Fancy a trip to Brazil instead? Try Bossa in Mayfair, or if you’re feeling more in the mood for fine dining, head straight for Fenchurch in Monument.
What’s the deal?
The sea bream in coconut
It’s almost as though Kolamba East doesn’t want to be found. Down a quiet side road in office-heavy Liverpool Street – which gets even quieter after all the tech startups shut shop for the day – the second outpost of the popular Sri Lankan restaurant has managed to find the most tumblweedy location in east London.
Perhaps they’re leaning on name recognition for footfall. Their original location – contrastingly, on Kingly, one of Soho’s buzziest streets – opened a few short months before lockdown, in late 2019. It’s an unlikely story of triumph, given that the two owners, Colombo-bred Eroshan and Aushi Meewella, are first-time restaurateurs, and most other businesses run by inexperienced hands were wiped by the pandemic. Punters fell in love with the restaurant’s laid-back-yet-chic vibe and excellent Sri Lankan food, presented in a friendlier and less pretentious format than its neighbourhood rivals (Hopper’s, Paradise).
So, will the fans follow them to Liverpool Street? Well, thankfully, both the food quality and the “tropical modernist” decor have been transplanted to this new location, so regulars won’t be disappointed. The space – all concrete pillars, exposed pipes, and shades of beige and grey – leans more toward “modernist” than “tropical”, but avoids being too austere with warm light and handcrafted rattan accents. It’s also about double the size of its original, a cavernous 92 covers set around a pink-tiled bar.
The decor may be in keeping with Soho’s, but the menu is altogether new, divided as it is into five somewhat confusing categories: snacks, starters, large plates, “for the table” (sharing plates in a smaller format), and “sambols and sides” (sambols are spicy Sri Lankan condiments; they’re meant to top the rice, hoppers and roti under the same header). Barely anything from the Soho menu reappears here, but East’s menu maintains that spirit of bringing Sri Lankan flavours into new contexts. Take the succulent whole rib jaggery beef, bathed in a fragrant coconut sauce, or the devilled king prawns smothered in a chill, tomato, and onion marinade. The drinks menu, too, doesn’t slouch – a tidy selection of classic cocktails punched up with tropical ingredients, like the Banana Manhattan and the coconut-spiked Pol Mezcalita. Kolamba are boldly venturing into places unknown, and pulling it off.
What should I eat?
Payasam – the only sensible to end a night at Kolamba East
Jackfruit – a staple food of Sri Lanka – features several times on the menu, a convenient meat sub for vegan diners. The jackfruit string hopper biryani, from the “large plates” section, is a delightful plant-based main, meaty strips of jackfruit intermixing with warming spice coating the thin noodles.
The large-format sea bream in coconut is the platonic ideal of a Sri Lankan dish – comforting and bathed in a rich, turmeric-coloured sauce, it evokes long lunches by the beach.
Payasam – or rice pudding – is the only fitting way to cap off a meal here. Topped with pistachios and toasted coconut, and flavoured with cardamom, it’s one of the few instances where Kolamba heeds closely to the traditional recipe, and we’re not mad at it.
Why should I go?
Cocktails at Kolamba East are given a pleasingly tropical makeover
For a relatively easy booking with a high reward.
££££
12 Blossom St, London E1 6PL
www.kolamba.co.uk/kolamba-east