Being in Sri Lanka, one does not often “seek” to indulge in our own local cuisine, as we have eaten it for decades. The rich culinary heritage of our own cuisine is sometimes mildly subdued by the influx of foreign cuisine served at restaurants in Colombo. Onyx Hospitality of Thailand set up operations on the Marine Drive at Colombo-4, introducing the Ozo brand to us.
I caught up with Kiran and Jessica for dinner on Tuesday evening. The EAT restaurant located on level 1 of this modern chic hotel gives you the appeal of comfort on first impression. The large blue sofas in the restaurant lobby make you want to just sit there. The blue and silver interior supplemented by yellow lights is a lovely blend. We had missed the iconic sunset by just half an hour. The Sri Lankan street food theme was a welcome choice, after engaging in so many other ethnic buffets. The first thing that stood out was the live action station where a cook was turning out egg hoppers. The aroma of the hoppers permeated the air.
The beverage menu has a nice selection of drinks, very reasonably priced. Beginning at the salads it was interesting to see the modern chic element in the buffet presentation. The Asian fish salad was so intense, exploding with such flavor. At another action station a cook was bringing to life fried isso wade (prawns). It was good to see a different and refined style as the prawn was cocooned in spicy flour mixture and fried until golden brown (in comparison to the traditional flat open wade). It went down well with the margarita! The round pol rotti was mildly hard to the bite and did not capture the correct flour-coconut consistency. The miniature pork wrap was cute. The curry laksa soup brilliantly captured that ‘old Ceylon” essence.
Not many people are familiar with this soup, and its presence on the menu was most welcome. Many foreign resident guests were lining up at the hopper station taking photos of this process which was fascinating for them. The main course boasted a display of baked fish, pork medallions and grilled chicken breast served with mango chutney.
The mango chutney had the right blend of every ingredient and was an endorsement to the skill of Chef Manula and his team. The black chicken curry, seafood mustard curry and ambul thiyal was the best accompaniment to the egg hoppers. It brought a sense of déjà vu from my visit to Matara two months ago.