46, Initium Road, Dehiwala
Open 8 AM–6 PM
Aahaara is a caterer that does wood-fired biriyani and rice and curry.
Aahaara (literally meaning food) is a catering service in Dehiwela that delivers sawans, kidus and lunch packets. What we got was a piping-hot platter piled high with fragrant rice, chunks of beef, and fried onions delivered to us by 1 PM.
This flavoursome rice smelled absolutely delicious and drove us insane while we waited to take pictures. Piled at least five to seven inches high on this sawan, the generousity of this dish was overwhelming. The guys over at Aahaara said that it that would be enough to feed six people, but in our honest opinion, it would have fed about 12 full-grown men (12 full-grown Muslim men during iftar or Eid even).
In terms of taste, the rice was soft, fluffy, and infused with spice. We got hit with waves of heat a few bites in, but it wasn't overpowering — it gave just that right amount of subtle Sri Lankan davilla. The beef mixed in it was tender and well-cooked. It had plenty of meat as opposed to some places that just mix in fat and bone for the most part.
Though the rice was nice and satisfactory (we'd give it 4/5), the sides and chicken that came with it were disappointing. The chicken (a full chicken) was intensely dry and was accompanied with a poly-bag full of the sauce-like gravy that had to be poured on top. It was admittedly much tastier once the sauce was poured over, but that still doesn't say much about the chicken.
The dish also came with a tub each of Malay pickle, green peas, and a Maldive fish sambol, pictured here:
To give you a quick run-through, the Malay pickle tasted like it was hastily done — just a few quartered onions left to pickle for a short while (that's what it tasted like, though I don't know if that's actually how they did it). It could have had a bit more gravy and a few more carrots and chillies tossed in, but that's my personal opinion.
The green peas were so-so — they were under-boiled and a bit harder than we would have liked. The flavour was alright, but the curry lacked the generous sprinkling of cashew nuts that it could have had. There were a few kadjus tossed in, but it wasn't enough to qualify this as a green-pea-and-cashew curry.
The Maldive fish sambol was the best tasting of the lot and we loved it, but (there's always an annoying 'but', isn't there?) BUT there was more fried onion than Maldive fish in it. The crunchy little bits of fish were practically non-existent, to be honest (although I'd reiterate that it made for a decent onion-fry).
Yum. Watalappam translated into plain old English is 'coconut custard pudding'. That sounds terribly terribly boring and bland. Another thing that's boring and bland is watalappam that's light in colour. This one was pretty dark, almost the colour of kithul hakuru itself, so we figured it would taste pretty good.
It passed the test easily enough where taste was concerned. It wasn't milky, and had that sharp jaggery flavour that makes watalappam good. The sweetness thankfully wasn't pronounced, and you could have a few mouthfuls without feeling nauseous. The texture seemed a bit off though because it was too thick and dense. Watalappams ideally should be a tad lighter and fluffier. Other than that, it tasted good.
For Rs. 3,250 (plus another 250 bucks for delivery), Aahaara gives you enough biryani to last half a week (that's actually what's going to happen to our leftover biryani). They can improve their sides, but their main dish is spot on. If you have a hungry horde over for a weekend lunch or something, this is definitely the thing to get.
Aahara delivers a hella big sawan big enough to feed 12 adults. They say it serves six, but we disagree.
Aahaara is a caterer that does wood-fired biriyani and rice and curry.
සිංහල ඉතින් බිරියානි සවාන් එකක් හරි රසම රස අතුරුපසක් හරි රස විඳින්න ආසාවෙන් ඉන්න අපේ යාළුවෝ ඕන කෙනෙක්ට ආහාර අවන්හල නම් නියමෙට ගැලපෙන තැනක් වෙයි.
Address
Directions
Go down Galle Road towards Dehiwala. Initium Road is the road right opposite St. Mary's Church, on the seaside. Aahaara is situated at the end of this road.
Contacts
Report InaccuracyOpen 8 AM–6 PM
Cuisine
Price Range
Dish Types
Ratings Breakdown
Double Cheese Coffee & Dine is one of the finest family…
A great place for a quick lunch or dinner.
