The Galle Face Hotel (GFH) is that grand dame of Colombo that never disappoints. Visiting the hotel is an experience in itself, from driving into the driveway to entering its pristine lobby. Though the look of the hotel has changed over the years (and rightly so, given that the hotel was established in 1864), that feeling of relaxed grandeur is as strong as ever.
It’s no secret that the last few years have been troubled for the hospitality industry, and the coming year or two don’t look to be a respite, given the magnitude of the economic crisis. Still, Galle Face Hotel, like the grand dame it is, perseveres and does so with splendour.
The Sunday Morning Brunch found ourselves at this great establishment last weekend to see something new from Galle Face Hotel come to life for the very first time – a weekend dinner experience conceptualised by the team to give guests a hit of spice to kick off the weekend.
Held at GFH’s trademark dining venue The Verandah, this dinner experience titled Chilli Breeze takes place every Friday and offers its guests a culinary tour of Sri Lanka, India, Japan, and the rest of Asia.
The salad bar at Chilli Breeze
The first of many stellar experiences to come
Speaking to Brunch, GFH Vice President – Sales and Marketing Mubarak Gaffoor said: “The Verandah used to be the Galle Face Hotel’s authentic Sri Lankan restaurant, and now, we have created a themed night that celebrates that. We’re hoping to have other theme nights introduced as well in the near future. Chilli Breeze, which is the first theme night we have launched, opens today (26 August) and is one that focuses on Asian flavours from three of our specialty chefs. Over the coming weeks, we will be enhancing the Chilli Breeze experience to become more diverse.”
GFH’s new Culinary Director, Chef Rukmal Samarasekara also shared with us how Chilli Breeze was the first of many dining experiences GFH hopes to offer to its guests. “The idea was to do a theme night that celebrated our three specialty chefs. Chilli Breeze showcases a huge variety of dishes from Sri Lanka, India, and Japan. The buffet includes over 100 dishes for guests to enjoy. What makes Chilli Breeze so special is that it focuses on regional food and ingredients, and the balance of spices that come with traditional flavours and the expertise of our chefs.”
Some other culinary experiences GFH hopes to introduce in the near future include a themed Thursday night that fetes Mediterranean and Italian cuisine, a garden brunch dining experience, and a breakfast feast on Sundays that showcases the GFH’s special range of home-made infused honeys, pastries, and other breakfast staples.
Chilli Breeze is designed to be a relaxed but powerful dining experience that gives guests the perfect start to a weekend of sugar, spice, and everything nice.
The fruit of a skilled cohort
Chilli Breeze is the collaborative effort of three of GFH’s most celebrated chefs coming together under Chef Rukmal’s guidance with the support of Consultant Chef Saman Jayawardena. Each chef has their own distinct speciality and oversees the part of the buffet that serves the food they are best known for: Junior Sous Chef Sarath Kumara is the GFH’s resident Sri Lankan cuisine specialist; Sous Chef Chamila Perera, who boasts years of experience training and cooking the globally renowned Japanese group of restaurants – Nobu, excels at all styles of Japanese cooking; and Senior Chef de Partie Sarath Wijekoon for his incredible Indian recipes from all regions of the vast country.
The Chilli Breeze experience
Now that we’ve waxed lyrical about the Chilli Breeze experience and its creators, let’s move on to the food.
The spread was gigantic, with well over 100 dishes. Despite this focus on quantity, quality was not at all compromised. In fact, every dish we tasted (and no, we weren’t able to taste all the dishes, but not for lack of trying) was exemplary.
Chilli Breeze welcomes you with an immaculately presented ‘kadala’ cart that has all the little snacks and treats you’d expect to find at any ‘kadala’ cart at Galle Face Green, and its wares were well worth the stop.
The dessert buffet is what you see at first, and though unusual, the pretty arrangement and colours of the buffet (not to mention a discreet hit of sugar to start the evening) does wonders to get you in the mood to really go to town.
Brunch started our Chilli Breeze foray at the Japanese section of the buffet, sampling the range of sushi available (six different types, all beautifully composed and almost too pretty to eat. Our favourite was the spicy salmon roll, which had a crispy crust, and we went back for thirds.)
We also tried Chef Chamila’s Beef Teriyaki and Chicken Katsu and his soy ramen, all with sauces and broths he had made personally from scratch. The dishes were unbelievably warm and comforting, and each dish had a subtle balance of spice and umami that kept us wanting more, but alas, we had two other regions to cover.
Chef Sarath Wijekoon’s offering for the evening had a North Indian feel to it, but South India was also well represented, with vadais, dosas, and sambar. For us, however, the North Indian-influenced dishes stole the show – our stars were the Rajasthani mutton, the Jhinga Pasanda – a creamy prawn curry not unlike Jaffna-style prawn curry, and the Paneer Kadai.
The Sri Lankan spread was ginormous, with a host of common dishes as well as dishes that we don’t always see. For instance, Chef Sarath Kumara had put together a flavourful curry of green pea cakes. Our Sri Lankan showstoppers were, however, the Musard Stewed Pork, the Crab and Coconut Cream Curry, and the Jackfruit Curry, which Chef Sarath said took hours to make and had various stages of slow cooking and tempering.
All in all, the Chilli Breeze is one that can happily transport a foodie into a well-deserved food coma. Each dish was superbly done, and the ambience of The Verandah, as always, was sublime. It was a windy night though, so there was a bit of a chilly breeze (pun intended).
PHOTOS © SAMAN ABESIRIWARDANA