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FREE MAR / 2014 WWW.YAMU.LK kamu | gamu | balamu there are no holidays in march but april makes up for it EDITORIAL Hope you’re enjoying March. Sadly, there are no actual holidays this month. Shruthi Mathews Poya falls on a Sunday (the 16th, not fair) and that’s it. The weather is also Indi Samarajiva (probably) getting hotter leading up to Avurudu. LAYOUT Indika Sriyan Gammudali March is one of the better months (season wise) island-wide. The southern ADVERTISING beaches are still happening, and also have some great eating. Check out our [email protected] reviews of places in Thalpe and Galle inside. It’s also a good time to visit Kandy 773936719 or the cultural triangle. QUESTIONS [email protected] And don’t let the lack of holidays get you down. Half of April is basically a holi- PRINTED BY day (with Avurudu), so you might as well get some work done while you can. Ramanayake Impressions © 2014 YAMU (Pvt) Ltd 5 9 12 Park Street Mews 5 Fortazleza 12 Crusty’s 8 Talpe Beach 14 KAMU Alerics 9 Gloria Jeans 16 The Fat Crab 10 PR 19 The Party Station 21 GAMU The Nail Anatomy 22 19 The Om Space 23 BALAMU Old Town Hall 24 25 WANT TO WRITE FOR YAMU? email [email protected] with a writing and photo sample (of food, not yourself) 5 KAMU PLACES TO EAT IN SRI LANKA PARK Street MEWS R. OPEN: 8 AM to 11 PM PRICE RANGE: Rs.500-1000 112300133 6 PARK STREET MEWS RESTAURANT 50/1 Park Street, Colombo 2 | 112300133 The Park Street Mews Restaurant has food that looks amaz- ing and tastes great, all in a happening location. Probably the most modern of Colombo restaurants. As the signature restaurant for the above. Now the plating matches tomato and microgreens spread now vibrant Park Street Mews (a up with really interesting and happy throughout. The chunks of feta were strip with shops, a bar, events, etc), tastes. The camembert pictured big and flavorful and the whole thing the PSM Restaurant is already here is warm and oozy and pairs was really well seasoned and tasty. blessed with a great location. On our nicely with the sweet of the walnut, past visit the food didn’t measure up, apples and applesauce. It looks For a main we tried the slow cooked but on our most recent visit it really beautiful and tastes good, which is soy and anise pork (Rs. 1,400). Their really did. basically perfect. mains aren’t cheap, but we think this is because all the meat is imported. THE FOOD We tried another appetizer, the chick It’s certainly good. The pork was Park Street always had amazing pea salad (Rs. 500) which was also meltingly soft and, again, beauti- plating, as you can see from the excellent. Beautifully presented with fully presented with roasted beets, deep fried camembert (Rs. 650) curly onion rings on top and feta, mashed potatoes, carrots and two 7 dipping options, an anise sauce and a white-washed IKEA style and gets ment is present at all of their various applesauce. Reminded me of those plenty of natural light. There’s bean- locations so the standards stay high. dishes they call ‘wonderfully’ rustic bag seating in the center and regular The staff we’ve interacted with are on MasterChef. A real treat, and gen- tables around. genuinely nice, but they also know erous portions. the menu and can answer ques- tions, which is actually LOCATION the next level towards The Park Street loca- professional rather than tion can’t be beat. This merely pleasant service. small cobblestone path is one of the only Overall we think the ser- walking/shopping/ vice is quite good, and dining areas in the if you have problems city. They’ve actually you can escalate it with divided the original some confidence of Park Street restau- resolution. rant into this and the bar Curve and there CONCLUSION are now shops and Upon re-review, Park almost constant events down the SERVICE Street Mews has creative, tasty food strip. When we went they were host- The service was had was beyond with amazing plating in a happening ing the Colombo Art Biennale. excellent, but we think they recog- spot. Cool scene. nized us from YAMU. The staff is The restaurant itself is decorated in well trained and the overall manage- 8 CRUSTy’S 536 Havelock Road, Colombo 6 | 112366645 Crusty’s is a new healthy submarine shop on Havelock Road (near Wellawatte). As Colombo gets more restau- pings and sauce. We tried the 4 rants (a lot more), they tend to inch Roasted Grilled Chicken with ServiCE skew towards the oily, fatty and southwest sauce (Rs. 290) and The staff is quite nice and knows unhealthy. It’s nice to get a new the 4 inch tandoori chicken (Rs. the menu. Should be default, but eatery that’s trying to be healthy. 