Sumatran Spice
What stems from a passion for cooking eventually flowed into cooking as a job but not just a job but one that comes from her heart and soul. This was how it all started for
Nani De Silva, the owner of Sumatran
Spice. She first started dishing out her take on delectable Indonesian cuisine at the Good Market six years ago and eventually moved to a little restaurant down Vauxhall Street, which was two years ago and as of September 2018, Sumatran Spice moved to a new home at the Food Station at Colombo City Centre.
Nani concentrates more on Sumatran food so there is a lot of chilli, as the savoury notes are far stronger that the sweet notes in that region of Indonesia, while she ensures that everything from the curry pastes to the sambals are made from scratch.
“Being generous with my portions is a must for me,” Nani adds as she wants her customers to feel that they are getting value for money while she always tries to accommodate what her customers want. Another vital factor for Nani is that her customers feel they are getting home cooked food, “I like to prepare and eat home cooked food so I want my customers to feel as though they are having what I have made at home.”
Ambience
Sumatran Spices is nestled in what the Food Station calls their Food Atrium. Set up in an open layout which allows you to walk around and discover various types of food and drinks from various parts of the world. It is super clean while the laid back, casual set up is ideal for friends and family alike.
The Food
It is all about food at Sumatran Spice. So if you want a juice or a mocktail, you need to do is walk around and pick up something from the many outlets around.
Indonesian food has a lot of flavour owing to ingredients like Galangal, Kaffir Lime and Lemongrass along with mellow notes of coconut milk infused with Pandan Leaves and our experience at Sumatran Spice started off with Nani’s famous Beef Randan (Rs
1,200). This flavourful, mouthwatering dish is served with a handsome portion of beef, served dry (you can always ask for gravy if you so wish), along with a cup of rice, fried egg, vegetables as well as green and red sambal. Even though I am used to a more gravy-heavy Beef Randan I quite like the dry version too, which Nani says is how it is meant to be served.our next dish was the Chicken Opor (Rs 950) which also comes with the same accompaniments and just like in the Beef Randan, which has a whole lot of beef, it was the large piece of chicken that caught our attention. The tender chicken was made with a spicy coconut based which blended in well with the vegetables, sambals and rice.
We tried both Sumatran Spice’s Seafood Nasi Goreng (Rs 1,100) and Chicken Nasi Goreng (Rs 850).
The spicy, and flavour-packed dish is served with a refreshing salad, the two sambals and prawn crackers and with every bite of rice you could bite into the medium sized pieces of chicken or seafood!
Nani also insisted we try out one of their specials, the Prawn Belado (between Rs 1,200 and Rs 1,300).
The large, juicy prawns coupled with the lip-smacking sauce made for a fine dish to nibble on.