Gami Gedara (ගැමි ගෙදර) offers a buffet-style dining experience. From Mixed Rice to Biriyani to Rice and Curry, their food is as fresh as it is good.
"But Sarah, what's so special about this place? It's just another buth kadey. Stick to food videos, please."
What makes this place special is it's rather mod interior and their smart use of compartment-trays on which your food is served. It's the little things that make something stand out.
Food
The Rice and Curry (Rs. 160 for the veg option) is served buffet-style. You get to pick and choose what curries you want, what rice you'd prefer etc. Our curries of choice consisted of pol sambol, polos, beetroot, dhal, onion salad and of course; poppadoms. Each curry was fresh and seasoned adequately.
The red rice had a rich, nutty flavour coming through which complimented the add-ons.
It's healthy, so that's an added bonus.
The Mixed Rice (Rs. 350) was basically bits of sausage, chicken and vegetables incorporated into fried rice. By default you are served portions of chop suey, coleslaw, gravy and chilli paste but you can switch them up as you wish and also pick your meat of choice.
Vishvi opted for a hefty helping of pork and her verdict was positive. She says the pork was soft, spicy and there was actual meat as opposed to the usual chunks of fat.
The Biriyani (Rs. 350) isn't traditional biriyani, but it's still very good. The rice tasted like chicken stock, came with chopped cilantro and plenty of caramelised onions scattered about. The chicken was a little tough on the outside but soft on the inside.
It didn't shine and was rather bland but we're not complaining.
The egg was just added on for decorative purposes as it was extremely rubbery, so we didn't bother with that.
Service & Ambience
Service is pretty much DIY. You order over the counter, help yourself to drinks from the fridge and pay at said counter once you're done eating. Mysteriously enough there are a LOT of people hanging out behind the counter so they aren't under-staffed.
The place is cute, with wooden tables and chairs painted bright colours like blue and green. The counter is presented in true local style with clay pots and banana leaves used as utensils.
It was unbearaby hot and stuffy inside, but they fixed that by turning the AC on. The AC was leaky but they fixed that by not acknowledging it.
Conclusion
If you're ever in Nugegoda around lunch time, head to Gami Gedara. Their food is top-notch and you'll get your money's worth.
