A fusion of many things to dig into

Demi HEWAMANNA

I am a foody, but I know that there are two people in my life (Piumie and Steven) who love food and love to experiment many things, which is why I decided to take them on a tasting spree to get the real feel on the food served to us at Golden Mile.

For an appetizer we were served a batter fried prawn sprinkled with sesame seeds with a dip dish of tartar sauce. Piumie liked this, even though both Steven and I did not appreciate it because the dish had cooled down somewhat and had lost its crispiness. “In their opinions, this lack affected their enjoyment of the appetizer, while I personally enjoyed them. Seasoning was perfect; the toasty nutty flavour of the sesame seeds only added to the flavour of the dish, and the tartar sauce was spot on. Yum”, Piumie went on to say.

For a second appetizer, we ordered their crispy calamari rings, a dish that I recommended, and I was relieved when we got them piping hot and crunchy, and melt-in-your-mouth soft. Calamari cooked quickly and perfectly – just the way it should be.

Unfortunately, the meal began to take a downward trend for us, from this point onwards. Their Cheesy Chicken Kiev with French Fries, Beef Stroganoff with Buttered Rice and Mixed Salad, the “Ceylonese” Pork Chops, and the Arabian Sea Bass with Mint Rice, were dishes recommended to us by our host.

The Cheesy Chicken Kiev was literally stuffed with cheese, and as the first cut was made into it the cheese just oozed out. However, as we each tasted it, we found the flavour of the cheese overpowered the chicken. If you are a cheese fanatic, then this dish would definitely be up your alley, because the cheese was definitely the king here.

The Beef Stroganoff was too creamy for me. It also lacked pepper. The dish is made up of quickly browning thin strips of beef, onions and mushrooms and adding sour cream to make the thick sauce. Although all these elements were in the dish, the sour cream was overpowering for my taste. The dish was reminiscent of the Cheesy Chicken Kiev and the cheesy flavour, prevented me from tasting my mushrooms and – the star of the dish – beef. My two dinner mates were convinced that they had used cheese in the Stroganoff. When I make this dish at home, I like to use extra pepper and a hint of Tabasco or some Thai red curry paste, to add an extra flavour to the dish.

Steven is a lover of all things pork; so for him it was the obvious choice on the menu. Needless to say, he was disappointed at how tough the meat was. The meat should have been falling off the bone with the knife just gliding through that meat. Instead, he had to saw through it and it was extremely chewy.

The Arabian Sea Bass with Mint Rice too needed improving. The fish was not seasoned properly, and we all know that under-seasoned meat and fish is just not right. On the upside, the mint pesto-ish coating was delicious. Unfortunately, only the skin was coated with it and none of that beautiful flavour had permeated the white meat. The mint rice was the star in that dish for me. It was the perfect accompaniment for that fish, although, it felt like it was the fish accompanying the rice (compliments to our host who created the mint rice).

For desserts we chose the dark and white chocolate mousse and the Kahlua Mocha Cake with strawberry syrup. The mousse was too heavy, when it should have been fluffy and light as a feather; and it was the same again with the Kahlua infused mocha cake. Personally I loved the flavour of the mousse, especially the white chocolate mousse. I also loved the combination of flavours in the cake. However, I did note that my cake tasted like bread soaked in liqueur. In fact, I had to question our server regarding that. Odd, isn’t it? Either way, it doesn’t matter, because the flavour combination was nice and both desserts were not too sweet.