Get those fish nibbling at your toes at Lords
View(s):It’s late afternoon and a Swedish couple, just winding up a two-week holiday are enjoying the sunlit pergola, trying out the fish spa at Lords, feet dangling in the water. “This is my first time,” says Lena Johannson, a receptionist in a health farm back home . She says she initially felt ticklish when the fish attached themselves to her feet but good nevertheless. She had wanted to try it before but not had the chance. Her husband Niklas Johannson concurs.
Swedish couple Lena and Niklas Johannson at the Lords fish spa
Fish spas are all the rage in the South East Asian capitals of Bangkok and Singapore where you pay hefty sums for the luxury of having shoals of Doctor fish nibble away the impurities from your feet. Few are aware that at Lords, a popular restaurant in Negombo you can enjoy the experience for free.
Located in Negombo’s busy hotel strip on Poruthota Road Ethukala, Lords is owned and managed by Englishman Martin Fullerton who is very much a hands-on proprietor. His restaurant reflects his abiding love for cricket: there’s the Batsman Restaurant, the Bowlers Restaurant, LBW Cocktail and Wine Bar, the Umpires Lounge and Art Gallery and the Boundaries Garden and now the newly opened Oval, a restaurant dedicated to seafood.
Lords, officially opened by President Mahinda Rajapaksa in May 2004 is packed nightly with tourists and Lankans savouring Martin’s spread of international cuisine and the music dished out by a live band. TripAdvisor gave Lords a service of excellence award in 2012 setting the seal on its success.
But Martin is a believer in offering something new and different. Lords has an art gallery to interest visitors keen on seeing local art and his latest additions of the Doctor Fish Spa and the Oval restaurant are proving a hit. Of the former, he says, “In Europe it costs something like 50 Euros for 20 minutes at a fish spa and here they have it free. “People are queuing up for it, it’s that popular.”
Martin Fullerton
The concept is simple. Located in the open courtyard are two long troughs with convenient cemented stools on the side where patrons can sit and immerse their feet in the water to be beseiged by a hungry shoal of fish! Once the initial squeamishness wears off, it’s a therapeutic experience.
The fish spa was proposed to Martin by local seafood exporter Shan Meegama whose company Tropical Oysters operating from nearby Pamunugama deals with live seafood. The Doctor Fish Foot spa has the Garru Rufa fish aka Doctor Fish that was exported to spas in other countries, says Shan who then had the idea that it could be done here. This fish filters all the algae at the bottom of the river. “They will nibble all the dead skin and then move off,” he explains. It’s like a foot massage, it has a stimulating effect. “We have tourists trying to immerse their whole bodies in the water, they like it so much,” Shan adds.
Stringent hygiene is practised at the fish spa and the water is changed often, filtered and UV lights used. Patrons have to wash their feet first and those with cuts or wounds are of course, not permitted to use the fish spa.
The Oval offers not just seafood on the menu but live seafood in tanks for customers to make their pick of sea bass, prawns, mussels, garoupa, lobster, oysters and trevally. Lords is in partnership with Tropical Oysters Ltd, and the Pitipana Aquaculture Centre, located in the Negombo Lagoon that is associated with the Department of Aquaculture and Fisheries.
Martin is proud that at the Oval is supporting aquaculture, being one of the few restaurants in the country to offer live seafood. The entire process is totally transparent and guests can watch the food they choose being prepared in their gallery style kitchen.“Our kitchens are like theatres where you can stand and watch the food being prepared,” he says.
And if you have time to spare, there’s a boat tour of the Negombo Lagoon which enables a closer look at how the aquaculture is done while also taking in the birdlife and lagoon scenes.
Martin’s other great passion is his animals and the Hope Foundation which he founded is dedicated to improving the lives of Negombo’s dogs and cats. Martin himself shares his home with 37 dogs and 7 cats.
The Foundation’s goal is to vaccinate 200 dogs every month in Sri Lanka, even in war zone areas, he says for which he also works with the Tsunami Animals People Alliance (TAFA).
Patrons to his restaurant are encouraged to make a donation to the Foundation whose work involves neutering, vaccinating undertaking hospitalisation and rehoming. There’s also an animal distress line; should you see an animal in Negombo that you feel needs rescuing all you need to do is call 0777 580586.
For Martin who takes his responsibilities as an investor seriously, the island has been home for more than ten years and though he returns to the beautiful Cotswolds where he grew up every two years, “this is home now”.
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