Want to try some gourmet eccentricities?
There are 120 dishes on the menu at Kami Maki – it’s a huge variety for a small restaurant, but owner Thoshan Ediriwira wouldn’t have it otherwise. It’s been eight months since they threw open their doors and in that time they’ve become well known for their gourmet eccentricities – things like Japanese rice burgers and tempura battered chocolate cake. While the menu serves up dishes with authentic Japanese flavours, it’s also not afraid to occasionally experiment with a bolder palate, something that will appeal to Sri Lankans who love their food for its heat and spice.
Kami Maki’s signature rice burger
Thoshan has been clever with his décor. He refurbished railway sleepers and converted them into his tables, put up roughwood walls and in general made use of every square metre of his tiny corner plot at the Jawatte Road junction in busy Thimbirigasaya. Having accomplished it all on a budget, he can now extend his savings to his customers in the form of lower prices. It was always his vision for Kami Maki that it would be an affordable, family friendly place, he tells the Sunday Times.
For the young entrepreneur, this is his first “full on” restaurant. A onetime RJ and VJ, Thoshan went on to become the owner of Plan B Event & Venue Management (Pvt.) Ltd. As part of the latter, he and his team take struggling venues and give them a complete makeover – remarketing, rebranding and re-launching them. He was also behind Kamikaze, billed as the ‘first Japanese fusion cocktail bar in Sri Lanka.’
They’re planning to relocate Kamikaze (which first opened at the CR&FC complex) but his experience there has played a hand in deciding what Kami Maki would look like. Wanting to serve “great food without the frills,” Thoshan says he imports most of his ingredients, tapping high end suppliers for A Grade tuna and fresh Norwegian salmon for his sashimi. From the condiments like the Japanese kewpie mayonnaise and authentic sauces to the fresh produce, “everything is of five star quality,” he says, explaining that keeping their cost comparatively low is only possible because they manage their overheads with great care.
But it’s the food that keeps people coming back. Food prices cover the spectrum from Rs. 170 – Rs. 750 and include crowd pleasing favourites like the California roll (Rs.620) and spicy tuna salad maki (Rs. 450) as well as a range of tempura, teppanyaki, teriyaki and karage dishes (Rs. 420 – Rs. 720). The latter are available in multiple versions including beef, chicken, fish, shrimp, as well as shitake mushroom and tofu.
Things get interesting when you wander into the fusion menu: the aubergine stir fried with miso (Rs. 450), the tonkatsu prawns (Rs. 720) and the pan fried okra with wasabi mayo (Rs. 450) are all likely unique to this menu in Sri Lanka. Thoshan says months after the novelty has worn off, they’re still doing brisk business with their signature rice burgers. Served with lettuce, pickles, chilli and wasabi mayo, with ‘buns’ made of toasted sticky rice, these come with a number of different fillings including vege fry (Rs. 550), teriyaki beef (Rs. 650) and surf & turf (Rs. 690).
Thoshan used to spend hours every day here when they first opened, but he’s now confident his team has found its feet. At its head is a chef with 25 years of experience working in Japan and Dubai. Run by a staff of 14, Kami Maki is kept open from 11 a.m. to 11 p.m. For his part, Thoshan is happy to report that business has been good. If all goes well, they’ll be ready to open another outlet (or two) early next year.
“Our goal was always to be the most reasonable without compromising on quality,” he says. It’s a motto that’s likely to only win them the hearts of more diners as they set their sights on expansion. Find Kami Maki online at: https://www.facebook.com/kamimakicolombo.