KUALA LUMPUR, FEb 16 — If given a choice, I would always pick Sri Lankan food. There's something magical about their dishes with the liberal use of freshly grated coconut which lightens up the flavours. And of course, they make the most wonderful appams, which is my all-time favourite treat.
I had stumbled upon Ceylon Flavours via Facebook. The menu is a varied one and it will probably take me some time to try all the dishes.
I only managed to sample their lunch dishes and the appams which were both good enough to warrant return visits here.
For their lunch spread, you get various cooked dishes that include Sri Lankan classics like sora puttu, fish sothi and gotukola sambal. There's also crab curry for an indulgent meal.
All the dishes are usually out by noon for you to select and eat with a mountain of rice. I liked how they also use Indian or parboiled rice which has fewer calories compared to white rice.
The sora puttu (RM12) is often the last dish to arrive in the spread of dishes since it takes a long time to prepare. You get shark fish meat that is flaked and tossed in a mixture of freshly grated coconut, mustard seeds, curry leaves, chopped green chillies, dried red chillies and various aromatics. Add it liberally to rice and it brightens up your meal with its light texture and burst of flavours.
I like to pair it with the gotukola sambal (RM3) which is made from finely chopped pennywort leaves. Again you find it tossed with freshly grated coconut and chopped green chillies. I love their version as the leaves are well chopped till each bite has a lovely lightness. It tastes so refreshing and crisp with just a hint of tanginess that it's perfect to cut through all the heavy curries.
Another excellent rendition is their fish sothi (RM10). I am not usually a fan of this lighter type of curry as when it's not prepared well, it can taste awful. Their version is incredibly well prepared with poached fish that is perfectly cooked till it has a silky texture.
The curry is exceptional as they drove flavour into it with a mixture of curry leaves, tomatoes, onion, garlic and green chillies. This is one curry you'll definitely drink to the last drop.
I also ordered the crab curry (RM20) which is prepared with flower crabs. While the texture of the crabs is a little too watery for my liking as it always is with this type of crabs, I found the curry very flavourful with the onions.
Other items I also enjoyed were their mutton varuval (RM14) which was tender and delicious. I also sampled their chicken piratal (RM10) which came with chunks of chicken meat and a mild tasting curry. For vegetables, I ordered spinach and fried plantains too.
For their appams, they serve it from 4pm onwards on weekdays. For the weekend, you can get your appam fix from 8am onwards. There's three types that they serve. You have a plain appam, egg appam and a sweet coconut milk appam. All of the appams were incredibly good.
Even though it was a takeaway, the edges were still crispy. Each one of them had soft, springy centres which I thoroughly enjoyed. I'm sure it will taste better at the restaurant but for now, I am totally satisfied with the takeaway version.
I also liked how they packed them well with plates and plastic to prevent the toppings from being exposed.
Each appam appeals to varied taste buds. If you want a simple bite, order the plain appam (RM3) which has a nice, light fragrance of coconut milk. I can imagine this will go well with a cup of hot milky tea.
For a heavier savoury treat, the egg appam (RM4) wins hands down. It's cooked with a beaten egg and generously sprinkled with freshly ground black pepper to give it flavour. Pair it with their coconut sambal and you have a flavourful treat. One can imagine eating seconds of this at the restaurant.
For a sweet treat, their sweet coconut milk appam (RM3.50) is a must eat. It combines crispy edges with a soft springy middle laced with melted jaggery. Truly one of the best sweet appams I have eaten.
I'll definitely return as the night menu looks interesting since they serve various kottu dishes where they stir fry the roti with coconut sambal. They also have yarlpannam thosai, puttu and string hoppers. For the weekends, they serve seafood odiyal kool, lamprais, rasavalli kilangu and wattalappam.
If you prefer delivery, the restaurant is listed on Food Panda, if you're within the delivery area.
Ceylon Flavours, 33-01-02 , Scott Villa, Jalan Scott, Brickfields, Kuala Lumpur. Open: 7am to 10pm. Closed on Monday. Tel:+6011-11573461. Facebook: @ceylonkafe Instagram: @ceylon_flavours
