Pickle Food is a newly opened, small rice and curry spot with well lit and clean interior. Hearing their name got us excited for the pickled foods. This was not exactly what happened, but they do have foods.
Food
You can pick four curries to accompany your rice, along with the choice of protein – fish, chicken, and pork. They also do fried rice and specials like ghee rice on Fridays.
But it was just a rainy Monday, so we decided on a Pork Rice & Curry (Rs. 250) and a Chicken Fried Rice (Rs. 270).
The white rice was as it should be. We were a bit let down to find more fatty pieces in the pork curry even though it packed more than enough heat from the spices they had used in it. The green beans and beetroot contributed to the texture and parrippu curry was cooked to be on the moist side. Everything here brought plenty of curry flavour to the plate. The Kesel Muwa (banana blossom) mallum seemed quite fresh with a crunch and some bitter notes. While flavours went together, they had room to improve here and there.
The rice in the fried rice was cooked well, fluffy and wasn’t too oily but it lacked a bit of seasoning. The chicken piece was all right, slightly fried and cooked all the way through and had preserved much of the chicken flavour. The provided sweet sauce helped loads with the flavour too. There was a small serving of Malay pickle. While tasted sweet, with a hint of sourness, it just wasn’t enough. For the price, it was okay fried rice as we feel.
Incidentally, if you need to actually get pickles, you must ask for it. They had three varients, but we got to try out the Malay and Sri Lankan ones. Malay pickle was sweet, thick and had a bit of sourness while the Sri Lankan pickle was tangy and crunchy but nothing to write home about. Quite frankly this is not what we expected walking into a place called Pickle Foods, and they can improve a bit here which would enhance the experience.
Ambience & Service
All their food is neatly displayed on clay pots and placing the order went without any issues. The owner was behind the counter and he was quite polite and welcoming.
The place has glass walls, allowing plenty of natural lights to seep through. It was clean and even though one can feel a bit cramped up here, they have enough space to accommodate around 8 or more people at a time.
Conclusion
Pickle Food is a decent option for rice and curry without breaking your bank if you are in the area. They claim that they don’t use any additives or artificial flavouring, and we couldn’t detect any weird flavours either but, we wish they did something more with their name “Pickle Food” rather than making it just a mascot.