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Sheni,
I appreciate the good job u guys do, but what sort of a degree u have got to judge food? A neat definition is impossible for good food, it depends on the quality, tastes, looks and smells delicious, is fresh, wholesome and pure each n everyone could judge it differently, each n everyone has different tastes buds, what I can see n all u do is under estimate five star food n go to a bath kade n revive it as the best cuisine in the whole world, have u traveled world wide n tasted all authentic cuisine to define food? If not u can't judge food the way u want, that is so very wrong impression u give to ppl, but still u can introduce new places, with the prices, n how good it's to hang out n all that, then ppl would get an idea what to chose, but don't judge the food the way u want n give wrong judgments abt something u really don't know right,
random visitor
I agree! well said
Pinchu The Ponchu
The team at YAMU aren't food connoisseurs, nor do they claim to be. They're customers, just like you. All they do is give you their opinion. I'm pretty fed up of seeing clowns such as yourself asking if the team is qualified.
PS. Google the word "blog"
prashaster
You don't need a degree to tell whether the food tastes good or not… Just need taste buds…
indi YAMU STAFF
I don't think they offer degrees in food criticism.
What we offer is our opinion. And we do sometimes review 5-star hotel restaurants badly and bath kades well. We rate everything based on what it's trying to be and what people expect from it.
We have collectively eaten at almost every place in Colombo, plus a lot in New York, London, Montreal, New Delhi, Singapore, Beijing, etc. At the end of the day what you get is still an opinion so take it for what it is and feel free to leave your opinion in the comments.
Bhagya YAMU STAFF
I'd love to sign up for a degree in food criticism :).
fathima
Is it halaal? Can i hv the contact num pls ? Thnx
HotActionCop
Dear Sheni, please check the cushion you are seated in, something in it must have gone up. This is a blogsite so its personal or a group opinion. Its not the CNN or BBC to have SME's with degrees to publish posts - its not like world war-IV will erupt because you hated the food YAMU favored?!?!? Use common sense and enjoy the post or leave it. Don't demoralize a bunch who is doing a great social service in introducing us to new places. Keep up the good work YAMU… dont get bogged down in your blogs, coz of folk like Sheni.
ALCH3MIST
"If not u can't judge food the way u want"
Why not? They can judge it however they wish. It's up to you whether to read Yamu or not.
John
today walked down this street searching for this 'Aahaara' restaurant and couldn't find it. I think you marked a wrong place in Google Map
indi YAMU STAFF
It's a caterer so probably their house, they likely wouldn't have a sign outside.
swtdi
when considering food, anyone can have different opinion. So They write the review based on what they taste and feel.
Da
YAMU, I think you have done a great job (Thank You!!). Because of you, everyday we are exposed to new places which otherwise we would never even have heard. I really appreciate your reviews on simple affordable palaces that matters to commoners like me the most - Dammika
KK
@Sheni, you are seriously lack of commen sense. Yamu is the No. 1 and only website that have such extensive reviews on food and other events. You can also start your own blog like others to share your visit and review. If you can't accept criticism then don't visit this site then…simple and period.
Devon
I think you guys do a great job with the website. I would reccomend that you categorize all your reviews by type of cuisine,price (budget,medium, expensive etc just like a lonely planet guide) and location. It would definitely be easier to navigate your website and find out what's out there based on your preference.
I think this website would be immensely helpful for tourists if you can clean it up a bit more and advertise it a bit more. I think it is always better to look at places beyond fine dining. Most sensible travellers look to ask "What does this place do better than anywhere else in the world ?" I personally think reviwing international fast food chains is a waste of time as most people know that at best places like Pizza Hut and KFC is just mediocre and unhealthy.
I haven't been back to SL for nearly a decade but I plan to soon. I am already making up lists of things to do and eat and places to go based on your website. Thanks Again.
Bhagya YAMU STAFF
That's the location they sent us but we had it delivered so we'll recheck and confirm :)
Bhagya YAMU STAFF
0766477677
Bhagya YAMU STAFF
Thank you Dammika :). Always a pleasure to be of service.
