- The Sequel at Cinnamon Grand
By Naveed Rozais
Colombo nightlife, while certainly thrilling to us, does have room for new experiences and The Sunday Morning Brunch is happy to note that Sequel, the Cinnamon Grand Colombo’s speakeasy cocktail bar has reopened its doors following a thoughtful redesign.
A Colombo speakeasy
Envisioned as Colombo’s ‘next best thing,’ Sequel is a speakeasy cocktail bar which takes cues from jazz and the excitement and opulence of the 1920s. Sequel is about old and new – the decadence of yesterday paired with the flavours of right now – where charm meets sophistication and having a good time gets a new meaning.
“Sequel will be a novel addition to Colombo’s nightlife catered to enthralling guests with our performances and showmanship,” Cinnamon City Hotels Area Vice President Kamal Munasinghe said. Exemplary performance doesn’t extend only to the musicians playing each night, but to the performance of the bar itself and each member of staff within it. Every little detail is tailored to those who appreciate elegance, and a bespoke experience like no other is provided for the discerning guest who is looking for that perfectly curated night.
“When we look at what is available in the market right now for nightlife, there are gaps,” Munasinghe shared with The Sunday Morning Brunch. “We have identified these gaps. Colombo has lots of clubs but none that offer this kind of music and ambience. Sequel is not about a club full of people every night. It’s for people looking for something nice and enjoyable with timeless music that has a jazz and soul influence to it.”
The music at Sequel isn’t typical jazz, nor typical soul, but something in between, the kind of music that sets the perfect backdrop for a relaxing, intimate evening but is still something you can dance to should the mood strike. “This isn’t something you will find anywhere else. The concept is new to Colombo, and is something Cinnamon City Hotels sees as a great need in the marketplace,” Munasinghe explained. “When tourists visit, they often feel we lack entertainment of this nature. The relaunch of Sequel is one of many ways in which Cinnamon City Hotels is gearing up for the upcoming season.”
A curated F&B experience
Sequel’s Restaurant Manager M. Fasmi shared with Brunch the amount of thought that had gone into curating its food and beverage menus. “We’ve focused on international cuisine with a touch of Chinese influence. For example, we have dishes like the barramundi ceviche which has Chinese ingredients and marinades. We do have grills and platters, but on the whole, the menu at Sequel focuses on light but filling meals.”
Sequel also features an inventive array of cocktails, with a menu of 14 signature cocktails, each of which features specific twists such as a wood smoke-based cocktail that arrives at the table smoking, and one that uses cotton candy as both an ingredient and an experience. Each cocktail is named after a jazz musician.
The Sequel experience
The ambience at Sequel is relaxing – the space has a cool darkness to it, reminiscent of the jazz clubs of the ’20s, and the band performing when we visited, Summer Blues, provided the perfect music to keep the evening going.
The service was very attentive, and the food was, in a word, divine. We were treated to a sampling of dishes inspired by Sequel’s menu. Each dish was inventive and wonderfully executed in terms of technique and flavour.
Some of our runway favourites among Sequel’s staple menu included the seafood paella – arborio rice topped with clams, mussels, and barramundi fish; the polenta-crusted salt and pepper squid; the jalapeno lamb flan – tortilla bread topped with lamb in a rich sauce and finished off with a quail egg; and the incredibly simple but satisfying crunchy chicken pops with garlic aioli. Other dishes we absolutely must mention include the peri peri prawns – steamed prawns in a mild peri peri sauce served with watermelon and greens and the lemon chocolate royal fudge with vanilla cream.
The Brunch verdict
The Sequel is the perfect place for those looking for a nice night out that goes against the common Colombo grain. It’s certainly an unusual concept and has been executed well by Cinnamon City Hotels; the food is sublime, and Sequel offers a variety of beverage bundle packages on offer too.
Cinnamon City Hotels prides itself on constantly reevaluating the experiences it has to offer to keep its clients coming back and trying new things, and Sequel is certainly set to become one of its sought-after venues.