Karapincha – Reviewed

by Anuki Premachandra

Bringing back some Lankan classics!

Karapincha, as interesting as the name sounds, is a new restaurant that just opened up at Concord Grand, Dehiwala. They specialize in Sri Lankan food and at first look of the place, we thought that they gave us great run for our money.

In terms of pricing, it would resonate places like Pilawoos or Raheemas, but in terms of dining, they’ve actually put some effort and made it look like a moderate dining restaurant with comfortable chairs, A/C and some good service. So all in all, it’s affordable (very) and isn’t disappointing.

Ambience

It’s one of Grand Concord’s restaurants, a moderately priced budget hotel. The dining area isn’t really that big, with only about a 7-10 tables or so. But they could fairly facilitate a good crowd. They have subtle hints of karapincha green everywhere you look in the restaurant.

The space, we felt could have been better managed. It kind of felt like a bunch of tables and chairs placed strategically around the space – it felt a little lonely and like something was lacking. The waiters were cordial and super nice to us, possibly because we were one of their first few customers. But no really, the service was super-fast and it was a pleasant experience.

There’s an overhead speaker playing some Sri Lankan music and some shape-eke-okay baila covers- so if you’re in the mood for it, you could definitely get your groove on.

Food and Drinks

Note: They are very generous on the karapincha

Drinks: Complementary Tea, Snow Green – Rs. 250 and Ginger Cooler – Rs.250   

Let’s begin with their complementary tea – yay, free thè.  So what was fascinating here was the fact that the tea was in a small cup, where the rim was stacked with karapincha flavored sugar. Let me break it down for you. You see, Margaritas have a salt lining along the rim; just like that, this thè had a karapincha flavored sugar lining on the rim of the cup. It was a first for me, but I didn’t particularly enjoy my sugar being karapincha flavored. However, it was something quite unique.

The next drink we opted for was the Snow Green. This was by far our favourite and was pretty much a nelli float. It was a mix of nelli, sprite and vanilla ice-cream; and they weren’t stingy with the nelli!

The next was the Ginger Cooler. Honestly, I tasted no ginger at all. The menu card said that the drink was a mix of ginger ale, fresh mint and sprite, but it just tasted orange to me and it came with a slice of an orange placed on top for presentation. Maybe it was the flavor from the slice that made its way into the rest of the drink; we will never know.

Appetizers: Elavalu Patty – Rs. 150 and Kukul Wings Baduma – Rs. 190

That Elavalu patty was definitely like the ones your mother wants to serve when your relatives come over for tea time. It was the right amount of spicy and was packed with vegetables. The outer pastry was crispy and was fried carefully.

The Kukul wings baduma was insanely juicy. With very bite, you could see the juices emerging from the meat and almost creating a thin layer between the skin and the meat of the chicken. This could also be the oil because we felt like the wings were too oily – so there’s that explanation too. The skin felt a little sogged up because of the oil, but it didn’t harm the taste of the wings.

Both appetizers had 3 pieces each (very, very worth the price) and the sweet chili sauce that accompanied it worked well with both options.

Mains: Elu Mas saha Kadju thèl daala – Rs.890 (boneless), Pol sambol – Rs.90, Polos Borayata – Rs. 190, Kaha Bath – Rs.200 and Chicken Kottu – Rs.580 (boneless)

The Elu Mas saha Kadju thèl daala was pretty damn yummy. We asked for the boneless option so it was a tad bit pricier. But see, this option isn’t really an economical one. For Rs.890, we received a small bowl of curry and we would have really preferred more because; 1) it’s a meat dish and 2) it was served in a similar bowl as the Rs.190 polos – nope, we weren’t happy with the portion they offered. In terms of spice, the curry tasted a lot like a Jaffna curry because it was intensely marinated and you can even taste all the spices infused into the soft meat.

The pol sambol wasn’t extraordinary. It was a small bowl of basic, well, pol sambol.

The polos borayata was also a pretty interesting curry. It transports you to a faraway suburban village with every first bite. The polos tasted a bit charred, like it had been cooked over a clay stove, and the polos lining beautifully pulled apart with every bite. They’ve taken a black curry take on it, and we felt like the dish really stood out because of that.

The kaha bath was again basic dun thèl bath – a little more flavorsome than the one your mom probably makes at home. They really did go overboard with the little karapincha leaves and the fried onion shreds on top. But the rice was pretty flavorsome and had kadju pieces here and there that contributed to its flavor. It was a big bowl of rice, enough for 2, and was definitely worth Rs.200.

The chicken kottu was an option we were happy about choosing. It didn’t have an overload of ananmanan kali like carrots and spring onions etc (you know the deal)… but it was your everyday kottu, just with chunkier pieces of meat (note: We did ask for boneless chicken kottu but the pieces of chicken we got was not de-boned). The parata was fresh and soft and the chicken was pretty spicy. What more could you ask for in some traditional Lankan kottu, huh?

Have you tried Karapincha yet? Let us know what you think in the comments below! Is there anything we’ve missed?

Tip: Their chicken kottu is pretty good.