CHEF’S TABLE

Master Sri Lankan spicing with the help of the team behind Soho’s contemporary new restaurant, Kolamba

Master Sri Lankan spicing with the team behind Soho’s Kolamba

Kolamba brings aromatic, spice-laced Sri Lankan cooking to Soho, where owners Aushi and Eroshan Meewella have crafted a nostalgic culinary hymn to the dishes they grew up eating in Colombo. Set over two floors, luxe modernism with tropical touches sets the tone here, with a medley of earthy, natural hues and textures – concrete floors, raw plasterwork and textured fabric pendant lighting – and verdant accents, including glossy teal tiling, tumbling plant life and huge, vividly hued batik works from Sri Lankan artist Sonali Dharmawardena.

Recipes from Aushi and Eroshan’s friends and family form the core of the food offering, from Aunty Mo’s ‘chatti’ roast (chopped beef dry-fried with onions, green chilli and tomato) to Vaira’s jaggery beef (slow-cooked short rib steeped in unrefined cane sugar and spices). It’s a sharingplates menu, divided into snacks, meat and fish, vegetables, rice and breads (think rotis, hoppers etc), sambols (small salads), and chutneys and pickles. Food arrives with alacrity and all at once, a slightly tricky proposition for the trendy yet petite terrazzo tabletops – expect to play Tetris with plates to make them all fit.

Dishes are characterised by fragrant, complex spicing and heat that accentuates rather than destroys flavour. A snack of Nalini’s fish cutlets are crispy, breadcrumb-coated pilchard croquettes similar to Dutch bitterballen, the rich oiliness of the fish balanced by delicate spice. Fiery king prawns are tossed with crushed black pepper, green chillies and soft morsels of almost caramelised onions. Moreish nuggets of crunchily deep-fried shellfish heads add pleasing texture. Yellow monkfish curry is masterfully balanced, with butter-soft fish poached in a lightly creamy turmeric, tomato and coconut milk broth that soothes while stealthily delivering sly heat. When ordering, contrast the spicier dishes with gentler veggie ones: Kumar’s pineapple and aubergine is a comfortingly sweet-sour affair, while cashew nuts fried to tender softness with green capsicum and coconut is another subtle foil.

Sides also impress. String hoppers – steamed rice noodles – come with a mild turmeric and coconut milk curry to drizzle over, and a punchy chilli-coconut relish. Egg hoppers jewelled with a golden yolk are perked up with fiery lunu miris (sambol paste) on the side. Desserts are simple but deliver yet more flavour, from grilled slices of arrack-infused pineapple with vanilla ice cream to set yogurt topped with woody, smoky kithul (palm) treacle.

Sri Lankan beers, spirits and teas pepper the drinks menu. The Bentota Bittersweet with Colombo No 7 gin, coconut water, ginger beer and Angostura bitters is a tall, pleasingly refreshing contrast to the rich food that follows. From the mostly European wine menu, a Ruppertsberger riesling, with a background whisper of sweetness, is an apt match for spicy flavours. kolamba.co.uk