Simplicity shines at Sea Spray

By Uditha Jayasinghe 

Sea Spray’s mantra is simple. Great ingredients make great food. The restaurant, which is the latest addition to Galle Face Hotel, delivers its promise of light and fresh seafood with staid courtesy and ample restraint. 

If simplicity is the hero of a seafood dish, it is hard to do wrong. Sea Spray is a restaurant that is dedicated to doing the basics right, which mainly revolves on giving food intricate taste based on technique and deep knowledge of flavour.

The restaurant has been a popular institution in the local dining scene for many years and even though reinventing classics can be a landmine-riddled endeavour, Executive Chef Adam Gaunt-Evans and Chef de Cuisine Jagath Raveendra Liyanage tackle it with attention to detail and a strong understanding of how to match expectation to palettes.

The chemistry of their combined expertise is seen in the relaxed yet intimate ambience of the restaurant that has both a grilling station and a raw bar. The latter brings together, among others, lightly flavoured coconut-lime marinated red snapper ceviche, tamarind cured kingfish and yellow fin tuna tartare with sesame seeds, avocado and herbal juice. 

For Sri Lankan taste buds that always welcome a hit of chili, the starters are served with a bright orange dollop of “lunu miris” cream. Oyster lovers can pick from three versions and there is even a huge platter of different seafood for sharing. 

Crab, tuna, giant prawns, calamari and sustainably-sourced barramundi are artfully displayed on cliffs of lit ice as the “catch of the day” that guests can pick to be flash fried, steamed or grilled. The station overlooks the alfresco section of the restaurant buffeted by fresh breezes jumping off crashing waves below the restaurant and was probably the inspiration behind its name.

“The whole intention is to bring people together to enjoy good food in a relaxed atmosphere,” insists Chef Adam, who is an avid fan of simple food that can be eaten by hand with a glass of good wine. 

To facilitate this end, the restaurant has an impressive selection of wine sourced from Italy, France, South Africa and Chile in floor-to-roof fridges that marvellously match the seafood on offer and is guaranteed to get the good times rolling. The interior of Sea Spray is dominated by a large bar encouraging diners to sip cocktails at sunset, nibble on seafood and wind down to the gentle sound of waves.                 

If they are peckish, diners can order stunning signature dishes, probably crowned by the generous lobster flamed in arrack and topped with coconut shavings, its pearl buttery flesh flaking off the mottled shell. The pepper calamari that is a superior kin to the beloved hot butter version is not at all shabby either and though not a signature dish is highly recommended by this reviewer.

Other signature dishes include the regal jumbo prawns with chili, coriander and a light aioli. The curved triplet of prawn comes with “kade paan,” which in this case is three golden purses of cloud soft fresh baked bread.

Seafood feasts leave little space for desserts but at Sea Spray, diners would do well to stretch themselves a bit as the rewards are stunning. An absolute jaw-dropping sensation is the curd crème brulee with a burnt top as delicate as a stained glass window drizzled with passion fruit and the best kithul treacle. It is served in a clay pot, shyly wrapped in newspaper but is possibly the most inventive item on the menu. 

A definite winner is the chilled rhubarb consommé with coconut cream and fruit confetti that looks and tastes of raspberry. The chocolate crumb under the consommé perfectly balances the dish and gives it wonderful texture. 

The echoes of freshness continue with a crescent shaped shortbread biscuit studded with strawberries, tiny dots of lemon kisses and basil chantilly and strawberry sherbet. Possibly the only criticism to offer here is the density of the shortbread, which needs to be more buttery and crumbly to give a dash more richness to an otherwise well-executed dish.

Spiced almond hot chocolate with delicate churros is served with dipping cinnamon sugar and chili sugar. The nicest element of this dish is the slightly bitter edge to the chocolate that keeps it from being too sweet. A slightly thicker chocolate would have been more indulgent, but after all the succulent seafood it hardly matters. 

Staying true to strong flavour and simplicity is a hallmark of clear vision and that is what Chef Adam and Chef Jagath have brought to Sea Spray. 

Chef Adam worked his way up the restaurant ladder, spending time at the iconic Dorchester Hotel in London and Michelin starred restaurant Greenhouse before gravitating to 7-star Burj al Arab in Dubai. A pop-up restaurant took Adam back to his roots in Wales where he championed local ingredients before heading up Machine House, and stepping into the Michelin guide at the same destination. In Thailand he met the General Manager of Galle Face Hotel while working at Soneva Kiri, which was a relationship that eventually brought him to Sri Lanka.

Chef Jagath brings 16 years of globetrotting experience, during which time he learnt to make food of 40 odd nations while working on a cruise liner, top hotels in the Middle East and elsewhere. Returning to Sri Lanka he worked at The Kingsbury and one of the country’s most luxurious small hotels, Saman Villas, before moving to The Galle Face Hotel to craft diner experiences at Sea Spray.

“We have to consistently improve our standards because diners are increasingly becoming more sophisticated and demanding higher standards from us. Since we have to work with different seafood on different days, we have to be very inventive and adapt dishes fast,” explained Chef Jagath. “It certainly keeps everyone on their toes,” he said with a wry smile. 

Diners would agree there is certainly much to smile about at Sea Spray.