We weren't the most enthusiastic when we left the office to go to B-Leaf. I mean, come on. It was past 3 pm, we've already had our evening tea. A buth kadey? Now?? Anyhow, we managed to drag our lazy butts to Boralasgamuwa, and we're glad we did so.
Ambience
The entire place is dedicated to history – well, more like recent history. From mud walls, goani curtains, and wooden tables to antique wardrobes, sewing machines, and a gramophone, every bit of interior here carries a very gami theme. They've decorated the mud walls from the pictures of Colombo from days of yore, while the classical Sinhalese music plays from an ancient radio fills the room (the radio doesn't work, they had a modern radio on the back. We asked).
Food
This place had a steady stream of customers even by mid-afternoon, and also a couple of tourists. The fact that they still had more than 15 dishes piling with food at 3 pm helped us understand why.
From noodles to red and white rice to fried rice, they had multiple options to choose from. You get to pick six curries to accompany your buth plate, and that's inclusive of a protein (chicken, curry fish, fish ambul thiyal, cuttlefish curry, or pork) of your choice as well. This might be quite difficult since they had like every curry we could possibly think of.
Anyhow, let's start with this Cuttlefish Rice (Rs. 300), shall we? The rice, the main factor of the plate was served straight off a cooking pot so it was streaming when we got it. The ladies fingers curry was spot on. It was super creamy with lots of mustard infused to it and cooked to perfection. The polos curry, was cooked to the point where it was almost falling apart at the touch. Don't get me wrong, it's a good thing. This way, the spices all have the freedom to leech on to the fruit.
Another beaut on this plate was the cuttlefish curry. It was brilliantly spicy without being rubbery at all. And hey, they serve quite a bit of it and plenty of gravy. However, the onion sambol wasn't the best. It could have done with more lime and chilli flakes.
Featured here is the Fish Ambul Thiyal Rice (Rs. 250). The hero on this dish was the ambarella curry. You can't see it that well in this picture but hands down, it is one of the best ambarella curries we've had. It was deliciously tangy, oozed out with a peppery hit, and had a good amount of well-cooked ambarella in it. Its gravy was thick and it was infused with cinnamon sticks, which added for the extra flavor.
Not a lot of places have ambul thiyal and the ones who do, tend to screw it up sometimes. However, B-Leaf's ambul thiyal was really well done with plenty of goraka. The Beetroot salad and the Karapincha Baduma were flavourful condiments.
The Chicken Rice (Rs. 260) had a giant piece of chicken which was super tender with enough flavours and spices to go on. With truckloads of onion bits, the Gotukola Sambol was nice and fresh, but a bit more lime would have been great. The cucumber salad was also quite fresh with plenty of green chilli mixed in it. Nice and creamy with plenty of mustard seeds to give that extra kick, their pumpkin curry was super good as well.
This messy yet delectable plate of goodness has the pork curry. At Rs. 290, it came with actual meaty pieces you guys, not just the fatty bits. Most of it is hidden underneath that colossal piece of papadum, but even then you can tell that this pork curry looks good. The meat was soft, easily falls apart, and it was rich in spices, leaving us wanting more.
With plenty of spicy sweetness in it, soya curry was alright. The dhal curry wasn't all bad, but could've been better if it was milkier.
B-Leaf has a few dessert options like watalappan, fruit salad, ice cream, and caramel pudding. We went with the Caramel Pudding and the Watalappan (Rs. 80 each).
Unfortunately, they tasted the same. Both of them were overly sweet, and very dense as opposed to being creamy. Probably because they were sitting in the fridge for a while.
The Drinks
Aside from the usual soft drinks, B-Leaf offers a few premade fruit juices. We tried their Lime Juice (Rs. 60), which tasted like a weird mix between cordial lime juice and natural lime. The Papaya (Rs.60) on the other hand was thick but tasted kind of watery which could have been the fault of the fruit, or probably too much water.
Conclusion
We really liked our experience at B-Leaf. The place was beautiful and the food was done really well. The staff was efficient as well. In all honesty, we really think you should try it out if you end up anywhere close by and looking for some great rice and curry.
