Negombo, Sri Lanka in pictures

My favourite picture

Negombo is a coastal town about 40km north of Colombo. For the unfamiliar, Negombo is also where the Bandaranaike International Airport (Sri Lanka's main airport and point of entry/ exit) is located. Although it is just a mere 40km away, the unsophisticated road conditions (trunk roads equivalent) makes traveling to Negombo from Colombo city not as near as the distance seems to suggest, taking at least a 45 mins - 1 hour drive depending on traffic.

There are many tourists here, most choose Negombo as an overnight stopover especially if their flights depart early in the morning or arrive late at night. The beach is not impressive (not sure if it's because of the rain earlier) and has a steep shore, not exactly the ultimate beach paradise but does makes a good enough day trip of soaking in sea breeze and sun.

Gandhara Crafts, Colombo

Gandhara Crafts @ Stratford Avenue

When I visited Cafe Che in my first month in Colombo, I also stumbled upon a fantastic arts gallery located just a few doors away. I am not an avid fan of viewing antique furniture or excited over the little artifacts, neither am I a person who will purposely visit a gallery because it's 'interesting' to do so.


The building itself is an art!

But, as the saying goes "Never say never". My (almost) 3 months here has cultivated an interest in these things which I once thought to be boring and extremely ancient objects. Perhaps it's the free time that I have wandering the city alone that trigger this sudden interest. Gandhara Crafts is one of those I do not mind visiting again and again just to see 'what's new' at the store.

It houses an art gallery, antique furniture, artifacts, household deco items, coffee table books, and small knick knack souvenirs.


Arts gallery
I fell in love with this piece of grayscale junior monks painting. It's at a pricetag of Rs. 89,500 (RM2,500)! Should I or should I not??


Colourful cotton bedding/ pillow/ table sheets
Sri Lanka is a major exporter of garments and textiles. Their cotton are needless to say one of the bestest quality!


Household deco items
Candle holders never look so interesting!


Buddha artifacts and deco items


Household deco items


Even things from the sea....
Everyone can be Dora the Explorer!


There's just too many rooms to explore!


Toys made out of fabric


Say hello to the new proud owner of this painting!

Now.... where do I find a house to put this..........


Gandhara Crafts
28, Stratford Avenue,
Kirulapane, Colombo 06,
Sri Lanka.
Tel: +94112596329
Website: www.gandharacrafts.com

"24 dish Epicurean Menu" @ Tao, Cinnamon Grand Colombo

Starry starry night...

Last week, I decided to pay a visit to Tao @ Cinnamon Grand Hotel for their much publicized "24-dish Epicurean Menu" said to be the only degustation menu in Sri Lanka at Rs. 2,030 (before tax: Rs. 1,600) ~ RM56/USD18. Now, do note the punctuation marks I'm using...

I'm always up for new places and this should be an interesting one too I thought.

Pictures ahead, I'll summarize the overall rather than going through the dishes individually.

Starters


Prawn & avocado rice paper rolls with soya chili sauce


Chicken floss caesar salad


Smoked turkey with mango salsa


Cheesy green cucumber rolls with miso glaze & pickled chilies


Blue lip mussels with matsuhisa salsa


Sauteed vegetable rolls wrapped in rice paper


Smoked portobello & red bell pepper napolean on crostini

Soups


From top: Tomato & vongole soup; Chilled avocado & jalapeno pepper soup; Celery bisque with almond flakes

Mains


Asian spiced mini shepherd's pie served with red curry hinted lamb jus


Soya glazed pan fried salmon & jasmine rice with curry sauce


Lemon & lime lamb ossobucco


Roast duck on noodle cake with hoisin sauce


Green asparagus with mozzarella cheese sauce


Grilled vegetable stack with polenta on basil tomato coulis


Chili garlic lobster on potato risotto

Desserts


From left: Chocolate ginger pudding with toffee caramel ice cream; Olive chocolate cream with wild berries; Strawberry citron crunch & cinnamon pralines with berry coulis


From top: Blueberry & mascarpone tart; Espresso creme brulee


From top: Baileys banana cream with chip cheese towers; Deluxe fruit platter with raspberry sorbet


Complimentary arrack cocktail shot & icing sugar cashew nuts



Bo ho ma stuh tee & please come again!

I think they're some terribly confused food, you may see a mixture of east and west ideas in the food but there is also literally an explosion of taste, a less pleasant one that is. I think people should learn to understand that putting rice with lamb and pan fried salmon, or curry sauce with lobster does not = fusion. I wish the seafood were cooked in simple ways like steaming or grilling to retain its natural taste of sweetness rather than immersed in overpowering sauces. If I was asked to name the worst dish, it would be the ones with grilled vegetables which are overcooked and have weird sauces. Perhaps the only one item that I like out of the 24 is the small tiny strawberry citron crunch cinnamon pralines with berry. Giving fancy names to a dish also does not equate to fusion!

