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From the herbs and various spices widely available in Thailand, its cuisine is a complex jumble of tastes, best described with the words of Australian Chef David Thompson as “Like a complex musical chord, it’s got to have a smooth surface but it doesn’t matter what is happening underneath. Simplicity isn’t the dictum here, at all.”
Treating those with a penchant for Thai cuisine to the absolute best, Cinnamon Grand Colombo together with the Royal Thai Embassy in Sri Lanka is now presenting the Thai cuisine in a lavish buffet, from 20 February till 2 March.
The authentic touch
From the moment you walk in through the doors of Courtyard restaurant, the aromas of Thai cuisine hits you with its overpoweringly delicious fragrances, complementing the line up of dishes that are waiting to be served from. What you get here is not the Thai food you get elsewhere; here, it is made the traditional way, using herbs and spices as they are meant to be used, leaving a trace of taste after every bite.
Master Thai Chefs Satit and Ekapol have been especially flown in for the promotion, to guarantee the authenticity of cuisines for diners. Specialising in Thai cuisine, the chefs have upheld their promise of tasty, enticing and appealing dishes, through an array of eight appetisers, three soups, fifteen mains, twelve desserts and live stations.
Starters
From Yam Neua (pot roast spicy beef salad with cucumber) to Thai style pork salad, to a host of others starters; there is much to choose from. While the latter features slices of pork, the golden fried sesame prawns that goes as Kanumpauna Kung (with chilli sauce) and the batter fried white mushroom and the fish cakes (Tod ManPla) were exceptional.
The mains
Also to be enjoyed is a host of dishes that will make you go back for serving after serving, just so you could taste a little bit more of this or that.
Along with fried rice with chicken and Thai condiments were the famous glass noodles – Ghey Tiew Phasdkh ee Mao Kai (Thai fried glass noodles with chicken) and Ghey Tiew Phad Khee Maow Gal (Phad Thai noodles with tamarind sauce. The first of the noodle dishes is a must try for diners as it manages to capture the essence of Thai cuisine in the transparent noodles.
Also to be tried are wok fried beef in oyster sauce, cuttlefish in tamarind sauce and chicken red curry (Panaeng kal). Every dish 
had its unique selling point and the rich gravy of the latter is the best with the rice. Just those two alone would manage to quench your cravings for Thai food. There was prawn in tamarind sauce as well as snapper fish in red curry (Panaeng Pla). It was hard to even say it was fish as it was both soft and melting-in-the-mouth but also a delicious explosion of flavours.
The Thai crab chicken omelette was a personal favourite. There really is no way to explain how good this was – definitely one of those dishes you will go back for. The wok fried spicy mushroom with chilli and hot basil leaves (phad Kphao hed) was another favourite.
The best way to describe deep fried corn fritters (Kau Pod Tod) is to say it is a ‘fun food.’ Tasty, especially with the sweet sesame sauce, the corn bursts in your mouth and you can’t but help smile as it does.
The desserts
Unusual, to say the least, the desserts were a welcoming treat from the usual chocolate mousse and cheesecake you find at buffets. There was Thai coconut and cocoa macaroons – a deliciously happy difference from the now most popular dessert item. It may look hard, but it is easy to sink your teeth in to this confection and enjoy the blends of flavours.
There was also a host of tiny fruit sweets (LoukChup) along with banana pancakes (Roti Gluay) and pumpkin pudding. The banana pancakes were delectable, especially with a serving of vanilla ice cream.
The verdict
For those who love Thai, the Cinnamon Grand is the place to go to for dinner. The dishes were nothing short of ‘perfect’ as far as Thai food goes.
The promotion is priced at Rs. 1,950 (plus taxes). For reservations call 011 2497361/2 or 2497440.
Pix by Daminda Harsha Perera
