There’s butter beer on the menu at Rama’s Tea House. It comes chilled and topped with a thick cap of froth. It’s made from as authentic a recipe as you could hope to find outside Hogsmead and the Harry Potter theme park. Flavoured with butterscotch and vanilla ice cream (and in this case boasting an additional liquid layer of cold black tea) it invites you to take one big gulp of sweet, fizzy goodness. Just remember to wipe your froth moustache off afterwards.
Rama’s, which opened its doors just last month, also serves Pumpkin juice (both drinks are priced at Rs. 225) and they hope to add more delicacies from the Hogwarts universe before the year is out. (In case you were wondering, they’re non-alcoholic.)
To add to the excitement, both drinks will also win you a free wooden wand. Serving them up from behind the tea bar is manager Harsha Ramanayake and he says Rama’s hopes to win more young fans away from the coffee houses and into tea drinking with their clever strategy. Harsha explains that they incorporate tea into all their beverages, whether it’s the Pom Tea (green tea + pomegranate) or serving up an unusual mug of ‘chocolatea’ (both priced at Rs.300). They’ve also developed a cream soda substitute made with tea which is incorporated into some of the drinks.
On the menu are interesting combinations including Tearamusu (Rs.150) featuring Iramusu syrup, green tea and chopped ginger and ‘Hang over remedy’ (Rs. 150) made with green tea, spearmint and King Coconut.
With its butter yellow walls covered in painted owls and gleaming wooden furniture the Tea House a welcoming space. Free wifi is part of the deal. In one corner there’s a TV surrounded by low, rounded armchairs and on the other a large snooker table dominates the space. Right up front though are the place’s main attraction. Big jars full of fruit flavoured teas and shelves of clay teapots are on sale and the original packing cases are stacked behind the bar counter.
Chairman Sarathchandra Ramanayake says he’s been in the tea business for four years and that Rama’s is a space for them to market their own teas. Sarath, who also owns the boutique hotel ‘Boulder Garden’ and ‘Rainforest Edge’, saw another niche market waiting to be developed when he realised that there was a shortage of good tea bars in Colombo. It was also a matter of fish and chips – he wanted to replicate some of the flavours so popular in fish and chip shops abroad.
Accordingly, Rama’s signature dish is a hearty portion of batter fried fish and thick, real potato fries (Rs. 495). Chicken winglets (Rs.275), mushroom sandwiches (Rs.225) and fish sandwiches (Rs. 325) are among the other items on the menu. In the end, Rama’s seem confident that there’s a demand for what they’re offering. After all Sarath’s test group have given the place their stamp of approval - his teenage children aged 13 and 15 are Potter fans and approve of what’s on offer.
Rama's tea house is located at No. 935, Ethulkotte. |
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