With rural looking mud walls and a thatched roof, Rasambula is a rice & curry spot located in Kotte.
Food
They have a few variants of rice options like mix rice, vegetable rice and yellow rice and such, and pasta too. You can get up to four curries along with your choice of protein – pork, chicken, and fish.
We grabbed their Mixed Rice (Rs. 300) with a portion of Devilled Chicken (Rs. 100), and a a Pork Yellow Rice & Curry (Rs. 400).
The yellow rice itself was seasoned well, aromatic, fluffy and cooked well. Even though they have included a good serving of pork here, we found more fatty pieces than we’d have liked. The meat was marinated, but not all that spicy, and the meat flavour came through.
The Beetroot curry had the right texture, along with a bit of sweetness, and a dash of curry flavour. The Manioc curry was tougher than we’d have liked but was creamy and rich. The tempered dhal contributed to more curry flavour while the kesel muwa (banana blossom) mallum tasted fresh and crunchy. All in all, this was a decent buth packet, with all the elements working together quite well.
Their Mixed rice is essential basmati rice, mixed with sausages, shredded chicken, carrot, curry leaves and came with a serving of botu moju, chop suey and a dollop of chilli paste on the side. While our decision to get a devilled chicken was a good choice, the chicken itself was quite tough, inside and out. Maybe they fried it for too long or had refried it. Nonetheless, its sauce was sweet and savoury, which somehow made up for the lack of flavour.
The rice itself was a bit oily, fluffy and a tad try.The rice-to-chop suey ratio was off – we spotted a few pieces of cabbage and beans, and that's about it. The flavours of botu moju were awash with sweetness and had only a little bit of spiciness. Mixing everything together helped with the overall flavour, but aside from that, there's nothing to write home about.
Ambience and Service
While the place looks good from the outside with mud walls and a thatched roof, the inside left a lot fo be desired. The tables were a tad wonky, and lighting was not so great either. The place could use a bit more ventilation too.
But the general vibe was okay with busy, office folks grabbing their meals. We didn’t have much issue with the ordering but the station was a tad slow to serve the customers, owing to it being a bit overwhelmed and having only two people behind the counter.
Conclusion
If you are in the area and wanting to grab rice packet, Rasambula can serve you as an okay option. They have room to improve with the ambience and efficiency, but the food aspect is not all that bad.