We’d probably never have come across Little Lanka had it not been for lockdown. I was looking for a takeaway on the Just Eat website and spotted the name. I didn’t order the takeaway – it was a bit too far from home, IMO – but kept the name to try when places reopened. It would be a first time trying Sri Lankan food, so we have no idea how traditional the cooking is. Certainly, a bit of research and advice from Chris (Paprikaboy) confirmed that there are traditional dishes on the menu. The server said that they make the dishes as “medium spiced” but can dial up the heat. Now, that’s a pretty sure sign that the heat has been turned down to better suit the general British taste. To be frank, it’s also a bit meaningless saying something is “medium” if you’ve never been before, as you’ve no idea how the chef judges that.
But, if that is a minor gripe, then it is the only one we had of the evening. First, the practicalities. It’s still a bit nervy going to restaurants until you know how well they’ve introduced Covid-secure arrangements. No worries here. Tables are well spaced, staff wear mask and gloves, they properly clean tables when it’s vacated by a customer. It just felt that they had paid attention to the details. And service is friendly and attentive – they seemed to know just before you needed to order another drink.
As for the food, Chris had made no suggestions about starters, so we winged it. There were lamb patties for one of us. Something of the Indian samosa here – well flavoured lamb in crisp pastry. Really nice in itself and helped along by two chutneys (a poky coriander one was excellent) and a handful of cress and shredded carrot. The other starter was crispy lentil patties – mashed and whole lentils. Mini-burgers, if you will. The same chutneys with that.
Vegetable “Baiden” (name guessed at – I forgot to make a note) was a complete contrast to the usual South Asian dishes with lots of sauce. Here the vegetables – cauliflower, broccoli, onions, mushrooms, tomatoes – had been mildly spiced and char-grilled. Also on the plate, a mound of thin noodles and a little bowl of a potato curry, which was acting almost as a sauce. The other dish, “chicken devil” is a very traditional dish recommended as a “must try” by Chris. Pieces of chicken (leg?) had been given a spicy marinade and then stirfried along with onions and pepper with a little sauce added that gave it a touch of background sweetness. It felt a dish influenced by the food of east, rather than south, Asia. Rice comes with this and was really good – light and fluffy, with chopped spring onions. Both of these main courses were very generously portioned – you are not going away hungry.
There are over twenty restaurants that we visit on a fairly regular basis. In truth, we’d been trying to cut that number down. But, we’ll have to add Little Lanka to the list – it’s too good just to visit once.
