Canra Srilankan Plus
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I’ve recently moved downtown and I’ve been exploring the five to ten kilometer radius around my apartment, scavenging for interesting eats and shops. The neighborhood is by no means unfamiliar to me before I moved in, but I began to notice small places in nooks and crannies.
The food court in International Village (also formerly better known as Tinseltown) is in one word: lackluster. For someone looking for a quick dinner on a weeknight, it’s somewhat baffling. The food court’s a pretty generously sized semi-circle with maybe ten or twelve stalls in total. What’s puzzling is that coming here on any particular weeknight, say, past 6pm, there might be fewer than half in operation. There is really little to no choice here.
I was surprised to see this Sri Lankan stall in the food court, though.
I came to the food court a long, long time ago and still remembered to the right of this stall was a South African baked bun place - which, by the way, has been long gone. The Sri Lankan stall looked new to me. I had been told the dosas are pretty acceptable, so I gave the place the ol’ college try.
Run by a Sri Lankan family, who are chatty and friendly, they explained to me some of the menu items. The one that caught my interest was the Kottu Rotti - a fried concoction of paratha rotti (chewy flatbread), meat of choice, and a smattering blend of herbs, spices, and vegetables.
I tried this the first time with lamb. I watched as they carefully assembled the dish in the kitchen and took it home to gobble on. It was a bit gamey, mostly fragrant, a pleasant mix of chewy and crunchy. I had seen it freshly assembled and cooked with some modicum of effort, and I really enjoyed it. The chewiness of the rotti was addictive, and beats the rice-iness of any other regular stir fried noodle in my opinion. Everyone I had spoken to at the stall was friendly, in particular the woman who might have been the matriarch of the family. The little boy who rang up my order was a real charmer, too.
I did go back for a second time and tried the chicken (pictured above). It was inconsistent with the last time I had it and to say the least, I was pretty disappointed. Everything had a general texture of gloppy mushiness that didn’t allow for each of the elements to shine. J had picked it up for me and as I reported my disappointment to him, he replied, “Well, I think the boy cooked this one. He’s such a sweet kid though!”
Yeah, he is. And it seems like a really warm family establishment. I can understand the hit or miss, and since I live next door I’ll be back again, hoping for that delicious hit when they make a fresh kottu rotti that really sings.
