Foods

Dish It Out: Shiromi Pinidiya – Perera

How do our food experts cook and eat? This week, Asylum Restaurant’s Shiromi takes the Q&A! Located inside Independence Arcade, Colombo – the Asylum Restaurant and Bar has been making waves since the very first day. Today we get into conversation with the restaurant’s Managing Partner Shiromi for a casual conversation about her take on food!

Quarantine Home Bakers - Best in Town Cakes and Cupcakes

In this series, we talk to people who turned their passion for food and baking into a business idea amidst lockdown and COVID-19 fears. Some have been in the market for years and others saw the new opportunity and took it! These home businesses are changing the game and have overcome the odds of running a business during the quarantine.

Cape Cookies - Love At First Bite

For Ayesha Hiyaz, the idea for a home business started with a craving. Born and raised in Cape Town, South Africa – Ayesha moved to Sri Lanka when she married a Sri Lankan and has been residing in the island for the past decade. “Stuck at home during the lockdown – I got a craving for the cookies I used to eat at my home town – Cape Town. So just like everyone else during this time, I started baking!”.

Dish It Out: Aru De Silva

How do our food experts cook and eat? This week, Sugar Shack’s Aru De Silva takes the quiz! Providing Colombo’s sweet-tooths with all their cravings and sugary fixes for nearly a decade, Sugar Shack’s Aru De Silva bakes the most mouth-watering goodies that we can’t get enough of!

Quarantine Home Bakers: Pink Platter & Sweet Panic

In this series, we talk to people who turned their passion for food and baking into a business idea amidst lockdown and COVID-19 fears. Some have been in the market for years and others saw the new opportunity and took it! These home businesses are changing the game and have overcome the odds of running a business during the quarantine.

Hyve Dessert Bar Celebrates 2 Years

The Hyve Dessert Bar may be Colombo’s first exclusive dessert bar when it first opened back in 2018. 2 years later, Hyve continues to prove that it is still among the crème de la crème of Colombo’s dessert scene.

WTF - Chinese Cuisine @ Prawn with a Crown

On WTF this week, I sat down to eat some yummy Chinese food, where the portions are lavish. King Prawn is a new baby down Galle Road Mount Lavinia. King prawn has a large seating area, it’s perfect if you want to block an area just for you or for any celebration.

Quarantine Home Bakers: Rasa Melayu

Run by couple Aysha Hajireen and Harsha Wijendra, Rasa Melayu is a post-lockdown home business that pays homage to their Malay roots. “Rasa Melayu means, ‘Malay Flavours’ in Malay. We wanted to keep it simple and elegant. Our prime focus is on Malay food. We needed a brand name that embraces our Malay culture. Ergo Rasa Melayu was born!”.

Trendy Treats by Shahla Malik

Shahla Malik, a happily married mum of three, qualified as a Montessori teacher before starting her own venture. ’’I gave up teaching after my first baby as I wanted to spend more time and do the best I could as a mom. Baking is something I had never thought I would get into, but after my older daughter’s 2nd birthday (where the cake I ordered was not as expected) I decided to start baking’’.

Nom Nom Chinese Food Truck

I’ve been on the hunt for a great spot for some Chinese food for a while now, and while the current situation in the country is not the perfect climate to be going out for dinner, I figured it’s always good to have a place in mind when I get that sudden craving.Also, I don’t mean the traditional chicken’s feet or whatever unconventional dishes that came out of that part of the world.

WTF - A new spoonful of flavors

On WTF this week, we visited Blue Spoon and it’s cosy little set up down Jawatta Road, Blue spoon is all about giving you comfort food and the cafe style environment goes perfectly with it. I tried a wide range of mains from burgers to submarines which were full of stuffing, to even steamed and pan fried dumplings.

Seafood Saturdays at Movenpick Colombo

Movenpick Colombo recently reopened AYU, their all-day-dining restaurant, and with it, relaunched their themed buffets! The hotel will be following stringent health and safety guidelines, ensuring that their diners can enjoy delicious food worry-free. We checked out their Seafood Saturdays buffet at the AYU. Here’s what we thought.

Dish It Out : Savindri Perera

How do our food experts cook and eat? This week, Sav takes our Q&A! Of food blog “Bread, Broth & Brieyond” and home cake business “Mad Batter by Sav” - Savindri Perera (@savisquishles) has singlehandedly taught most of us (this writer included) the very A to Z’s of cooking Sri Lankan curry and the art of baking.

A Big Belly Full! Big Belly Platters

The concept of food platters is a thing of the past which has slowly but surely crept its way into the present. Who’s to complain? It’s essentially a gigantic snack plate which really brings out the foodie in you. Seeing as how the current situation has forced us into our homes, craving food we can’t really make at home, I figured it was time to try out a few places which help us skip straight to the eating part of it.

Quarantine Home Bakers: Amma Nisa & Simply Sweet By Sulo

In this series, we talk to people who turned their passion for food and baking into a business idea amidst lockdown and COVID-19 fears. Some have been in the market for years and others saw the new opportunity and took it! These home businesses are changing the game and have overcome the odds of running a business during the quarantine. Here’s how they did it.

