Alumka is a hole in the wall take out joint that does good Sri Lankan food and a pretty decent Chinese fried rice.
Alumka Food Cabin has been very successful since they opened up their take out restaurant in Battaramulla several years ago. They offer a variety of food from Rice and Curry and Chinese Fried Rice Packets to Kotthu, Hoppers and even Vegetable Rotti and Wadè. Nowadays, come dinner time, you will find their little hole in the wall frenzied by crowds of hungry people.
Like so many bath kades in and around the city, Alumka offers you a choice of 4 curry dishes to go with your choice of Chicken, Fish or Hard Boiled Egg. Peering through their glass showcase, I opted to have the Chicken rice with Carrots, Katta Karawala (dry fish), Dhal and a funny looking vegetable that I thought was green gram but was sadly disappointed to find out it was not. They have a sound selection of curry options and at Rs. 160/= for the chicken rice, I thought it was pretty good value for money.
The rice was soft and rich, the Katta Karawala – very salty, yet probably preferable that way. The Dhal was honestly perfect; not too dry and not too watery, and the taste – excellent. The Carrot Curry was creamy, succulent and full of flavour. I don’t think it could have been any better! The Chicken, however, was a bit too salty on this particular occasion. Although still tolerable, I felt it was quite a let down from the almost flawless food they normally provide.
Their Chicken Fried rice, which I had a chance to try out over the weekend, was also decent; they offer a small piece of chicken, a creamy chop suey (very nice) and chili paste to top off a huge mountain of rice. If you just want a small nibble, you could probably share the rice with another person, but be wary of the tiny piece of chicken which comes with it!
All in all it’s a really good place to go to if you’re tired of the standard home cooked food. I would recommend the Rice and Curry (available for lunch), and the Chicken Fried Rice (just don’t expect authentic Chinese, this is at best a good rendition of the Sri Lankan style Chinese Fried Rice packet).
