More local flavours to taste at Cinnamon Grand’s Nuga Gama

Inspired by Sri Lanka’s diverse food culture, Nuga Gama, Cinnamon Grand’s village in the city has introduced a host of new dishes to the daily dinner and weekend lunch and dinner buffets. Given Nuga Gama’s reputation for serving everything local, one would think that they are almost at the end of the line – but no; for Nuga Gama’s Chef Sujith Ariyarathna and his team of ammés, this quest to uncover all hidden culinary gems of Sri Lanka is an exhilarating task and they are not keen on leaving any stone unturned to recreate these long forgotten island flavours. As such, the hotel’s authentic Sri Lankan restaurant cum village, Nuga Gama, fondly referred to as ‘the village in the city’, has introduced more new varieties to the mix, enhancing the already popular menu with innovative dishes.

Open daily for dinner and on weekends for lunch, Nuga Gama will now serve ‘Koratu Elavalu Batha’ – a savoury rice made with ghee oil, coconut milk and vegetables easily grown in home-gardens such as okra, long beans, ladies fingers, wild eggplants and winged beans, tempered, ‘Karatta Karawala Curry’ – a spicy dry fish curry made in the ancient days when people used to travel long distances on carts, ‘Chicken Kotta Pol’ – spicy chicken curry made with strips of fried coconut and ‘Chicken Liver Omelette’. 

New desert varieties include ‘Koppa Pittu’ – steamed cylinders of ground rice layered with coconut milk with a generous filling of honey and coconut mix and ‘Mee Wada’ (honey combs) – a diamond shaped dessert made with coconut, sago, rice flour, sugar and jaggery and coated with honey.

Nuga Gama’s Chef Sujith Ariyarathna said that these additions are part of a bigger plan to introduce new flavours, created out of local vegetables and fruits promoting clean dining and healthy living. “All dishes served at Nuga Gama have a nutritional value. We serve organic produce, mostly from our own garden and if not from trusted sources. Our preparations are in keeping with the traditional methods which do not cut off the real nourishment value of food,” Chef Ariyarathna said.

Welcoming all to enjoy a buffet of local dishes, Nuga Gama’s dinner buffet consists of three-types of rice dishes (two traditional and one Nuga Gama special savoury rice), hoppers, string hoppers, roti, pittu, three types of meats (chicken, mutton and pork), four types of seafood (prawn, crab, fish and dry fish), four types of vegetables, salads, sambols and a variety of desserts and local fruits. 

The weekend lunch buffet consists of three-types of rice dishes - two traditional and one Nuga Gama special savoury rice (these differ every week), four kinds of meats such as Chicken Curd Dry Curry, Mutton Black Pepper Curry, Beef Curry, Babath, five seafood dishes the likes of Jaffna Crab Curry, dry fish (Karawala), Prawn and Cuttlefish, seven types of vegetables and two salads, five sambols made from Thubu, Kowakka, Aguna, Gotukola, etc and over 10 types of desserts.

A good old ginger tea with jaggery will be served in kettles for the guests to wash down the meals. Local brews are also on offer.

Nuga Gama daily dinner buffet is priced at Rs. 1,750 while the lunch buffet available only on weekends is priced at Rs. 1,500. The dishes change on a daily basis, offering diverse tastes to its guests.

For reservations, contact 2497468.

Follow Cinnamon Grand’s Pinterest board on Nuga Gama for more pictures.