FREE The Sushi Bento at Naniyori MARCH/2016 WWW.YAMU.LK PP- YAMU Range Ad Oct 15 FINAL.pdf 1 10/15/15 2:55 PM C M Y CM MY CY CMY K PP- YAMU Range Ad Oct 15 FINAL.pdf 1 10/15/15 2:55 PM C M Y CM MY CY CMY K 4 [insert title here] - this is the actual title We’ve got some great stuff in this issue. We did our first EDITORIAL ever quiz, where you can gauge your competency as a Indi Samarajiva Colombar. If you feel inadequate after that, we’ve hooked Bhagya Goonewardhane you up with a guide to 24 hours in Colombo to impress Aisha Nazim Imaad Majeed your visiting friends! Shifani Reffai Kinita Shenoy We’ve also done lots of chill travels around the island, from Batti to Koggala Lake to Little Adam’s Peak. There’s ADVERTISING going to be plenty more coming up as we go exploring Dinesh Hirdaramani during the April holidays, so check the site yamu.lk for 779 776 445 / [email protected] more. CONTACT 11 454 4230 (9 AM - 5 PM) With the Ides of March around the corner, just remember [email protected] that any salad is a Caesar Salad if you stab it enough. PRINTED BY Imashi Printers ©2015 YAMU (Pvt) Ltd 14/15A Duplication Road, Col 4 kinita KIITO WE DO SUITS Damith E. Cooray CText ATI Head Cutter BSc (Hons) International Clothing Technology & Design Manchester Metropolitan University, UK Sole Distributor of Flagship Store KIITO Bespoke & Workshop # 19 , First Floor, Auditor General’s Department Building # 27, Rosmead Place Arcade Independance Square Colombo 07 Colombo 07 0112 690740 0112 675670 8 SCARLET ROOM 32, Alfred House Avenue, Colombo 03 | 11 4645333 BY BHAGYA their dishes with the exception Risotto Paella (Rs. 950), which of a few mains are quite reason- sounded quite interesting on pa- The Scarlet Room is Colombo ably priced between Rs. 800 and per. Scarlet Room being an Ital- Courtyard’s Italian restaurant. Rs. 1500. ian restaurant, we were looking Their all-red theme may not ap- for a risotto with the flavour of peal to some, but we found the We started out by splitting a Sea- a Spanish paella. The prepara- food to be surprisingly afford- food Salad (Rs. 750) which was tion and texture of the rice is the able. Execution was a mixed actually quite a hefty portion. most important factor of a risot- bag, with a few dishes missing This was a mix of lettuce, cu- to and this one came across as a the mark and others doing quite cumber, green apple, calamari, tad bit undercooked, just shy of well. shrimp and scallops (which are that perfect al dente texture. The quite a rarity here in Colombo). flavour, however, was mostly on THE FOOD Both the veggies and the sea- point with the flavour of the sea- The Scarlet Room has been food were very fresh, with the food coming through well, along around since Colombo Court- apple adding a bit of acidity, with the light crunch from the yard’s inception, but it never but most impressive of all was peas. They had opted to go with quite sparked the public’s inter- the fact that the scallops were chicken bockwurst with this one, est, perhaps because it’s only cooked perfectly. All in all, con- which was fine, though we would open for dinner. Their menu is sidering the portion size and all have much preferred chorizo - or predominantly Italian with a few the seafood that was in it, this is at least a pork sausage. fusion dishes as well. With Co- a pretty good deal. Buuut, it did lombo Courtyard being a bou- need quite a bit of salt to really For an Italian restaurant, the tique hotel, no one would blame bring out the flavor of the sea- Scarlet Room offers surpris- you for expecting the prices to food. ingly few pork options, so we be steep. The thing is, most of The first of our mains was the ended up going choosing the 9 9 grilled pork chop with green ap- had what tasted like sponge and to use the washroom, which can ple and balsamic sauce (Rs. cream cheese (though we aren’t get pretty annoying if you came 1200). This one is actually not too sure about the latter). In any for a private meal. really an Italian preparation at all, case, the flavour of the coffee but for what it’s worth the pork was quite distinct and the substi- We didn’t run into any issues as chop was cooked perfectly with tutes got the job done in terms far as service was concerned, the sauce adding both sweet- of texture. though only two other tables ness and acidity. The