If you’re not familiar with Sri Lankan food you might be under the assumption that it is the same as Indian food…while it has similarities there are some distinct differences that set them apart. The spices they use vary a bit and some of the dishes are actually more akin to our Malaysian food with dishes like sambol (sambal)…and even a Sri Lankan style nasi lemak.

This breezy bungalow serves up spice-laden food that makes your mouth water for more. With one glance at the menu we already had a good idea of what we wanted. We were here for the whole Sri Lankan experience. We started off with the fish and lamb cutlets. They are bursting with flavour and it’s hard not to get full on these before anything else makes it over to the table.

You are able to order an assortment of sambols to accompany your meal. It is traditional to have these sambols present throughout the meal as they highlight the dishes each in their own way. There is a fiery red one that is very spicy with a fishy taste, a sweet deep brown caramelized onion chutney, a mild light orange coconut concoction, and finally a bright green refreshing curry leaf paste. They are wonderful on their own and give the dishes a greater depth.

Something that is similar to our food here is the fried string hopper. The string hoppers or puttu mayam are shredded, and then fried up with a variety of spices, meats and vegetables. One look could have you thinking you ordered up a mamak-fried bihun!

"A treat to lick off my fingers"

Another familiar item that made its way over to our table was a platter of Appams. The Sri Lankans eat their appams savoury and sweet. There were four pieces on our platter: one with a fried egg, one with brown sugar, one plain, and lastly one with a bit of coconut milk. These were delicate and spongy in the middle, flaky and crisp on the edges. The plain and savoury ones were especially good with the sambol.

We also had a taste of their fish sothi (creamy fish curry), mutton paal poriyal (mutton slow cooked in spices), devil chicken, and brinjol moju (deep fried eggplant in spices). All of the dishes were undeniably tasty and went well with the roll of puttu (steamed rice flour cake). I was especially pleased with the specialty crabs in a dry curry. The claw was filled with juicy sweet meat and the spicy curry was a treat to lick off my fingers.

For dessert we had something that resembles a crème caramel but has some spices mixed in, a vatilaapam. I detected cardamom for sure and something with a tiny bit of heat (pepper maybe?). It was a wonderful end to the meal though, rich and custardy with a little surprise.

The dishes at Aliyaa are known as typical homestyle Sri Lankan dishes. They are the type of foods you will taste if you visit someone’s home. This is the only place in town where you can get an authentic experience so do mark this on your list of places to visit for a hearty and delicious meal.

Opening hours:
Monday - Thursday: 12pm-1am
Friday: 12pm - 3am
Saturday: 6pm - late
Sunday: closed

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Aliyaa

                   

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