290). We went back a second surprisingly rare in Colombo res- time and it was good, especially taurants, and welcome. Colombo has gone from no dedi- the teriyaki. The owner also men- cated sandwich shops to quite a tioned that they bake their own LOCATION few. Paan Paan is probably the bread next door. Crusty’s is on the Wellawatte best, and Leesh in Nugegoda is end of Havelock Road. For peo- really good. Crusty’s is a worthy Both subs were pretty good. ple heading to or from Dehiwala/ addition. They’re healthy in the sense that Nugegoda it’s quite convenient. they’re not huge and come with a THE FOOD lot of veg, but they still pack a lot CONClusion Our main impression of Crusty’s of flavor. Crusty’s makes some pretty good submarines are that they’re warm and relatively healthy subs. and saucy. The bread and meats They also do short eats (from 6 are good if not spectacular, but AM to 6 PM) and cakes and stuff. TIPS the whole thing is stitched to- We tried a ganache sweet (Rs. The southwest sauce is nice. gether with a generosity of top- 100) which was pretty good. 9 ALERICS Liberty Arcade, Colombo 3 | 114387630, 332257472 Alerics was the original Sri Lan- olate chip, pina colada, etc. small mall that’s under construc- kan ice cream, started in 1949, tion right next to Liberty Plaza and reaching peak popularity Colorwise, the Alerics flavors are (on Duplication Road). It’s a sim- with the Piccadilly Café in the neon, veering more towards the ple spot, few bar chairs around 1960s. After that it declined and artificial Rio/Carnival look. We an ice cream display. basically disappeared. Now it’s tried a pina colada cone which back, under new management, was sweet and nice with chunks ServiCE with a new branch in the new of pineapple. This is main- Generally one person there and Liberty Arcade. New new new. stream, mass-market ice cream, they’re quite nice. not fancy stuff like Carino’s and THE ICE CREAM Il Gelato. While I generally prefer CONClusion Alerics has two tiers of flavors, the more natural tasting stuff, The old Alerics is finally back the basic (Rs. 70 for a stand- after a hot day there’s a certain with a new location in (the also ard cone) and the premium (Rs. satisfaction to this sort of blend. new) Liberty Arcade. It’s a bit ar- 120). The basic are, well, basic. tificial, but a nice treat on a hot Strawberry, chocolate, vanilla, LOCATION day, of which there’s plenty more mint. The premium has mint The new Alerics is tucked inside to come. chocolate chip, strawberry choc- the new Liberty Arcade, another 10 THE FAT CRAB 53 Haig Road, Colombo 4 | 727777755 The Fat Crab is an unpretentious seafood bistro that is a valuable addition to the growing restaurant scene along Marine Drive and fills the need for a mid-range crab specialist in Colombo. The Fat Crab calls itself a seafood (three options). The minimum or- former Sea Anglers’ Club in Trinco- bistro. Its menu is not extensive, der quantity serves two, and since malee and the occasional Sunday but it certainly is exciting. Options there were six of us, we decided lunch with family, this was one of include some standard fare, but to share the Sri Lankan Murunga the tastiest and most authentic also more unusual appetizers like Leaf Crab Curry, Black Pepper Murunga Crab Curries we have Fresh Bentota Oysters Shucked Crab and Steaming Crab with dip- ever had. with Raspberry Vinegar (Rs 825), ping sauces, choosing the middle soups like Curried Prawn Bisque “large” crab option (approximately The crab was succulent and ten- (Rs 625), mains like Mrs. Floges- six inches across). As accompani- der. Not overdone, the flesh was teen’s Seafood Pie (Rs 980) and ments, we chose to be traditional firm and fresh and the flavours desserts like Grilled fresh Pineap- and basic: Crusty Kadé Paan with were strong, but not overpowering, ple with Cinnamon & Vodka Ice butter, Pol Sambol, Steamed rice balanced well to allow the natural Cream (Rs 475). These pleasures, and Dhal. taste of the crab to come through we left undiscovered for another the spices, chili and murunga fla- day to focus on the reason we had Along with four cokes and a couple vours. The gravy was thick and made this pilgrimage in the first of beers, the bill came to approxi- generously infused with murunga place: crab. mately Rs 3350 each. The quanti- leaves.