Happy(graduate)Grumpus
They do have degrees in culinary arts. Where you can do a 6 month module on food criticism. But YAMU does what they can, and they do a good job at listing everything out. Don't get worked up if the food opinion is off the mark. The hospitality circles in Sri Lanka knows not to take (the food judgements) seriously, but 99% of the readers don't care that much! Appreciate them for what they do and don't let a sawan recipe get under your skin
FoodCriticismdegreeholder
Aahaara food is amazing. We had the chicken biriyani sawaan and it was soo good! Definitely can feed like 10-14 people at least.We had leftovers for days! and the sauce/coating/paste on the chicken had become even yummier the day after :)
RilwanNowfer
Ahara is one of the best catering services i've ever seen…they give food with best quality and it's totally worth the price…it arouses your tastebud and satisfies your hunger to the maximum…i love the food, it's very delicious…there is a wide variety and more than enough food for everyone to eat…i will rate it as one of the best caters in colomboAhara is one of the best catering services i've ever seen…they give food with best quality and it's totally worth the price…it arouses your tastebud and satisfies your hunger to the maximum…i love the food, it's very delicious…there is a wide variety and more than enough food for everyone to eat…i will rate it as one of the best restaurants in sri lanka…keep up the good work…keep up the good work
Sheni
Dear all who talk abt common sense just turn up n read my comment first, I said I appreciate what they do, I'm not in anger or rather don't know who all u r, whoever belongs this blog, it's public n ppl misread it the way it is, yes u can't judge food the way u want if u really don't know abt it, I'm not talking abt this place , over roll u give a bad impression by giving wrong information abt places, yes u can follow a degree Bhagya, go ahead, good luck
Concy
So what qualification do YOU have to say that these guys are doing a poor job? Are you food critique with a degree? If not, here's an idea, why won't you follow that 6 month course and start your own blog?
Shi
there are many people who read this blog, if you don't like it don't read it… are you jealous????
Riyas
Is the food Halal????
Lolonyourface
Sheni is a pathetic coward… hahaha lol on ur face
Shoaib
Superb Food, Fast Delivery & Excellent Customer Service
Athula
This place is shifted to Dehiwala Frazer Avenue.
Ameer
Ordered Beef Biriyani today…rice was raw…beef was very hard…fried chicken was too dry…quantity was huge than normal sawan…Quality is very very low…will not recommend this place….
Keith
This site helps people like us coming to Sri Lanka for a vacation, for past memories… etc. please don't criticize their efforts.
Nayomi
Tried there Veggie Pack. Suggest that they introduce few veggie items in the pack as the alternative for Chicken and Chilli paste. Otherwise there is not much to eat.
Serious Foodie
Ordered their Kidu and was terribly disappointed. Watery, tasteless curries and no sweet mango chutney that other places provide. The rice was flavorless and on the whole their Kidu cannot compare with other caterers like eg Galle Caterers where the Kidu is concerned. I will not recommend it to anyone for sure. I will try the biriyani though, on your recommendation
Shehzard
spot on the worst Kiduhu rice in town!!!!
azam.h
The Best Food in town… the Kiduhu is Awesome…… Keep up your good work…
Mayuka
We ordered two mutton Biriyani's yesterday, today I've got food poisoning. Also tasted very average, loads of rice and not much else.
Sandrina Pereira
Aahara is pretty crap. The lady who takes the orders needs a workshop on customer service. And the food used to be ok but since of late insufficient n overpriced.
basithmark
I bought three chicken kidu today and quantity wise it was good. The potato curry and the dhal curry was extraordinarily watery. And they got no flavour. I would rate 4/10 for the flavors and 7/10 for the quantity.
Raheeda
Do yourself a favour and avoid ordering from this establishment. After confirming my order last night and once again this morning, and having a member of staff confirm, at 12.15 that the food would be delivered in 45 minutes, no one showed up! To make matters worse no one picked up the whole until 8.30pm! My lunch guests had to be kept waiting until I had to find alternate options at 2pm! Such an embarrassing situation for any host! To make matters worse when I called the number at 8.30pm the phone was answered by a very unhelpful female who questioned whether I had even placed an order and whether I got a confirmation. Absolutely the worst customer service I have ever encountered!
safa
When my sister one of my brought lunch for her from Aahara and it was not that great. They had used a pressure cooker to cook the chicken. It was overcooked and blunt. This was about 2 years back. I am not sure whether they have improved since then.