An authentic taste

 By Cheranka Mendis

A good spicy pol sambol with a hot hot curry can make your eyes water and your taste buds scream out in joy.

The fragrance of fiery spices and the nose twitching sensations of boiling curries, the beauty of the pure white rice and the golden browns of papdam and crispy hoppers is an unmatchable combination, one that will not take second place to any yummy dish in the world.

 So it is no wonder that among the various attractions of Sri Lanka, tourists have listed its food as a key favourite. The sad fact however is that except for the highly priced hotels and tiny road side shops there aren’t any plush places to take a foreign friend to for a proper Sri Lankan meal. Also the dishes tend to be a tad bit bland or less spicy in hotels which do not really give a proper Sri Lankan experience.

True Sri Lankan experience  

 All hope however is not lost. A lunch time saunter that ended at Raja Bojun located at Seylan Towers right in front of Cinnamon Grand, an almost forgotten hideaway rekindled our hopes and filled our tummies with some hot and spicy local dishes.

 From the sea crabs, to maalu ambulthiyal, to chicken red curry and seeni sambol- Raja Bojun is exactly what its Assistant General Manager Operations Susil Perera claims, the “only Sri Lankan restaurant within Colombo city.”It is a tasty paradise for all traditional food lovers with the giant elephant that greets you when you walk in, the cheeky monkey made out of coconut husks sitting on the branches next to the elephant the restaurant offers a unique experience for diners. Overlooking the sea, shaded with potted plants and decorated with banners of local motifs, the restaurant is a little treasure. Even though one might easily get confused with the security when you walk in, all inhibitions are lost once you are seated on a iron chair with blue and green serviettes and taking in the aroma of delicious spicy food.

Dozen years, many tastes  

 The restaurant has been in operation for 12 years, Perera said. “Our speciality is that we serve traditional Sri Lankan food that everyone loves. Out of the varying dishes the most popular are the sea crab, fish ambul thiyal and young Jak curry,” he said. “We believe it is essential to serve good and proper Sri Lankan food as the country is looking at increasing tourism among other sectors. We talk so proudly about the local food but there aren’t many places a tourist can go to eat proper local food.” This is also the only restaurant that showcased local food at the Spices Food Festival organized by Sri Lanka Tourism. Raja Bojun also serves unique dishes such as the seafood hopper, milk hopper and savoury hopper. For the vegetarians the dishes are laid out separately from the seafood and meat items.

 The dishes, as expected were both spicy and tasty. The fish ambul thiyal certainly was the best, though the crab- (which we thoroughly enjoyed after mastering the art of picking crab meat out of the shell with the help of fork and knife) was just as good. The chicken curry was yum; pol sambol which got the two of us highly excited also was up to mark though we wouldn’t have minded being a bit more chilli. Green leaf mallug, beans, kehel muwa curry and turnip curry- all made the typical Sri Lankan way was on offer.

 The bar in the left corner adds an unusual dimension to Sri Lankan meals with tropical fruits being transformed into fresh juices – a must try is the pineapple and papaw drink; along with alcoholic beverages. There is also thambili (king coconut) water to quench the diners thirst.

 The restaurant offers both a buffet and a’la carte menu and is open from 12 noon to 4 pm for lunch and 7-12 pm for dinner. Home delivery is also available on a flat rate within the Colombo city limits. A special promotion is on for kids at Raja Bojun till the end of the month where children accompanying parents can eat any amount for free.

Pix by Cassandra Mascarenhas