Dish it Out: Anithra & Rahaal

How do our food experts cook and eat? This week, Bowl’d café’s Anithra and Rahaal takes our Q&A! Best friends Anithra Ratnayake and Rahaal Balasuriya co-owns “Bowl’d”. On this week’s Dish it Out, they talk to us about the meals they’d love to relive, their personal food favourites and Rahaal’s total lack of cooking skills!

Nusantara Biriyani

For us Sri Lankans, Biriyani is a dish that is as near and dear to our hearts as a good rice and curry. Served in almost every restaurant, Biriyani is an easy find in our country but to secure ourselves a good one – one that’s packed with all the right flavours and all the right ingredients – is somewhat of a difficult task.

Colours Come to Life at Baked Colombo

Situated in Elibank Road just off Dickman’s Road, Baked Colombo is a café that serves good food with a calming atmosphere and free Wi-Fi for you to get all your work done in peace. This comfortable space can accommodate up to 36 people and there is a smoking area outside as well. They will be starting breakfast soon and it will start at 7 am, for all the hustlers out there to get a quick fix on the go.

Tuk Tuk Treats

Farizeh Salahuddin speaks to Food Factor about growing up in Salloos Restaurant, her love for baking and the setting up of Tuk Tuk Treats in Sri Lanka.

K’s Kitchen

With home-based food businesses booming post-pandemic restrictions, K’s Kitchen is a recent addition to the industry that was welcomed with much fanfare, love and support. The chef behind the brand, Kesara Kahandaliyanage (more popularly known as ‘K’) is on the autism spectrum and for as long as he can remember, he has always dreamed of starting his own food business.

ME Colombo Mediterranean Menu

ME Colombo, a city hotel found in the heart of Colombo (just near Havelock Town) unveiled their new Mediterranean menu on Friday 2nd October 2020. I popped in to see what they had to offer and take a look inside this beautifully designed hotel.

Quarantine Home Bakers: Bird and Bear Kitchen & The Yummiest

In this series, we talk to people who turned their passion for food and baking into a business idea amidst lockdown and COVID-19 fears. Some have been in the market for years and others saw the new opportunity and took it! These home businesses are changing the game and have overcome the odds of running a business during the quarantine. Here’s how they did it.

Darley Road Pub and Restaurant Revamped

Located inside the Excel World premises in Maradana the revamped version of Darley Rd (Yes the Restaurant is named after a road) is a luxurious English pub and restaurant. Another venture by the Browns Group which handles the “Four Leafed Clover” and many other well-known restaurants around Colombo, the high quality of the food and drinks is guaranteed.

Dish It Out: Nisha Tucker

How do our food experts cook and eat? This week, Nisha Tucker takes our Q&A! @nisha_tucker is an Instagram food page we’ve all collectively drooled on at one point or another. On this week’s Dish it Out, Nisha talks to us about her personal food philosophies and pet peeves and whipping up delicious Sri Lankan meals while living in Dubai.

New menu at Park Street Mews

’’We are mindful of these challenging times we are presently going through. But on a positive note, we introduce a fresh, varied and exciting menu to suit everyone’s taste and offer a delightful twist to the ordinary.” - Harpo Goneratne. The Park Street Mews Restaurant is set to introduce their more than colourful menu on October 5th 2020 and we got to try out a few dishes, just to see what they had going on before opening day.

Sushi Ru: Delicious Sushi with excellent value for money

Sushi Ru, a homegrown venture by sushi enthusiast Ruzaila Zivar Mukthar is a much welcome addition to the sushi scene; providing sushi that will appeal to any Sri Lankan palate (including that sushi hating family member or friend) without leaving a significant dent in your wallet!

Quarantine Home Bakers: Bakes By Vedette & Enough Love

In this series, we talk to people who turned their passion for food and baking into a business idea amidst lockdown and COVID-19 fears. Some have been in the market for years and others saw the new opportunity and took it! These home businesses are changing the game and have overcome the odds of running a business during the quarantine. Here’s how they did it.

All Your Kottu Dreams Come to Life at Kottulabs

Kottulabs is a restaurant situated in Nawala, hidden away in the suburbs. This amazing creation came to life in February of 2018 as a shared idea of four friends. With extremely different palates, each of them has wanted completely different types of kottu, but they have never been able to find a place that would cater to each of their needs and make the perfect kottu just the way they wanted.

Trendy Food and Unforgettable Memories at Level 4

Located right opposite the Colombo City Hotel where the old Exchange Pub used to be, the New and Revamped “Level 4” Pub has taken its place. For those that prefer a very chilled out and relaxed ambience, they have a beautiful rooftop dining area with an amazing view of Colombo. They also offer indoor seating downstairs complete with the bar and a DJ, so whatever mood you are in, this is the place for you.

L.A.B. Lounge Hilton Colombo

While the Hilton Colombo isn’t the largest Hotel known to the Colombo skyline, it has always undoubtedly carried its own kind of class and sophistication throughout the years. Walking into the famed hotel on what seemed to be a relatively quiet Saturday night, I was excited to try out the L.A.B. lounge and find out what all the hype was about.