European, Mediterranean and a touch of home

Demi Hewamanna and Dilanka Manakkara

Set in a little corner road of Duplication Road and nestled quite beautifully and silently, you would find one of Colombo's unique and magnificent boutique hotel - the Colombo Courtyard.

When you drive down Duplication road in the morning hours or afternoon you would not notice this white building standing with simple class and beauty on to your left. But when you take a drive in the night you will automatically do a u-turn to check out this place with its dim, pleasingly pleasurable colours igniting from the first and the second floors and basically getting your attention and letting you know that something new has come back there.

Recently Dilanka and I were invited by the wonderful Marketing and Public Relations Manager and our hostess for the day Niranga Gunaratna to check out their latest menu at their Scarlet Room Restaurant.

Located on the first floor of the Courtyard, the Scarlet Room boasts of simple and classical beauty that is very different from other restaurants. As many restaurants set their surrounding to match the theme of the name, the Scarlet Room itself gives you a very charming and relaxed feeling. The light colours on the wall, the amazing collection of black and white pictures.

If you are a fan of black and white pictures in general then this would be an ideal place for you to sit down, admire the pictures while enjoying a good meal.

As we took our seats, we were soon introduced to the Executive Chef of Scarlet Room Chef Dr. K Jayantha. Yes, that's right, Doctor and he happens to be the only PhD holder in Sri Lanka. Leaving Sri Lanka in 1988, he has been in and around Europe for 21 years and travelled to 87 countries and has been based in UK and Italy.

He joined the IMI University Centre, a leading Hotel Management School in Switzerland where he excelled in Cookery and Hotel Management and got a doctorate as well. Dr. Jayantha also lectured at the University of Sapori and ran his own restaurant.

He is very much specialized in global cuisine and loves to fuse Italian and Mediterranean cuisine which is very much what he whipped up for us at the Restaurant.

Dilanka's take on the menu

The delicious looking menu at Scarlet room boasts of exquisite Mediterranean and fusion food prepared by Chef Dr. Jayantha. I had a signature Ambarella mocktail which was both refreshing and fizzy to start off a grand meal. The tangy mocktail had fresh ambarella juice, soda and sugar mixed together and it had a pretty strong taste. It gives you that kick in to your taste buds with its sweet and sour taste.

The soup was served which happened to be Cream of Asparagus was absolutely mouthwatering. I am not an asparagus fan, in fact I detest it but this soup was creamy, rich in texture and the asparagus flavour wasn't overpowering it. This is a must TRY!

Vegetarians are surely going to love the Scarlet Room for the quality and the taste of vegetable food they offer .Being a meat fan, I absolutely devoured the scrumptious vegetable dishes.

Demi: I too agree with Dilanka on the soup. It is a must try and you must really have it as soon as it comes to the table and drink it before the steam goes off.

Dilanka: It was the time for the main dishes and if I had to pick that "one dish", it had to be the Fuseli pasta with zucchini and leeks which again was a vegetarian dish. The grilled chicken breast was done to perfection but I felt it lacked a bit of flavour.

Being an Italian cuisine specialist Dr. Jayantha's risotto with chicken and mushroom was another top pick of mine. The risotto which is one of the simplest dishes to prepare yet so difficult to master had just the right amount of concentration, texture and creaminess. However the "Broccoli hot butter" was the dish that blew me away especially since fresh broccoli has a slight bitter taste and I have never ever come across a Broccoli hot butter before.

It tasted just like its original "the hot butter cuttlefish" but it is way more nutritious and healthy than the local favorite .The hot butter broccoli is Dr. Jayantha's signature dish and the crispy batter fried broccoli just melts in your mouth. This is definitely a "MUST TRY" once again.

You will be spoilt for choices for your sweet tooth when it comes to selecting your dessert. I usually prefer my desserts to be not overly sweet, so Dr. Jayantha's selection exactly fits my bill. Do not forget to try out their specialty, the original Italian Tiramisu which has to be one of the best tiramisus available in Sri Lanka. The mint mousse was creamy, not overly sweet and leaves a refreshing taste in your mouth. The Black and White chocolate tower which is a dessert in between a mousse and a cake has a lovely rich milk and dark chocolate flavour.

Demi: My take on the food really goes for the risotto and of course the Black and White chocolate tower has to be eaten in one gulp. Being new, being hidden in the noisiest part of town, one can always find peace in this restaurant and not bother about what takes place a few inches away from them. It's perfect for family, its perfect for those lovebirds (specially in the night) and perfect for just even dining on your own (if you really want to) and keep the worries away as you taste the cuisine of another world combined with something you are always familiar with.