusive service, disappointing drink portions, and an overall lackluster atmosphere. We hope that the establishment addresses these issues to maintain its reputation for providing exceptional dining experiences...

I am a Sri Lankan and very passionate about Sri Lankan food so I was really looking forward to this. The interior was nice, we loved the tuktuk! The cocktails were lovely and packed a punch. Service was good and the staff were attentive. Highlights: Everything was well presented. I recommend the jaffna mutton fry, crab curry and the kingfish curry. The seafood was nice and fresh. The pol roti was lovely and authentic however the portion size was far too small (more than mini!). Dhal curry was nice and creamy too. The cocktails and mocktails were unique and brought a taste of Sri Lanka. The ‘Tiffin Punch’ definitely packed a punch and came in a lovely tiffin container. The ‘Kandy Breeze’ mocktail was also nice and sweet, complementing the curries well. The drinks were better than the food in my opinion. Lowlights: The portions in general were quite small, we ordered at least 2-3 plates per person. We were shocked by the wattalappam size too, it was literally 2 bites! The wattalappam was also made with just sugar syrup and not kithul (the authentic way) so not as nice. The appam was a complete disappointment, cold and not crispy at all- more like a pancake- if you know what an appam should be then I don’t recommend. The ‘lunumiris’ given with the appam was not lunumiris at all. It was more like a watery, sweet tomato salsa. We didn’t like it at all. The seeni sambol was not made from scratch and was definitely out of an MD jar, which is fine, but charging £2.50 for a tiny portion is bold if it’s not made in-house. The whole MD jar itself is only £4! Overall, the food was average and definitely had some authentic flavours, especially the pol roti and crab curry. However it wasn’t as spicy as it should be. I recommend the seafood curries and cocktails. It is also quite pricey for Bromley, considering the portion sizes, but some dishes...

Couldn't wait to try this restaurant it sounded amazing...

Firstly it was empty only 4 people at tables... The cocktails ingredients didn't blend very well. My drink tasted just like a pornstar martini without the shot of prosecco.... The mai ti was absolutely disgusting. Just tasted like straight rum served in a small glass. I love a good mai ti but couldn't even drink it.... The cocktails did impress....

Waited ages to be served the table next to us were served very quickly and their food came out very quickly.... I had to ask the young girl who was friendly but not attentive could we order food...

The poppadoms took ages to come out. I have to say we enjoyed them.... Ordered from the mains a beetroot curry and a dhal curry 2 yellow rice..... The rice was lovely but the dhal curry was very bland didn't have much of a flavour or spice, it certainly wasn't curry dhal and I love a good curry dhal. The beetroot curry was just wet soggy beetroot very sickly it had a bit more flavour than the dhal but once again described as a curry which it wasn't...... My daughter had finished hers but I was still eating. Some waiter came over touched the plates and said have you finished when I was clearly eating. My daughter said yes and I said I'm still eating... He started taking the plates from the table while I'm still eating..... I found that very rude and in all other restaurants the waiter/waitress wait until everyone at the table have finished. Very rude....

He asked would we like dessert. We got the menu asked for the cheese cake looked the best from the small amount of desserts to be told they didn't have it...

We asked for the bill and it had a service charge for £8.40 which I asked to be taken off..... I normally leave a tip but not for bad service.....

Would I eat here again no sadly not a great...