Spice up your Sunday with an Indonesian brunch
Whether you prefer cuisine which does not veer too far from the Sri Lankan flavours or refuse to eat anything which isn’t authentic, there just might be something for you at today’s brunch buffet at Shangri-La hotel, Colombo which features authentic Indonesian cuisine.
Three Indonesian chefs from Shangri-La Hotel, Jakarta, Chef Anton Sujarwo, Chef Meidi Yanto and Chef Nur Budiyono will be creating the dishes on offer at Table One, Shangri-La’s popular restaurant and were on hand to introduce their dishes at a recent preview.
The ‘Tahu Isi’ (Stuffed Tofu) comprises batter-fried tofu stuffed with vegetables. Flavourful on its own, the dish shone when paired with the peanut sauce it was served with. The ‘Lumpiah Basah’ (Fresh Spring roll) was intriguing as the spring roll itself was not deep fried. Better still was the ‘Gado Gado’ (Indonesian salad) of slightly boiled, blanched and steamed vegetables coupled with hard-boiled eggs, boiled potato, fried tofu, tempeh and lontong, served with a peanut sauce dressing. It was impossible to detect that there were no carbs in the dish and the lack of meat was not felt either.
The three chefs from Jakarta: Cooking up flavourful fare. Pix by M.A. Pushpa Kumara
The ‘Rujak Bali’ (Indonesian Fruit Salad) is sure to interest anyone who loves achcharu. The ‘Soto Ayam’ (yellow spicy chicken soup) was a wholesome and soulful dish indeed – complete with noodles, an egg and a flavourful broth.
The ‘Rendang daging’ (Beef rendang) was a favourite among many with its thick, spicy, coconut flavoured gravy made even more interesting with the added peanut sauce. For anyone who loves spicy food, there’s the ‘Cumi Cumi Sambal Hijau’ (Stir Fried Calamari with Green Chili). With its tinge of light green from the ample crushed chilli, it looks rather dangerous, but didn’t taste quite so spicy, and all was good until two minutes later! The spice creeps up on you with this one so watch out! The ‘Sate Ayam/Kaming /Sapi’ /(Satay Chicken/Lamb /Beef) were all well flavoured and tasted good on their own, but again the peanut sauce made all the difference.
For dessert there was the ‘Klepon’ (Rice ball with Coconut Filling), ‘Kolak’ (Stewed Sweet Potato and Banana in Coconut Milk), the ‘Talam Ubi’ (Cassava Cake), ‘Onde onde’ (Sweet Pandan roll) and the ‘Pisang Goreng’ (Fried banana with cinnamon sugar and Vanilla Sauce). Overall, the desserts were quite different – the Asian ingredients such as coconut flakes and Cassava shining in each dessert.
Priced at Rs. 3950, today’s brunch is on from 12.30 p.m. to 3.30 p.m. at Table One. For reservations, call Shangri-La at (+94) 117 888 288 or email restaurants.slcb@shangri-la.com.