Vasana Bakery, Nugegoda Branch

Vasana Bakery, Nugegoda 

This bakery outlet opened recently without much fanfare. Located on Stanley Tillekeratne Mawatha, between the Railway Station and the Post Office, and opposite ARPICO, Vasana Bakery is a modern take on the conventional bakery showroom.

When I first visited Vasana Bakery, there was quite a long queue. Out of curiosity I went closer to find out. That was when I found the reason it was attracting crowds. Prices of the bakery products were so low, they were more or less half the usual price at other bakeries. (The pictures were taken on my fourth visit.)

As for the size, they were the same size as the normal buns. For instance Fish Bun which usually retails from Rs. 30/= to Rs. 50/= at other bakeries, is sold for ........wait for it.......               Rs. 15!!! Believe it or not, the same is true of other products as well.

Seeni sambol bun - Rs. 15, Boiled Egg Bun Rs. 25, sponge cake Rs. 20, Cup cakes Rs. 25, Apple cake Rs. 20 etc.

In the afternoon, when a new set is produced, a new type of bun - which they call an omelet bun (selling for Rs 35) is available.

Its a circular bun, about 7 inches in diameter made like a pizza (no cheese) with a sprinkling of vegetables on top and covered with 'Bulls Eye'. That is, an egg is broken straight on to the bun without beating. It is seasoned and baked, the egg yolk stands on a side like the sun shining.

The gentleman, standing by the showcase is the Manager, a soft spoken unassuming person. They take cake orders for any type of cake or size. The other staff manning the outlet are quite friendly people.

In this age, when cunning shop keepers, manufacturers and bakers sell a product at a higher price claiming high costs while reducing the size of the product, this bakery stands out in the crowd as being the one that sells good quality bakery products at affordable prices.

I call this a modern version of a traditional bakery for two reasons, They retain the conventional feel by having all displayed in showcases (no self service), and they handle food items with disposable gloves. Modern westernised bakeries handle food with tongs. The informal manner, gives the local people the impression that attention is given to hygiene. This is NOT an upmarket city bakery. A person from the Rural areas should also be allowed to improve and this is a huge step in that direction.

I would recommend this place for the humbleness of the people working, for selling products at budget friendly prices and also for the range of products one can find only at a traditional bakery.

Pho Vietnam

I visited this place and purchased a takeout for dinner. Situated adjoining Calories, I decided to give this place a try.

As you enter through the main entrance you are faced with some tables and chairs set for outdoor eating, which were fully occupied. Inside the restaurant proper the decor - mainly Chinese pictures on the walls, instantly reminded me that I had come to a South Eastern restaurant. However, there was no background music to support the looks. In addition, the ambience would have been great if there were artifacts and souvenirs from Vietnam as stills or hanging from the walls.

At the time I visited, the place was crowded with Europeans and a couple of Chinese looking people. There was however only one staff member working, and he was very polite and helpful. He was responsible for taking orders, billing and serving food. The restaurant must seriously consider recruiting some stewards.

The restaurant had a very limited menu consisting mostly of different varieties of noodles cooked with beef, chicken and sea food, selections of soup and some salads. There was only ONE item with rice. This was rather disappointing as Vietnam is a rice growing country and I expected to see some selections of items with rice as well.

Not being a fan of noodles, I selected the rice item - Fried Rice with sea food. Cost Rs. 450.00. This is the standard price for items like this in normal upmarket restaurants.

Since this is the first time I was tasting Vietnamese food, I cannot vouch for the authenticity of the food and the ingredients used at the restaurant. My review is strictly limited to the food that was served.

The Fried Rice with sea food was prepared with steamed long grain rice sauteed with eggs, sweet corn, chopped carrots and beans, along with flash fried cuttle fish and prawns. They have also added fish sauce, tomato sauce and chillie paste to the mix. The combination was quite tasty.

I am extremely grateful to the restaurant for doing something which other restaurants couldn't be bothered doing. The PRAWNS used in the fried rice were CLEANED AND SHELLED. For this alone I am recommending this restaurant.

Perera & Sons, Bread Corner - BRC Grounds

The BRC outlet of Perera and Sons initially started out as one of their usual bakery outlets. For about a year now, they have introduced a new section- Bread Corner.

Located at the entrance of BRC Grounds on Havelock Road, it is air-conditioned and has a dine-in section with seating capacity for about 20 people. The outlet is open from 6.30 a.m. till 7 p.m., so you need to purchase your dinner early.

 

The Bread Corner produces items throughout the day, from bakery products manufactured by Perera and Sons. Their small kitchen is furnished with state-of-the-art modern equipment and appliances. The food at the Bread Corner, is prepared in a hygienic manner  by the chef and her assistants. They wear disposable transparent gloves when preparing and assembling the food items. Some of the items made at this counter are submarines, bagels etc including hot dogs. Some of these items are available at the bakery counter in the morning, while the others are made to order.

