Good Indian in Sri Lanka
mural at Ganges restaurant
Leisure Times got me a meal at the new Ganges, which is mara good Indian food. Apparently the menu is structured like a trip down the river, though won’t know for sure till it opens on Saturday. Most places I’ve been are South Indian with some nan thrown in, which is OK. Ganges is actually good North-Indian, which I likes. Don’t even know if that’s what to call it, as the owner said he’d cook any Indian dish on request. I’ve had some semi-delirious Indian food (in America and Canada) and I’d say Ganges is up there. I especially like the butter chicken, the kidney beans and the samosas. The owner, Kishore Reddy used to work with Oberoi before they left Colombo. Now he’s set up near Independence Square.
Anyways, D got me a pre-opening invite, so what we got was a tasting menu. It felt a little VIP, but that’s all D and none of me. People are oddly impressed by the Leisure Times name, which is cool, though they don’t seem to get that it’s not a day job. Some guard opened the big door for us and people were chatting over cocktails. The floors were black indian marble and the ceiling was folds of cloth with hanging lamps. There’s a big horse minding the door. I didn’t check out the bathrooms, though I should’ve. The bar sits atop a big fish tank, which is pretty sweet. I would like furniture made of fish tanks, but I don’t want to clean them. I also want a drinking fountain in my house. The napkins were purple and the plates were dark blue.
Had a rum and coke and talked to some people. It’s weird how obsequious free food will make a person. As far as I can tell, feeding people well is a pretty sure route to loyalty. Our hosts introduced us around, and the Ganges felt like an honestly warm place. Mr. Reddy and his wife were super sweet and effusive people, able to go on about food and Sanskrit equally well. He’s been here 6 months and speaks better Sinhala than me, which is just getting embarassing. They took care of everybody and taught me like five new things.
I think I’ll go back to see how they play with the river metaphor. Reddy says the menu follows the cuisine of the various people around the Ganges, and I’d like to see how they do it. I looked at a map and the river seems to run under Nepal, with 8% of the world living along its basin. It is very windy and tributary. This satellite map shows where it joins ‘The Yamuna River — a major river in its own right, and nearly as sacred. Their confluence is near what is the site of the traditional holy Hindu city of Prayag, now known as Allahabad.’
I have not been there, but I think that this is the food that’s internationally considered ‘Indian’. What I like about Indian is that sometimes it’s so good that it makes you feel kinda high. One time in New York I had some that made me walk around in a daze, and I got kinda close in Montreal’s little India. There was a Sri Lankan delivery service that was great, but I think I may have actually been high. In Cochin there was this little spinning dhose joint and that made me feel good, but then I got greedy and I felt sick. That was worth it though. What I most like is a nice, light, sit-down Indian – which is the niche that Ganges fills. I think I’ll go ahead and say that everywhere I’ve been in Colombo isn’t that good, though I am by no means comprehensive.
* Mango Tree: Think it’s good, but went there with a toddler and don’t remember. Nice atmosphere at least. Everywhere else I’ve been is all dirty tables and metal cups.
* Shanti Vihar: Smells a little funny and ran out of Coca-Cola. Unimpressed
* Matura (spelling?): The tomato soup is good but the dhose and all are so-so. Not like the cheap little cafe’s in Cochin. Plus no meat.
* Tamotle (forget name): Gastrointestinal roulette. Is in Battaramulla, where I would avoid eating altogether.
That is all I know. I like Indian food and it’s good to have a nice place around. I’d recommend Ganges.
Ganges Restaurant
next to royal sports complex
independence avenue
colombo 7
owner- kishore reddy
tel 0714-523-333 (thanks james)
whats the price range like?
dunno as we were comped, but james (below) seems to think its reasonably priced.
Address or phone No?
Been there today. very classy and upmarket & surprisingly, very reasonably priced. Its near the royal college sports complex (rugby grounds) on independence avenue. Picked up a flyer & the phone number is 0714523333.
GREAT FOOD!
please send me your menu, special offers & tariff if available to ransiltravels@yahoo.co.uk
nice. i love indian food as well. once in malaysia, i walked for 2 hours in the night to find a “banana leaf” restaurant. that was worth it. even here i’m crazy about indian food but i prefer southern dishes which are really spicy compared northern food. i guess your canadanized palate won’t take nicely to that sort of heat. have you ever had hyderbadi biryani. not the bland westernized version. i’m talking about pure karnataka food.
you gotta quit drinking man. :s
Guya correct me if am wrong. I thought srilankan tamil cuisine was far more spicier spcicer than any indian cuisine. Don;t you guys get all the southern indina dishes like dosah etc in srilankan tamil cuisine?
Anyway dextr, Hyderbadi biryani is a dish from a Indian state called Andhra (telugu) and karnatak is a different state altogether..
Really. I had no idea *embarassed smile* Never been to india.
But the friends who introduced me to hyderbadi biryani are from AP so I guess it figures. Hmm..
I don’t know what Sri Lankan tamil cuisine is. Is it the same as what you get in the “saiver kades” (small roadside indian restaurants in sri lanka that serve vadei, thosai etc with sambar)? But all these shops are run by Muslims and I wouldn’t call them spicy at all. I once read that they have things like crab curry (sounds yummmm).
Actually thosai (dosa) is not considered alien by sinhalese. I think a lot of people eat more thosai, parata and kottu etc and other indian based dishes more than sri lankan food for dinner.