Despite the many flaws, here's some positive notes to my visit:
1. It's still considerably cheap even after conversion to any currencies. 24 dishes (though small) for Rs. 2000 / USD18 / RM56?! Are you even kidding?!
2. Big on bragging rights to say "I'm having 24 dishes for dinner tonight!" I posted the update to my facebook and garnered alot of comments on it.
3. The ambience more than make up the less than impressive food. If you think you're getting bad food, think of it as you're paying to eat while overlooking a koi pond and beautiful night lights.

P/s: What the heck is matsuhisa, ossobucco, coulis, polenta, anyway?!



Tao @ Cinnamon Grand
77, Galle Road,
Colombo, Sri Lanka.
Website: Tao Cinnamon Grand
Reservations: +94 11 2497 369

[Disclaimer: The opinions expressed here are based on my personal views, tastebuds and preference and may vary for others. Please don't sue me, I don't have money. Kthxbye.]

First Experience with 1-star Michelin Dinner

Chef Serge Chenet

I had initially wanted to dine at Spoons (Hilton's resident fine dining restaurant), but diverted to Ginza Hohsen (the resident Japanese restaurant) after I checked out the menu and noticed they had a visiting 1-star Michelin chef. There was only 1 reason for the diversion - I didn't bring enough money! I promised myself I'll return the next evening for this, and so I did!


Complimentary bread & olive pate

I had very high expectations, or rather very hyped up and excited over the experience. After all, how many Michelin starred chefs are there in KL, now especially if there is one in Colombo! I knew it was gonna be an opportunity not to be missed. So last Sunday, I returned to Hilton again which was my 3rd night on the row (I swear the tuk tuk driver outside my apartment was starting to have this impression on me as 'the girl who goes to Hilton every night for dinner' and knew my standard offer would be 200 rupees per trip). I casually walked in to the fame restaurant, looked through the menu and picked a duck dish for mains and a mille feuille for dessert. Don't ask about drinks - usually I go for complimentary iced water but in this case I had to pay for a bottle of cold mineral water.


"Duo of Duck" Pan fried duck breast and honey lavender caramelised leg, turnips confit, and vinegar jus- Rs. 2,200 (RM60)

I requested for my duck dish to be done in medium rare, just like how I like my red meat to be. When the dish came, presentation wise it's decent. As for the taste, I like it because it taste decent too but it's not what I am expecting for a Michelin-starred chef... I was expecting more! There was no burst of flavours, melt-in-you-mouth sensations, not orgasmic definitely... just another plain and expensive duck dish in a nicer restaurant which happens to be in a hotel.


Chocolate coated mille feuille with fresh mint and fresh cream with cocoa sherbet- Rs. 750 (RM21)

Attracted by the 'mint' flavour in this dessert, I was expecting a strudel-pastry texture, crispy and fluffy with cream to melt it all down but instead (again, presentation is good, BUT...) the bottom layer of the mille feuille was just hard, the mint didn't have any minty refreshing taste I was looking for, instead with my eyes open as I was eating this it felt like a green tea cream. I was not sure if it's supposed to be hot or cold as it was served room temperature and to me desserts should either be H or C, a room-temperature dessert is as good as eating melted ice cream or unchilled beer - yucks! Despite the many huge flaws in this dessert, the only thing I love was the cocoa sherbet... cold and strong cocoa taste.


Foamy chocolate mousse flavoured with arabica and cream cheese sherbet- Rs. 750

The General Manager of Hilton was making his rounds at the restaurant and I spoke to him on my less than impressed experience with the dessert. He offered me another one which was supposingly one of the best. I accepted with good gestures, preparing to be wowed.



While it's not not half as bad as the earlier mille feuille, this does not impress me much either. I'm not even sure if it's appropriate to say my favourite item of the whole dessert was the chocolate deco (I'm not sure what is the proper term to describe it, enlighten me if you do). Certainly doesn't leave much to say when you like the little side dishes/decos more than the star of the dish iteself, huh?

In my most humble opinion, it was a disappointment.



Spoons @ Hilton Colombo
2, Sir Chittampalam A. Gardiner Mawatha,
Colombo 2, Sri Lanka.
Tel: +94 11 2544 644
For the regular menu, refer to here


[Disclaimer: The opinions expressed here are based on my personal views, tastebuds and preference and may vary for others. Please don't sue me, I don't have money. Kthxbye.]