Category: Food

 

Being a tropical island, Sri Lanka is blessed with an abundance of seafood. Yet, somehow the best of our saltwater and fresh water produce goes elsewhere and we’re left with having to pay exorbitant rates for a good catch. Even the dedicated seafood restaurants can be over-priced where most middle class folk can’t really afford. Regardless we love our seafood. From the Jaffna Crab Curry and the Negombo Lagoon Prawns to the traditional Southern “Ambul Thiyal”, seafood is an essential part of island life.

One of greatest things about seafood for us is that you need to really use your hands to get the best out of it. On the other hand this is one reason why many people avoid the crustaceans at buffet and fine dining establishments. We on the other hand have no reservations, and happened to find a casual dining restaurant that basically runs on the idea of “messy is normal”.

Tucked away down Bullers Lane in Colombo 7, Cajun on Wheels is actually a Singaporean based franchise. The idea is to recreate the famed Louisiana seafood truck experience. The Sri Lankan version is actually housed in a converted container with an option of also sitting under the stars in a backyard garden. The whole ambiance especially at night is very laid back and dreamy. One of the most welcoming sights is the giant smiley crab at the entrance which kinda gives you an indication of the atmosphere inside as well.

The smiles are commonplace with the staff whose bright red attire also adds to the chirpiness of the restaurant. They are also well versed with the entire menu and are more than happy to help you pick out what’s best. This is something a lot of places lack with the wait staff being clueless about their own wares. C.O.W scores big time on this point.

Keeping things simple, their drinks menu offers a choice of fresh juices at very reasonable prices. A rather tall glass of fresh juice is somewhere between 200-250 rupees depending on the fruit you choose but we felt the lime or passion fruit is just ideal with the seafood.

So here’s how you order at C.O.W. The first step is to pick from six different signature sauces. There’s Cajun Cheese, Herb & Butter, Cheesy Crab, Singapore Chilli Crab, Salted Egg Yolk and the traditional Sri Lankan Jaffna Curry Sauce. Once that choice is done, you pick your seafood from an array of sea bass, prawns, cuttle fish, crabs, lobster and mussels. For sides to go with the seafood, you can choose rice, cheesy fries, pasta, or the localized roast paan and pol sambol.

The first thing that comes to your table is not cutlery but a white plastic that gets put on the entire table. Then comes the plastic aprons and a series of tools that look like they came out of a mechanics tool box. And then comes the glorious, steaming hot buckets of seafood that gets dumped on directly to the table with all the sauces. We picked the Sailor’s Feast which is a sharing bucket for two packed with sea bass, prawns, cuttle fish and grilled corn. For this we had the Sambal Mayo and Chilli Tomato Concasse to dip in. To say the very least the food vanished before our eyes and before you could lick your fingers there came the Insane Shrimp Bucket with the Cheesy Sauce and the Reel Crabby Bucket with the Jaffna Curry Sauce. As if that wasn’t enough we also ordered a bucket of Flexing Mussels simply to try out the Famed Herb & Butter Sauce. Do not ask us to pick a favourite because we simply cannot! The sauces were all done perfectly and the seafood is fresh and light. The roast paan baked at the restaurant itself is perhaps the best accompaniment to soak in any of the gravies. Nothing is more satisfying than being “normal” and cracking open those crab shells and digging in to the succulent meat within. We will just leave it at that.

Once you are done with the monstrous meal, your table actually looks like a pretty mess (Refer the images) and you just sit there comprehending how you actually ate so much. Some people may think C.O.W is pricey but on the contrary we think the portions to share make it quite affordable. For the moment they do not do desserts and it’s not like anyone would have room left for much after that seafood feast!

So here’s our rating…

 

Location **** (Tucked away down Bullers Lane)

Ambiance **** (You may prefer to sit upstairs or outdoors)

Service **** (Excellent service with everyone knowing their stuff!)

Food ***** (Food was great… Experience was greater!)

Overall **** 1/4

 

Reviewed by #FoodiesSL

 

Price Range: Approximately 2,000 per head including drinks (Minimum)

Address: 4 Bullers Lane, Colombo 07.

Tel: 0766 388788

Pork is a staple in our diet. If we don’t have it at least once a week in some form or the other, our guys tend to get quite “hangry” (anger that is fuelled by hunger!). So when we heard that there is a couple who have dedicated their lives to promoting all things pork, we were overjoyed.

 

Big Bad Wolf first started off as a pop-up at the street food festivals and was an immediate hit. They then went on to do deliveries but that too only on specific days of the week. About two months ago though, they decided to convert their front yard and car porch in to a seating area and opened up an actual restaurant. We paid them a visit on a lazy Saturday afternoon.

Located in between the Dialog and HNB buildings in Nawala junction, this little lane is a bit hard to find. (Don’t go by Google maps because it will lead you elsewhere!). However the owners Paul and Liz tell us they hope to have a mural done on their wall so that this will be the landmark for hungry fans. Once you do locate the place, there are two seating options to choose from. We are told the evenings are perfect for a catch-up with friends or family as the sun sets and the lights come on dimly illuminating the garden. Might even be ideal for an intimate date with a twist.

If you are expecting though to have fancy menus brought to your table by a waiter in uniform, wrong place to be. What you will find though is warm and welcoming greetings from the owners who themselves play multiple roles of waiter, chef and entertainers. Paul does much of the waiting tables while it is Liz who is the maestro in the kitchen. Either way it seems to work for them. Then there’s “Odie” who sits by the entrance to the kitchen watching your every move but not really too bothered to venture out. At first you may think he is the “wolf” of this fairytale but unfortunately Odie is allergic to pork and can only wolf down (no pun intended!) a bun or two while his mistress prepares those delicious meals.

