British Colonial Co

BRITISH COLONIAL CO HAS PERMANENTLY CLOSED.

British Colonial Co is a casual yet elegant eatery and tapas bar found on the corner of Hawthorne Road and Lindsay St, and is the perfect place for a lazy brunch, long lunch or dinner and drinks.  

Open daily from 7am, British Colonial is owned by Angela and Mark Kennedy, who also own nearby Bungalow 4121. The stylish setting features al fresco dining with a slightly exotic feel – think rattan lounges, plantation fans and tropical plants (with heat lamps to keep away the winter chill).   

Breakfast fare includes light eats like baguettes with avocado, grape tomatoes, feta, baby spinach and balsamic glaze or fresh fruit salad with watermelon, dragon fruit, pomegranate, rock melon, strawberries, chia seeds and saffron labneh; while heartier dishes include the British Colonial Breakfast (free range eggs, field mushrooms, pesto tomatoes, house baked beans, bacon, sausage and toast) and lobster tail with poached egg, sweet corn emulsion, baby spinach and toasted brioche bun.  Or try their delicious orange blossom donuts with chestnut cream and house churned ice-cream.

Lunch, served from 11 until 3, ranges from entrees – like spicy Middle Eastern sujuk sausage, grilled haloumi or fish cakes with Malaysian slaw – to mains: lamb burgers, British beer battered fish and Sri Lankan chilli pork belly served with lychee apple mint salad.  

The dinner menu, consisting of small and large share plates, has the same offerings as lunch with a few additions like North African berbere spiced scallops with chorizo, caper porcini crumb and cauliflower.  A charcuterie board is also available with grilled truffle mortadella, wagyu bresaola, salami, pork terrine, onion mustard jam, house pickles and fresh focaccia.  

Decadent desserts include petit fours, panna cotta, crème brulee and a chocolate hot pot – in-house ice cream, hazelnut crumble, dacquoise and chocolate mousse. 

Drink wise, there’s beer on tap (Newstead Brewing, Stone & Wood and 4 Pines), bottled craft beer, red and white wines, French champagne and a creative cocktail list: Casablanca Gin Joint, West Indies Iced Tea, Hemingway Stays and Newfoundland Bound – a concoction of cold brew coffee, bourbon, falernum, Frangelico, chocolate bitters, maple syrup and vanilla ice-cream.

By Deb Lidster