Navaratna is an Indian Restaurant located in Taj Samudra Colombo. Taj Samudra is a 5-star hotel in Colombo facing Sri Lanka’s historic Galle Face Green and offers enchanting views of the Indian Ocean.
The ambience created a calm and peaceful aura which was set by colourful wall murals. The restaurant echoed the music of old hindi songs which made us feel nostalgic.
Complimentary starters
- Papadum and chutney and mint chilli dip
We were offered some fresh, crispy papadum along with two exciting dips to get our appetite ready for the rest of the meal. The two dips we were offered were a minty, green chilli dip and a sweet chutney dip. The papadum went well with both dips, but the green chilli dip was our favourite.
Beverages
- Mango Lassi
The Mango Lassi was probably one of the best Mango Lassies we have tasted. It was thick, reach and creamy with the perfect balance of tanginess.
Price: LKR 1100
- Fresh Watermelon Juice
The restaurant also serves other drinks and beverages such as fresh fruit drinks and soft drinks that haven’t been mentioned on the menu. We decided to try the Fresh Watermelon Juice. It was served at a chill temperature and was a refreshing drink with minimal sugar.
Appetizers
- Paneer Methi Tikka
This dish was served at a sizzling temperature straight from the oven. The dish was a summation of Homemade Cottage Cheese marinated with selected fenugreek, cooked in a clay oven. The manager advised us to dip the cottage cheese with some of the chilli dips we received earlier. We loved this dish and highly recommend you try it!
Price: LKR 2050
- Fish Kalongi Tikka
This Modha fish dish was also served straight from the oven, the sizzle from the dish lasted a good 5 minutes but we couldn’t wait, we dug into it anyway. This dish included chunky slices of Modha fish, marinated with yoghurt, and onion spices broiled in a clay oven.
Price: LKR 2,800
Mains
- Jheenga Parat Biriyani
Biriyani is probably one of everyone’s favourite Indian dishes which is why we knew we HAD TO try it on your behalf. Served in a traditional clay pot, this biriyani was served hot-hot. It was accompanied by raita and some onion, cucumber and tomatoes. The biriyani was absolutely delicious and each bite was packed with spicy flavours. The prawns included in the biriyani were juicy jumbo prawns that just added more flavour to the whole dish. We highly recommend you try this biriyani.
Price: LKR
- Bread Assortment
Another dish we had to try was Naan. We ordered a serving of naan/roti and paratha. We received plain naan, butter naan and garlic naan and paratha. The bread was fresh and crispy.
Price: LKR 1500
- Malai Kofta
In case you didn’t know, Malai Kofta is a dish with large cutlet-like dumplings of spinach and cottage cheese and potato and is filled with nuts fried and simmered tomato and coconut gravy. This dish wasn’t as delicious as we expected. Once we tried it with the naan and the other curries together, it tasted much better.
Price: LKR 1800
- Murg Makhanwala
This is a dish with cubes of boneless chicken (cooked to perfection), simmered in fenugreek and rich, thick tomato gravy. The flavour in the gravy of this dish was out of this world. It went so well with the butter naan, garlic naan and paratha. We highly recommend you try this dish with the bread assortment basket.
Price: LKR 2200
- Gosht Roganjosh
If you like mutton, you should definitely try this dish. This dish was super flavourful and consisted of very rich gravy and succulent meat which easily complemented each other it was cooked extremely well and it fell apart from the bone easily.
Price: LKR 2600
Desserts
- Gulab Jamun
Gulab Jamun, also known as Rose water berry is one of the most popular Indian desserts, everyone has either tried it or heard of it. The Gulab Jamun, just like everything else we were served, was served hot-hot. Each bite we took was soft, sweet and delightful. It may come off as too sweet to some of us, which is why we would advise you to share it with someone else. We enjoyed this dessert.
Price: LKR 1500
The Indian cuisine is one of the most popular cuisines in Sri Lanka and Restaurant Navaratna at Taj Samudra, Colombo are one of the best places to go for Indian Food. From the hotel, to the staff and customer service to the mouth watering menu, we had a lovely dining experience and we’re sure you would, too!
