Rice & Curry
Their spread of rice and curries isn't massive. We saw around 8 – 10 curries alongside white rice, and they also make Fried Rice on request.
This is our plate of Prawn Rice & Curry (Rs. 250). Five curries of your choosing, which also includes a protein, they serve a generous helping of rice to go with it.
We really missed the strong curry flavours here, which is the highlight of Lankan food. The parippu curry was milky, and the amberella had a tinge of sweetness to it, but there was nothing much to go on. Our saving graces were the prawns and beans. Both of them were nicely thel daalaa, and had a sprinkle of chilli flakes to make things interesting.
However, just 4 small prawns per plate? Not acceptable.
For our Chicken Rice & Curry (Rs. 200), we opted for kiri kos, parippu, mallum and bonchi thel daalaa. Aside from the bonchi, everything else was mildly spiced. The kiri kos curry had a dominating milky flavour, which overpowered whatever the spices they had infused in it.
We got a massive piece of chicken. Cooked well, and easily fell apart, it was alright – a little more curry powder would have made it better.
Ambience & Service
It's your basic buth kadey – nothing fancy about it. They've got a few plastic tables and chairs where you can sit down for a meal, or else you can opt for takeaway. The latter is more popular. The rice and curries are presented in clay pots, which are placed under a thatched canopy, while the fried rice is being prepared in a separate station next to that.
There are 2/3 people behind the buffet, processing the orders. Probably not the friendliest staff, but quick and efficient.
Conclusion
There is room for improvement, but Maha Gedara fills the void of rice and curry joints in Mount Lavinia. They can certainly introduce more spices to their flavour department while keeping the good portions and affordable prices.
