Thuna Paha at Waters Edge: A superb Sri Lankan feast!

Saturday, 29 December 2018 00:10 - - {{hitsCtrl.values.hits}}

THE PLACE

Change is always welcome, especially when it comes to cuisine – and Waters Edge has certainly changed things up in style when serving up traditional Sri Lankan cuisine at its authentic Sri Lankan restaurant, Thuna Paha.

Set in a beautiful space, Thuna Paha is a buffet restaurant, but all is not as it seems – it is the furthest thing from a buffet experience you can imagine. All food items are brought to your table; yes, there’s no standing in queues serving lukewarm food, juggling two plates! At Thuna Paha you have your very own private buffet right by your table, and all the food is prepared and brought there a la minute, fresh, warm and packed with loads of flavour.

It’s the dinner buffet (priced at Rs. 3,100 nett) that’s best here, although the restaurant is also open for lunch. Dinner features four starters, followed by platters of roast paan, string-hoppers, pittu, egg roti, hoppers and so on, two kinds of rice, four meat and seafood dishes, four vegetable dishes, several condiments, and an extensive dessert offering. The buffet ends with yaara tea or ginger tea.

Various preparations of crab, prawn and cuttlefish dishes can be ordered a la carte if there’s any particular local cuisine craving that needs satisfying! The restaurant also features traditional music and cultural shows. Dining here is an experience that is certainly not to be missed!

THE PERSON

The chef on duty on the day we visited was Chef Don Priyan Harshajith Tillekeratne, who has close to 25 years of experience to his credit, having commenced his culinary journey at the iconic Mount Lavinia Hotel. Speaking about the spread at Thuna Paha, he emphasised that the spotlight is on traditional Sri Lankan food, with most of it grown at the restaurant to ensure it is healthy. The menu changes daily and everything is served up in true village style, he added.

THE PERSON

Chef Don Priyan Harshajith Tillekeratne

The Drinks

Desserts

BITES

THE PLATTERS

THE DRINKS

Ginger mocktail: The Thuna Paha version of the classic mojito mocktail but with the twist of ginger, fresh mint, lime and ginger muddled with some brown sugar and topped up with the local favourite EGB. The mocktail had a pleasant kick to it and the ginger hit was a welcome surprise. A wonderful way to start of the evening.

Thuna Paha Sunrise: This is a Thuna Paha version of the classic tequila sunrise but made with pineapple juice and finished off with local arrack instead of tequila. Overall it left a lot to be desired as the pineapple juice and grenadine did not mix well with the arrack; the cocktail needed either passion or triple sec to bring some much-needed balance to the drink.

Island Mojito: The last of our drinks for the evening, yet another twist on the tried-and-tested mojito – rum swapped with arrack and the cocktail made sweeter by adding in sprite for soda. The Island Mojito was something new but at the same time felt very familiar, an easy drinking cocktail that is an excellent companion for any mood.

THE BITES

A wonderful combination of tempered spicy kadala (chick peas), crispy mini wade, assorted chips and a polos (young jackfruit) cutlet. Needless to say, this is an excellent way to start off a Lankan feast. The kadala had just the right amount of oomph coupled with the fried red chillies. The wade was the weakest of the bites, the crispy texture shone through but the flavour was not quite on par with the classic street vendors. The assorted chips were exceptional – Thuna Paha offers a mix of manioc, breadfruit, ash plantain and sweet potato. But the clear star of the platter was the polos cutlet; as soon as you take the first bite the cutlet releases its beautiful aromas, the filling wonderfully seasoned, balanced with the right amount of spice, and the tangy polos was sublime.

THE PLATTERS

The bites were closely followed by platters of egg roti, kottu roti, godamba roti, hoppers, string hoppers and pittu. We dove mouth-first into the Lankan soul food and were amazed by the lovely kurakkan roti; the egg roti was packed with flavour owing to the stir-fried carrots, onions and leeks mixed in; the kottu was as good a kottu as we have ever tasted in the course of our Lankan food debauchery; but as soon as the amme bought out the pittu in a bamboo shoot and served it at our table, we were sold – fluffy, light and wholesome, the pittu and coconut milk was a wonderful precursor to our main meal.

THE CURRIES

The musicians started playing “tikiri menike ambula genalla” and just like that our very own buffet was bought to the table in big rattan baskets. It was time to sample more wonders of Sri Lankan cuisine.

The cast comprised Ceylon crab curry, prawn curry, chicken curry, mutton curry, fish ambul thiyal, polos curry, cashew curry, kurumba curry (yes you read that right), boralu hodda, dhal and cucumber curry, accompanied by brown rice and yellow rice.

Each and every dish was exceptionally crafted with a touch of true Lankan heart. But the true standouts were these:

Polos curry: The chef certainly knows how to make a mean polos curry – soft yet just the right amount of bite, the classic tangy flavours highlighted through the excellent balance of spice and heat… one cannot simply eat one piece and let go, as you go back in one bite after the other all you can think of is how good the next mouthful will taste. A truly addictive experience.

Mutton curry: So, so tender; the meat falling off the bone, intense and packed full of flavour. Seasoned just right. The pieces of mutton fat and bone added into the curry help accentuate the quality of the meat – it takes true skill to cook a curry so balanced and so very good.

Kurumba curry: A true oddity of a dish, it was our first encounter with something so unique and it was not to be the only one of the night. Think cucumber curry but with a surprising hint of sweetness. The kurumba flesh balances out the turmeric and fenugreek in the white curry, combining well to give you a dish that is both interesting and tasty at the same time.

Boralu hodda: The other unique mention of the night belongs to the boralu hodda. An interesting take on the traditional kiri hodda, but the secret ingredient is “thiriwana gal,” known as rose quartz in English. The curry is boiled with the stones in the pot, which in turn release minerals into the hodda, giving it a fresh spice note, unlike anything we’ve ever tasted.

But, as we all know, no Sri Lankan meal will be complete without the supporting cast. We’re talking about the assortment of condiments, of course. Apart from the now well-known papadam, homemade lunu miris and chutney, there were two highlights – kehel muwa (banana flower) baduma and lotus root pickle.

DESSERTS

The closing act closely followed – the desserts came to us on platters, a wonderful assortment of kawum, kokis, kiri toffee, pol toffee, dodol, fruit salad, lavariya, halapa, curd, watalappam, sago pudding, kiri appa and pani appa. A sampling of all desserts is a must, with the lavariya, watalappam and kiri appa being the clear standouts. The night was capped off with a yaara tea, made with much showmanship at our table, bringing to a close a truly memorable night of Sri Lankan cuisine!