The items are packed with freshly made items and the vegetables are crispy and crunchy. In my opinion, they are a good healthy option and the prices are EXTREMELY REASONABLE. I ordered Thandoori Chicken Submarine. Cost Rs. 180.00 - one was very filling.

The staff here is generally very helpful, however, they DO NOT ACCEPT CARDS. Strictly Cash payments, so come handy with ready cash if you intend trying out these stuff.

Han Gook Gwan

I decided to get out of my comfort zone and try some yet untested international cuisines. Han Gook Gwan, a Korean Restaurant run by a Korean couple who live behind the restaurant, is a family business. Their emphasis is also on family. Situated on  Havelock Road opposite Hercules Tailors, it has ample parking space for about 4 to 5 vehicles. I came here today (5th November, 2015) to have my lunch.

As you enter, you will first be met by a steward who will greet you. You can sit in the public area or get a family room. I chose the public area so that I can observe everything. The place is fully air-conditioned. The walls of the restaurant are painted yellow and had pictures and some Korean wall hangings put up on the wall on one side. There is also a 45" TV tuned into Korean Broadcasting Corporation Channel (KBC). Another side of the hall had a huge glass window overlooking the Havelock Road.

Every table has a single burner gas cooker kept on the side. On inquiry I learned that if a customer wanted bar-be-cues for instance, they were cooked at the customer's table itself and served sizzling hot.

So, a look at the menu gave me a pretty good idea what types of food were being cooked here. Being a Muslim we don't eat pork, but we can eat sea food items, and there were quite a selection of sea food and vegetarian items to order. For instance you could order a vegetable or Egg Fried Rice or Sea Food Fried Rice for Rs. 450.00. Having tried too many Fried rice from different places, I decided to forego this and look for a healthier option.

The stewards, who were locals, were kind enough to guide me as to the most suitable food we could order. I learned that one particular item was a favourite among customers - Item No 66. This was Steamed Rice and Vegetables in Stone bowl with half boiled egg. I didn't fancy eating half boiled egg, so they suggested they provide omelet, which was agreeable to me. Cost Rs. 850.00

The table setting is quite different to what I have seen at other places. The hygienic levels of the cutlery (knife and spoon) is maintained by having them wrapped in oil paper. The serviettes are wet cold towels folded and rolled into a ball, there is a bowl to serve the food,  a jug of ice cold water and a mug to drink the water.

To really understand Korean culture, you have to experience it first hand, and I believe the best place is Han Gook Gwan. While we wait for our meal to be cooked, every customer is served a complimentary tray of 7 dishes served in small bowls as Appetizers.

 The Appetizers are (clockwise from top right) potatoes boiled in a milky mixture, peanuts coated in molasses honey, fried dried radish strips in hot pickle, raw radish in hot sauce, raw Chinese cabbage in hot pickle, bread like omelet, and finally at the center big onions in sweet vinaigrette. Although, their hot dishes had chillie flakes and were red, they weren't 'hot' like our local curries. I learned that Korean curries are not that hot.

My lunch arrived piping hot in a stone bowl. It had steamed rice at the bottom, topped by vegetables and finally my omelet at the top. I folded the omelet to peer at the different vegetables. The bowl of food was like a rainbow with multiple colours.

Over the layer of rice it had blanched Bok Choy, sliced pumpkin, julienne d carrots, Kankun, glass noodles and bean sprouts. The omelet was soft and flaky. Optional ingredients that could be added are chicken or prawns. You also get a hot and spicy Korean Chillie sauce as an accompaniment. 

According to the stewards, you are supposed to mix all the ingredients together and then eat by dipping on the sauce a little at a time. I preferred to serve them to my bowl and do the mixing on my own. By the way, salt an pepper shakers can be obtained on request.

For dessert you can select a fruit juice of your choice, eat some fruits or take ice cream (available flavours - vanilla, strawberry and chocolate). I chose vanilla ice cream (cost Rs. 190). You get 2 big scoops of ice cream.For this price, that was very reasonable, especially at a restaurant.

Overall a new experience and a filling meal. I will definitely return to try something else.

Kinjou Chinese Restaurant

Situated in Havelock Town on  Amarasekera Mawatha at the Havelock Road junction, Kinjou has been in existence for well over 25 years.  Although it is just 2 minutes walking distance, I have always avoided this place as the prices were usually 5 star rates.

So, today I decided come what may, I shall try their cuisines. The first thing you notice before you enter the restaurant is the arch way through which you have to enter the building. On either side of the arch they have sufficient parking space for 2 vehicles each. 

Previously, the entrance was from the sides and there used to be a huge mango tree, a pond and a boat in the middle garden, which were destroyed to make way for Parking space. Cars are always being parked on both sides, down the full length of Amarasekera Mawatha, whenever people have functions at Kinjou. Alas! it was with great dismay and disappointment that I watched the magnificent tree being downed, chopped up and hauled away. Being a nature lover, I consider a tree equal to a human - cutting down a tree is equal to murdering a human. 

