What does renowned inventor Nikola Tesla, Ceylon Tea, an expensive coffee machine and giant croissants have in common? The answer lies at Colombo’s latest restaurant cum café and tea lounge, Almonds Exclusive. The restaurant itself was surreptitiously open for a few weeks with no signage and much to the curiosity of city-dwellers. However, a few weeks ago they officially opened, with name and all.
So let’s start there, with the name. Almonds happen to be one of the owner’s favourite ingredients and the “exclusive” part gets added on simply because that’s how the restaurant would like to treat each guest who walks in through their doors. For starters Almonds Exclusive opens at 7am and is one of the only establishments open till the wee hours of the morning. Their reasoning is that people can get hungry at any time of day (or night!), and need a cozy, comfortable and affordable place to grab a bite. We totally endorse!
The main idea at Almonds is to provide a 5-star setting, with luxurious service, and lavish food, all at affordable pricing. The ambiance inside and the various seating options is just amazing and each area is targeted at a different segment. The café at the entrance serves up coffee shop wares in terms of pastries, croissants and of course coffee. Unlike other coffee houses, the beans used at Almonds are all grown and sourced locally, and a super-expensive coffee machine (the only one in Asia they tell us) is used to brew it. This machine is so high-tech that once it identifies your brew consistency and the works, it stores it for later use. Even if you visit years later, the machine will remember exactly how you like your coffee. Fancy!
The bottom floor dining is more for groups of friends or work-mates who catch up for lunch or a snack after work. There is a smoking lounge for those who wish to sit outdoors. The upper deck is also divided in to three sections. One area is reserved for families who want to enjoy a quiet meal but it was the other two that have “exclusive stories”. Above the seating area is a mural depicting two female tea pluckers, a familiar site in the hills of Sri Lanka. What makes it amazing is the fact that this image is not painted on. Instead a local artist spent countless hours painstakingly pasting actual tea leaves to bring the image to life. The deck area which has couches and sofa swings is dedicated to the memory of Nikola Tesla, the man who was robbed of the glory of being the inventor behind most of our modern conveniences. The idea here is to allow young dreamers like Tesla to come work their dreams in to reality while sipping on their favourite drink or tucking in to some comfort food.
To experience all this and more, we dropped in for lunch and tried quite a few things from their cross cultural menu. The drinks though on the pricey side, are rather large and justifiable for the price you pay. We tried a mint, lime and orange concoction, a Melon Breeze and a traditional lime juice. The Melon Breeze was by far the best of the three though the priciest at 590 rupees.
A Chicken Caesar Salad, Minestrone Soup and Sweet Corn Egg Drop Soup were our starter choices. The salad portion was shareable and contained a good mix of Iceberg Lettuce, Tomatoes, Eggs, Chicken Chunks and Croutons. Of the two soups the Minestrone was definitely the better one with a thick beef broth and lots of vegetables to balance a very healthy meal. A freshly baked bread basket went well with the soups too, as it was soft and warm rolls with lots of butter melting off them.
For mains we ordered a Mexican Chicken Croissant, Arabic Chicken with Saffron Rice and as recommended by our waiter an Almonds Mixed Grill. The Saffron Rice was just brilliant with the right balance of flavours. Although the chicken was done to perfection we did notice that it lacked the “Arabic” flavour in it which we attribute to the right spices not being used. To say the very least the croissant was massive and came packed with tons of chicken, jalapenos, peppers and spicy mayonnaise. At just 790 rupees this is a fantastic meal and is a must-try. The mixed grill though not as large as mixed grills we’ve seen elsewhere in terms of the meat portions has beef, lamb, chicken, sausage, a healthy portion of mashed potatoes and a good mix of seasonable vegetables. Kudos to the chefs who use only local produce, locally sourced meats and only virgin coconut oil to prepare the food. Unless the waiter had not particularly told us this we wouldn’t have noticed a taste difference in the food which you tend to do when coconut oil is used.
We were so satisfied with the food that we wanted to opt out of dessert but on the insistence of our friendly waiter again tried an Avocado Cake and Date Cake. We actually wanted to try their signature Durian Cheesecake but unfortunately it was not available. The fact that however, one can take a fruit like an avocado and make a super delicious sponge cake with it was just awesome. The highlights of our desserts were though the warm date cake served with jaggery syrup and almonds on top (no surprise there!). That was the best way to finish a hearty meal or so we thought until they also insist that you try their Sri Lankanized version of an Affogato. This strong coffee served with an ice-cream flavour of your choice is not for everyone though. We tried it with Vanilla and it was still too strong for us but they do dare you to even try yours with a dash of Tobasco. We will leave that for the next time when we haven’t eaten so much and give us your rating instead…
Location **** (Conveniently located with ample parking!)
Ambiance ***** (Everything just done right!)
Service **** (Superb service!)
Food ***** (Completely endorse the use of local produce and the food is done so well!)
Overall **** ½
Reviewed by #FoodiesSL
Address: 313 Galle Road, Colombo 03.
Tel: 0112 372382