WORTH A DETOUR- LONDON: Kolamba East Restaurant By Angela Zaher
Eating out in London is more than fish n’ chips, a Sunday roast or afternoon tea. It’s a chance to go around the world, without the jetlag, and dip your toes, or your paratha in this case, in every culinary corner. To get a Sri Lankan stamp in your gourmet passport, I have just the place for you: Kolamba East. Nestled in a newly regenerated area a few minutes walk from Liverpool Street station, it also serves as an excellent gateway for visiting the nearby market at Spitalfields and roam the streets which Charles Dickens and Jack the Ripper once called home. In this part of London, the old meets the new with street art and skyscrapers set next to historical homes that take you back to when it first came alive with the arrival of refugees in the 17th century.
Kolamba East, run by husband and wife team Eroshan and Aushi MeewElla, is a tropical oasis. It was the perfect antidote to a blustery, rainy and cold day in London; we left our umbrella at the door and entered into a dry, warm and stunningly designed sanctuary. The decor pays homage to the prominent Sri Lankan architect Geoffrey Bawa- a leader of the Tropical Modernism movement. The walls are reserved for displaying the work of emerging Sri Lankan artists with batik fabrics and the soft furnishings, like the mellow glow from the lantern lamps, champion Sri Lankan craftsmanship. But one look at the ceiling, left to the on trend industrial look with exposed pipes and brickwork, reminds you that you are still in a hip and chic part of London.
Before I came to visit, I consulted with Sri Lankan food expert, Ranji Thangiah (@tootingmama), as to her intel on this restaurant. What she told me was very encouraging. She had been invited to their soft launch (when restaurants try out their menus on a select group of people before going public) and was personally contacted by Aushi afterwards to seek her feedback on the food. That is the act of someone who really cares, which in my experience, translates into a great restaurant.
Ranji gave me the heads up as to what I should order so I followed her list. Soft shell crab and lamb chops to start, king prawn string hopper (thin thread like noodles made using red rice flour in this case, shredded so that it looks like thin rice) biryani and whole rib jaggery (a coarse dark brown sugar made from the sap of palm trees) beef for the main, with roasted pineapple and spinach dhal to accompany. Our waiter also recommended yellow rice and Sri Lankan paratha. The paratha, a flaky, buttery flatbread that is stretched and rolled into infinite layers (requires a lot of skill) is not on the menu and was for me one of the most delightful aspects of this meal- it’s well worth engaging with and seeking the opinion of those in the know.
Every single one of those dishes was buzzing with rich flavours and beautiful heady spices. Sri Lankan cuisine is generally punchier with its use of intense spices such as Ceylon cinnamon (widely regarded as the best cinnamon money can buy), black pepper, cardamom, cloves, mace and nutmeg. The heat in the food ranged from mild (the lamb chops, beef and dhal) to fiery (the crab and biryani). Roasted pineapple curry was new to me- I loved the pairing of this syrupy sweet fruit with a hot and creamy sauce. The whole meal was a perfect foray into the tropics. We felt so warmed up by the food and hospitality that we momentarily forgot where we were and failed to pick up our umbrella on our way out. But we quickly ducked back in for it.
Angela Zaher is a freelance writer based in London. Her articles have been published in The Evening Standard, Delicious, Platinum, Good Housekeeping and The Brussels Times. She writes regular restaurant reviews for luxury lifestyle magazine, Time & Leisure. She is on the Committee of the Guild of Food Writers. Find her on instagram @angela_zaher.