As you enter the restaurant, you are greeted by a  bronze statue of a lion at the Takeaway counter cum Reception. Walk in through the doors and you will see the actual restaurant proper, which is a feast to the eyes. Large Chinese lanterns hang from the ceiling with,  Chinese paintings, wall hangings and smaller lanterns were mounted on the full stretch of the wall at random heights. The place is lit with not so bright light, which was really good because it set the tranquility of the atmosphere. The mood was enhanced with lilting Chinese music playing in the background. The best part of it was that every table was laid ready for eating along with a soup bowl. At the center of each table was placed a promotional placard about the daily discounts.

The customer service was actually quite good. The person at the counter was not only helpful but gave me some good tips in selecting the different food. He was particularly conscious of the fact that I was a Muslim, so he guided  me to dishes I could safely eat. This is what I call "star class customer service". Keep it up Kinjou!. Furthermore, when we normally try to take pictures of restaurants we sometimes meet with resistance from the staff, however, at Kinjou the staff was actually quite supportive.

Since I was here alone, I decided to take some for Take Away. Regular takeouts at this place were different types of Fried Rice, Nasi Goreng and Noodles - all provided in medium sized portions. One medium portion is sufficient for two people.  Each cost between Rs. 560 and 900. There were only two items for single portions - one of which was Chop Suey Fried Rice for Rs. 990. Note: prices quoted does not include VAT, you should expect the final amount (inclusive of VAT) to cost more.
Finally I settled on the Chop Suey Fried Rice.

The parcel, when opened, was oozing with sauce all around. It was loaded with a huge portion of Chop Suey, and I had to slide off more than half on to a dish in order to see the rice.

 

As the name implied, it was Rice and Chop Suey, but it had more: there were prawns, chicken and baby cuttle fish along with the vegetables. It wasn't hot, but they were of soupy like texture and very filling. 

I guess, I might checkout the other products at Kinjou sometime soon.

Coffee Bean Tea Leaf Restaurant

Firstly, I've heard of this place but had not visited it until today. Yesterday, (3rd November, 2015) was special as Abhirami Prakash from Zomato had invited me for tea at this outlet.


Since this was a complimentary tea, it would be rude to make negative comments, however, Abhirami gave me the go ahead to write my review. Thank you very much Abhirami for taking that burden off me. So here is my review.


The Kollupitiya outlet is located in the new wing of Liberty Plaza (built over the Basement Parking).
It took some time for me to locate the outlet, but I liked  what I saw.

Arriving quite early I took the opportunity to have a look around. I like the layout of the place, it is very spacious. The arrangement resembles a mini bar (only this was serving coffee and tea). There were high tables with high chairs and low tables with comfortable chairs and lounges. Those low tables had a nice design printed on the them resembling tea chests.

There's a wide green board mounted behind the counter giving the menu. The font used for the lettering was not user friendly - that is, sometimes  you have to squint to read them. They could either increase the font size or change the font altogether. It would have been helpful if these same items were available in printed format, especially since the board spans two lengths.


Coffee Bean Tea Leaf staff were generally very polite and helpful, but their activity was reserved ONLY behind the counter. The rest is supposed to be self service, although they didn't tell us that.



Our food was ordered and paid for by Zomato, as such I'm not very sure about the costs. However, I can safely say, the total costs were around Rs. 2,000/=. We ordered Iced Tea Latte and Hot Coffee Latte along with Eclairs and English Muffins with Hazel nuts. They were delivered WITHOUT tissues or sugar.


The muffins were warm and were of the right sweetness. The Iced Tea was a let down. I specifically requested that ONLY the quantity of  milk should be reduced, however, my Iced Tea Latte was minus any sweetness, making it taste like some herbal concoction.



In addition to the above,the restaurant serves salads, wraps and sandwiches made to order. I purchased Tuna wraps and mini eclairs for takeaway with a special request, that the wraps should be made WITHOUT mayonnaise. When I offered to give my receipts, I was told there was no need to do so, they could remember. As such, I didn't check the parcel when it was handed over to me, something I regret now.

 When I reached home, the parcel did  not have the eclairs which was paid for by me. I was really so annoyed, that I called them up on the number mentioned in the bill. There was NO APOLOGY given. Instead he offered to pass on the message to the rest of the staff. They even offered to give me something extra as complimentary when I come to collect the missing eclair. (Assuming I will return of course). Of all the nerve!!

Any way, the Tuna Wrap was simply disappointing. Except for the vegetables, the Tuna was canned fish NOT FRESH FISH. Why should I pay Rs. 750 for a Tuna wrap just to eat it with canned fish?
Definitely NOT RECOMMENDING.