 

The menu at Big Bad Wolf is a simple A4 sheet on a board that actually keeps changing periodically. This is mainly because the recipes keep evolving with feedback from regular customers. However there are a few favourites that have stood the test of time and we had to order a few. Of these we ordered the Pork and Bacon Burger and the Classic Ribs. From the newer additions we ordered a typical Burgher meal of Yellow Rice with Kalu Pol, Potatoes and Pickle.

The Pork and Bacon Burger is a ground pork patty and a substitution of Strips of Bacon instead of the Lettuce Leaf. With chunks of meat and a bun that is overflowing this is one messy meal. (Tip: Ask for lots of tissues when you order!). We thought a great addition to this would be a slice of pineapple which would just make it perfect. Even without though the burger is a fulfilling meal for the stomach and the soul.

 

Next came our plate of 6 rather large ribs. All the sauces used at BBW are homemade to ensure authenticity in the recipe. Served with basic coleslaw the ribs were not too tender where the meat just melts off the bone and neither was it too tough. It was just perfectly seasoned, perfectly done, ribs that were a simple pleasure to tuck in to. Again messy but totally worth it.

 

The rice dish was nothing too fancy but the Kalu Pol Pork was definitely a winner. It wasn’t spicy to the degree of burning your taste buds but wasn’t too bland either. To accompany our meals we ordered both a Naarang Juice and a Ginger Beer both homemade by a local supplier. The Ginger Beer worked best with all our food choices and we highly recommend it.

Once we had been total “pigs” about our meal, we had enough room to try one of the signature desserts and chose a Brownie Smore from a list of about five. To say the very least, we were not disappointed. The warm chocolatey brownie was further “gooeyfied” (if that’s a word!) by the marshmallows on top melted to perfection. Every bite was like a combination of chocolate heaven. The perfect end to a hearty meal.

 

BBW is not rocket science cooking. It is the simplicity of the place, the people and the food that we love so much. Since then we’ve placed delivery orders and have tried many of the burgers and wraps as well which live up to the “so much pork” persona. But we definitely recommend eating at the restaurant itself for the full scale of yumminess.

So here’s our rating…

 

Location **** (Location is a bit elusive but we guess that works too!)

Ambiance **** (The garden is great for an evening catch-up!)

Service **** (Service is slow considering that 3 people run the show but we didn’t mind the wait!)

Food **** (We love our pork, let’s leave it at that!)

Overall ****

 

Reviewed by #FoodiesSL

 

INFORMATION:

Address: 277 Nawala Road, Nawala.

Tel: 0767 270389

When it comes to artisanal ice cream, there are a few names that surely do take the scoop; yet none are as exotic as what Isle of Gelato offers. I was fortunate enough to land an interview with Suranjan Perera and Shalini Fernando at Caramel Pumpkin in Ward Place. This young entrepreneurial couple has been inspired by something that has made Italy famous – Gelato. With the whole influx of entrepreneurial thinking making inroads into people’s consciousness, it is refreshing to see two ambitious individuals who have a background in finance putting the method into the madness when it comes to creating a new brand.

But one of the biggest problems that entrepreneurs need to learn is that focusing just on the money is going to be a very short-term success story. It truly was refreshing to hear these guys speak so passionately about Isle of Gelato. With quality on their minds, and wearing their hearts on their sleeves, this was surely going to be a success story when you realize that what they have literally churned out is oozing with superlative quality. I guess a testament to this level of quality is when Peter Kuruvita himself collaborated with these enthusiastic founders to vouch for their hard-focused efforts.

One of the most redeeming factors when it comes to Isle of Gelato is the manic obsession with using fresh ingredients. One of the more adventurous flavours would be jackfruit or waraka; there is also turmeric and coconut milk making up a sorbet flavor option that is aptly called — golden milk sorbetto. This reminds me: gelato and sorbets are also on the menu, and, I assure you, none of them taste like what you think they taste like – they taste better. While Colombo’s discerning denizens have been hogging their way through cups of finely churned gelato, a huge following in Galle has also been enthralled with Isle of Gelato as well.

Marketing is only half the game when it comes to promoting the product; the real fact of the matter is that when it comes to business your product has to be star class. With so many players in the market, Isle of Gelato is being pitched at a premium standard as it rightly should; the effort expended when it comes to the level of sourcing good quality items plus the investment of over LKR 70 million in state-of-the-art machinery and freezers shows that this is some serious gelato. There is no artificial flavoring. Period.

The names of the various flavours themselves evoke a sense of desirability that even I, as a foodie, have not come across in all my travels across 14 nations. Every flavor is a must try, and it goes without saying that names like – Puttalam Sea Salt and Caramel, Island Coconut, Buffalo Lemon Curd, and Fior Di Latte – does provide you with a sense of longing that’s rather unbearable. Isle of Gelato has got an almost-Harry-Potterish-kinda thing going on with Shalini Fernando concocting a vast variety of flavours that are, on rare occasions, beautifully indulgent mistakes.

All things considered, Isle of Gelato has brought the best of Italy to Sri Lanka; and, frankly, in essence, dare I say it – these folks really do churn out some exceptional gelato straight from their quirky lab in Rajagiriya. This refreshing brand does also bring a few other things to the table: one, is that Sri Lankans truly do have the ability to produce something that is world-beating when it comes to quality, and we do have the natural resources to do so; two, the entrepreneurial spirit needs to be fostered and nurtured since initiatives like this where people do get to follow their dreams is something that the country does need, and in turn, so does the world.

This, I would think, is the most refreshing thing of all in the Isle of Gelato story.

 

Written by Rohitha Perera