Once every three/four months, the Green Path near Viharamahadevi Park gets packed with some of the best people in town – AKA food lovers. Colombo doesn’t have a shortage of food festivals at the moment, but EAT Street CMB (not to be confused with CMB Street Shopping & Food Festival) stands out from the lot for three reasons.
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They feature the largest number of food and clothing vendors
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They roll for two days – 12 hours on each day from morning to evening
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And they've got a number of eating challenges where you can just eat and win some more food
Basically, EAT Street CMB is a place that gives the opportunity to local food -related businesses and initiatives to exhibit their products, while providing a safe space for foodies to enjoy them while chilling on the street. Also, in the evening, it throws some of the best bashes in town.
The next EAT Street CMB kicks off this weekend (1st and 2nd of September), from 10am – 10pm, so let us share our experience from the last one they had in May 2018.
Food & Drinks
The last EAT Street CMB lined up over 30 vendors, featuring different kinds of food, clothing and whatnot. Some of them were extensions of existing restaurants/shops, while the majority are home based, independent stalls. The participation of the food vendors was higher as always (obviously!), and we tried a few of the many options they had to offer.
We started off with one of Panini Express's delicious Roast Paan (Rs. 350). Tucked in between a nicely toasted, crispy roast paan, this one was well stuffed with pol sambol, mushroom and grilled cheese. The mushroom itself had a hint of soy sauce, probably because it was devilled with a Chinese twist.
The Chicken Mayo Roti (Rs. 220) at Roti Cafe was simply brilliant. It came as a paratha roti (or you can choose between any other roti – godamba, naan, pol roti and tortilla), that had a nice spicy curry chicken filling in it. The lettuce on top added a fresh feel to it, while the handful of crispy nachos gave an extra crunchy addition to munch on.
Despite being a hefty portion, Kamra's Chicken Kottu (Rs. 400) didn't live up to our expectations. On the bright side of things, it was full of succulent bits of roasted chicken, they hadn't skimped on the veggies, and the whole dish oozed with pepper. Although, the kottu was very dry, and we couldn't quite locate the cheese, sadly not even milk – except for one or two tiny bits of mozzarella.
We tried a Narang Juice from the same place (Rs. 200) and it was pretty decent. It had all the basic elements in the perfectly balanced manner, was very refreshing, and made for a great thirst quencher to beat the blistering Lankan heat.
Gami Gedara – Ur Zest is a familiar face around Colombo Good Market, and we spotted them at the last EAT Street CMB. Their Ginger Sour Mint (Rs. 200) was excellent with strong minty and limey notes, while the punch that emerges from ginger leaves a refreshing feel on our palates. We loved this!
No Sri Lankan food festival is complete without a achcharu stall, and EAT Street CMB has got that covered too. We got a bowl of Diwul Achcharu (Rs. 200) from Tasty Achcharu, and it was superbly spicy and decently tasty.
Last but not least, we tried a couple of flavors from Jolly's Ice Cream – a place well known for their homemade ice cream with a super authentic Sri Lankan touch.
While the Swiss Chocolate had a very decadent chocolatiness, and wasn't crazy-sweet, the Mango ice cream made us feel like biting into a fresh karthakolomban. It was deliciously sweet, with a tinge of natural sweetness. In terms of texture, the ice creams were a rich, lush, and creamy. We highly recommend you try them out at the next EAT Street CMB.
Aside from these, there were a bunch of other vendors, including Wafflemania, Big Bag Wolf, Treats & Stuff, Frosty Roll, Burger Man, Ape Appa Kade, Rocco's, Yaal on Wheels, WTF, Sarath Books, and OMG Clothing etc. If none of them interest you, there's always brands like Kottumee and Redbull to save your day.
Service & Ambience
The service at all the stalls were great. They're all smiles, friendly and super excited to serve your food, and let you explore their collections.
The ambience is very upbeat, entertaining and chillaxing. The mornings here are less crowded, but if you want to get the full experience of this event, we suggest you drop by in the evening. Because that's when the real fun starts – including the Colombo eating challange.
What Else?
The seating space here is very limited, but it's no hassle as Viharamahadevi Park is right next to it. Make sure to take enough cash with you, because only a few stalls have POS machines with them.
Also, FriMi has been partnering up with EAT Street CMB for a while now, so you can pay through that as well.
Overall
If you haven't been to EAT Street CMB yet, I suggest you do try it out. It's fun, not very expensive, and a good way to relax and enjoy some quality time with your loved ones, with some good food in your belly.