But shouldn’t there be more exotic jaffna food that we don’t know about?
Ya , you must be right.. There must be some exotic Jaffna food that is real spicy. umm… makes my food water. I should rather have told north srilankan cuisine. The tamil food you are talking about seems staple and seems to have blended very much into sinhalese cuisine..
BTW what is kottu? some sort of curry..
kottu.. that’s the unofficial national food of sri lanka mate.
Basically, you take roti (godamba, parata, canai, naan etc) and shred it to pieces. Then you stir fry it with curried meat, veggies and egg. The result is incredible. You can eat it by itself with with more curry/gravy.
Here is a pic of vegetarian kottu roti.
http://www.mamohanraj.com/Taste/kottuveg.jpg
Yo buddy.. i have had this dish countles times and its pretty popular in south india too though it is called differently : “Kothu parota”. They use only parota’s for making it over there, I should have guessed by the first name!
Thanks for posting that picture. Makes my mouth water.. Waiting for my India trip to relish it again..
spicy food makes me cry like a girl. Actually, girls here can eat more spicy food than I.
hehe.. I think it could even be a general SL guy thing because I swear I’ve heard more guys than girls saying things like “no can’t eat from there… its too spicy”
True.. I think I’m the only exception.
But yeah, my mom really loves super spicy food. All the girls I know here eat so much chilli..
Can you send the tariffs please ?
I just ate there, I’m not in any way affiliated with the resto. Also, I don’t know what a tariff is.
kottu, my friend, is a strong contender for the “national food” title :D…. its the life line of the nocturnal and the recycle bin of the chef…
Well when it comes to Indian food there is no restuarents in colombo can realy give the taste of real indian food.Too spicy cater for locle taste!! I enjoy the saffron at trance asia hotel which is quite good because you can taste what you eating.Mango tree i like the vegetable piulao.But common! the one that krishor did at the oberoi (now colombo placa) in crestcat was just rubbish! did not enjoy anything at all to be honest. Hope this other one is true indian food.Will see have not been yet…
Guys have to put this on after the comments from maduri and Yo.
GANGES probably is the best Indian restaurant in town right now. havent seen what the mangement of ganges have done before but all my friends and myself go there regularly now thanks to indi.
they have the best indian food i ever tasted and my Indian friends say the same. I took few friends who came down from India and they loved it. Their Butter chicken is yummy along with the hot naans. Weekends its difficult to get the table but the guys there are so hospitable and nice you guys have to try it out.
I would recommentd you try out the Indian restaurant, Navaratna, at the Taj Samudra Hotel. The food there is really good. The Indian restaurant at the InterContinental Hotel is quite good too, although I haven’t been there for a few months.
I like Mathura and Mango Tree too. I went to the previous incarnation of Ganges (Pavilion?) which I think was under the same management, but I thought the food wasn’t that good. Perhaps they’ve changed things now.
Also good for vegetarian fare is Shanmugas, it’s at the (Dehiwela) end of Marine Drive, and Food Waves, on the High Level Road in Nugegoda.
I like your blog, by the way.
Thank you.Have been to Navaratna Some times back also get takeaways from intercont some dishes are not too bad as you say. But i am a vegy so cannot comment about non veg dishes.The paneer (Grilled)dish is good.Lots of onions though.Thnks for all the infos.
Yeah!! you are right James… my mom really loves this place and introduced me to GANGES…. Machang its GREAT…. Yummmmmmm. Food is fabulous and the cocktails I dont think anyone else makes it so good.. try the “frozen driver” its not on the menu but the waiter recommended it or for that matter “kaiparoska” is out of the world. I think they have a large cocktail menu for an Indian restaurant. LOVE GANGES .. great job guys (getting hungry and thirsty)
Have you tried the sev puris at ganges, absolutely wonderful, they give it to you as starters and tempt you to order more, I feel Mango Tree is too crowded, to enjoy yourself
Jack & jill : I love the complimentary starters they give at ganges. Its really amazing.. I dont know what it is but its yuuuuummmmm. All I know is its vegetarian and never bothered to ask how it is made. ( anyone knows about it or how it is made?/) We normally tend to order more of it.(without knowing what it is called) …All u need to say is Malli ! get me another portion of THIS.
I agree with you. Mango tree is really crowded and gone down in standards especially when you compare it to ganges.. i really dont know why its still crowded ? ???? Ganges is also getting crowded but the tables are not placed close to each other like MT and is pretty comfortable even when its crowded.
Carl,
We were at Ganges yesterday. Had a great Indian meal as usual… The complimentary starter is called “Sev Poori”
I dont know how it is made but I agree its Yummy and you dont get it anywhere in Sri Lanka. I might go there on wednesday I will ask the guys how they make it and post it here. (kishore is very helpful in giving out his secret recipes… )
Been to “GANGES” today.. wednesday….well looked like a weekend out there…packed and luckily the owner cum chef was there and he got us a table ..(thanks buddy). Though it was packed i really didnt feel uncomfortable like in most other places. In london Ive had more Indian food than Indians but this was so different and so amazing, i realise that it was not indian I was eating in london, The food at ganges is great……. well great is an understatement. Frankly I was put off with mango tree from the time I went in but Ganges is really out of the world.
if ure looking for an inexpensve indian meal try the amravathi. Its not in the league of Ganges or Mango Tree. But has some nice stuff to satisfy the curry cravings