presenta- were occupied on the night we tion, however, could definitely AMBIENCE & SERVICE dropped in. All of our dishes use work, and restaurants really As the name implies, the Scarlet were prepared in under fifteen need to stop cutting veggies Room has a red theme running minutes and the waiters were with zigzag cutters (or whatever across the restaurant. But be- friendly, attentive and just pleas- the tool is called). Using this just sides the walls, the rest is pretty ant to interact with. makes the veggies look incred- standard with white table cloths, ibly unappealing, and shows a comfy cane chairs, and some CONCLUSION lack of attention to detail. artsy black-framed photos. The The Scarlet Room isn’t really the restaurant itself quite dimly lit, most authentic Italian restaurant The Tiramisu (Rs. 650), while which works well with the red in the city, but it makes for a has- not the most authentic, was still walls, but if you’re not a fan of sle free, semi-fine dining experi- pretty satisfying. This was more the red theme in general, this ence. Considering that the total of a cross between tiramisu and probably isn’t the place for you. tab for a salad, two mains and cake with multiple layers. While The one thing that tends to ruin two desserts came in at under classic tiramisu is made us- the dining experience is the fact Rs. 4500, we think it’s a pretty ing ladyfingers (the biscuit, not that customers from both Cloud good deal. okra) and mascarpone, this one Cafe and Loft come down to SR 10 ARABIAN KNIGHTS 379, Galle Road, Kollupitiya, Colombo 03 | 112 301032 BY BHAGYA Colombo have had some un- very distinct flavour, with a fortunately short stints, but undertone of what tasted like Arabian Knights, along with AK has managed to anchor it- aniseed. the likes of Hazari’s, has long self quite well. Their prices are The Cheese Sambosek (Rs. been one of Colombo’s Middle comparable to that of Hazari’s, 660) is a sort of melted Eastern staples. It’s tough be- which is to say that it’s fairly cheese-filled patty. If you’re ing an Arabic restaurant here, reasonable considering the into gooey cheese-filled food, but AK has held strong and portion sizes so managing un- this will be right up your alley. we’ve become progressively der Rs. 1200 is easily possible. It’s a pretty straightforward bigger fans over the years. dish, though the patty itself We started with the Vegetable was a bit on the sweet side, THE FOOD Soup (Rs. 410) which was ba- which we found a bit odd. If you’ve been following our re- sically the most boring option This comes with a garlic mayo views of Arabian Knights, you’d on the menu (blame Kinita for dip which really enhances see that we weren’t exactly picking it). I was actually ex- the flavour along with their blown away when we first re- pecting a light soup, but we light spicy and sweet tomato viewed their (at the time) new were pleasantly surprised by sauce. restaurant in Colpetty, though what we got. This soup was we loved their former branch super thick, close to a curry So the Hummus with Pine on Marine Drive. That being in terms of consistency and Nuts and Meat (Rs. 480) is said, over the past two years with a bunch of veges like car- technically a cold starter, but they’ve been constantly im- rots, potatoes, tomatoes and in reality it’s a main since it’s proving and have become one onions roughly chopped and so filling. This, along with the of our go-to delivery options. thrown in. It was also packed beef fatteh at Hazari’s are Middle Eastern restaurants in with spices which gave it a probably my two favourite 11 hummus dishes in Colombo. The chicken tagine had a lot were pretty good this time as The crunch of pine nuts off- going on with carrots, capsi- well. We dropped in for lunch set the smooth and creamy cums, onions and tomatoes. during a time they were hav- texture of hummus brilliantly, While those did add variety ing a discount going, but few while also adding that earthy to the dish, we felt that there of the waiters were actually flavour. I’ve had this around just wasn’t enough chicken in aware of it. Our second waiter three times now, and the beef there which was a bummer was a lot more prepared and has been on point every single since it was actually cooked knew the menu by heart, so time. They also add a bit of well.