I will admit a lack of expertise with Sri Lankan cuisine, so I cannot comment thoroughly on its authenticity or compare it to many other Sri Lankan restaurants.
The place is tiny (10-12 small tables) and on the second story of a walk-up. It has a strong following and due to its tiny size, you maybe have a wait at any given time. Really, if 10 other people are thinking like you are and settle upon Sri Lankan food, you’ll be waiting for a while. Luckily, when we went, people weren’t thinking like us and we nabbed a table right away. Very brightly decorated. Has character and a fitting ambiance.
The server was very responsive to our questions and explained anything we didn’t understand. He was patient and never rushed us. Perhaps this was because they weren’t at full capacity, but it was still nice given we had quite a number of questions. We were on a mission to educate ourselves about the nuances of the cuisine!
Deviled Vegetables – we asked for this spicy and we definitely got spicy. It was delicious. It also had sweetness to it, which reminded me of some spicy Asian dishes that have a hint of sweetness – almost like a really spicy General Tso. It was fantastic. The vegetables included were: broccoli, cauliflower, carrots, onions, green peppers, red peppers, tomatoes, and potatoes. Perfect combination of vegetables and they can alter the heat to however mild or spicy you’d like it to be. It comes with a side of steamed white rice. One large con, it was WAY TOO OILY. Next time I would request one with less oil. Otherwise, it is a relatively dry sauce, unlike a curry.
String Hoppers – steamed rice flour noodles. Ten pancake-like circles of them are included in one order. I was super surprised to find that these were even delicious on their own. As in, I could eat them plain. Of course, not much flavor when it’s plain, but still really good. You get a choice of onion sambol or coconut sambol on the side and it’s served with a side of coconut gravy (yellow in color) to add sauce and flavor. Sambol is a traditional Sri Lankan condiment that often accompanies string hoppers, hoppers, and other meals. We chose the onion sambol – flavorful, but not spicy. And the coconut gravy is sweet. You can ask for a refill of it. String Hoppers are traditionally eaten with a curry dish, but we didn’t order one.
Hopper – we tried 1 plain hopper with no egg in it (traditionally it’s served with a fried egg in the middle). This is similar to an unsweetened very thin crepe and is injera-like in texture. Mild flavored and pleasant tasting, but doesn’t compare to the other two dishes above.
Ginger Tea – black tea with fresh ginger grated into it. The fact that the ginger was fresh made it great.
Would and will absolutely come back here.
Cash Only.
